Whether technologies such as Smart Home in Computing Science, Digital Literacy in Material Culture or working with large data sets in the natural sciences - in future, students at the University of Oldenburg will be able to do even more research and become scientifically active themselves. In order to further develop selected degree programmes accordingly, the university will receive 900,000 euros for three years and for three projects as part of the "Quality plus - Programme for Good Teaching in Lower Saxony" programme funded by the Lower Saxony Ministry of Science and Culture (MWK). A total of 48 projects at 16 universities were approved.

Project duration: 2018-2021

In the Schools

The MWK-funded projects are based in three of the university's Schools: Computing Science students will in future be able to deal with current and socially relevant topics such as "Smart Home" from a research and application perspective as early as the first two semesters. The project "Smart environments as a context for research-based teaching in the introductory phase of computer science degree programmes (SUKI)" is headed by Computing Science didactics expert Prof. Dr Ira Diethelm.

Enabling students to critically reflect on the digitalised infrastructures of cultural studies research is the aim of the "Digital Literacy in Material Culture" project headed by cultural studies scholar Prof. Dr Karen Ellwanger. To this end, further digital teaching modules are to be integrated into the "Material Culture: Textiles" Bachelor's degree programme.

The project "Digitalisation in research-based learning in the natural sciences - an interdisciplinary approach" is about dealing with ever larger data sets. The aim here is to expand teaching across disciplines so that students can acquire further digital skills for the requirements of research and industry in the future. The project is led by chemists Prof Dr Katharina Al-Shamery and Prof Dr Verena Pietzner as well as marine scientists Prof Dr Ralf Rabus and Prof Dr Oliver Zielinski.

The university is also funding two other projects with its own funds - also for three years: the aim of the project "Research-based learning as a degree programme profile in the subject of Philosophy/Values and Norms" at School IV, headed by Prof. Dr Christa Runtenberg, is to establish a new teaching and learning culture that enables students on the Philosophy/Values and Norms degree programme to adopt a research- and problem-oriented approach.

The project "Research-based learning as a degree programme profile for the Bachelor's degree programmes in Biology, Master's degree programme in Biology and Master's degree programme in Neuroscience" of School V and VI focuses on professionalisation, reflection on one's own qualification profile and the scientific communication skills of students on the Biology and Neuroscience degree programmes under the direction of Prof. Dr. Jutta Kretzberg.

You can find an overview of the contact details of all those involved here:

Q+FL contact persons

E-portfolio

As a common and unifying element of all Q+FL projects, the use of e-portfolios to map students' research skills is being trialled. The e-portfolio is intended to be used by students to document and reflect on their successively acquired competences in research-based learning during modules or over the entire course of a degree programme. There are many possible uses - from the presentation of results and interim results of individual work tasks or the entire learning path, as an examination achievement, application document or in the sense of academic communication.