The Lower Saxony Ministry of Science is funding three projects at the University of Oldenburg. The aim is to further develop selected degree programmes - and to integrate research topics into everyday student life.
Whether technologies such as smart homes 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 over the next 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 (MWK). A total of 48 projects at 16 universities were approved.
Under the already established label "forschen@studium", the focus of the Oldenburg projects is on research-based learning: the aim of the university-wide strategy is not only to impart predetermined knowledge in the degree programmes, but also to involve students in current research right from the start. This should enable young academics to think beyond the content of their degree programmes and work scientifically at an early stage. "The approval supports us on our way to anchoring research-based learning even more firmly in our range of courses," emphasises the university's Vice President for Studies, Teaching and Gender equality, Prof. Dr Sabine Kyora. In addition, a university-wide digital platform is to be further developed on which students can document and reflect on the results of their research activities.
The projects being funded are based at three of the University's Schools: In future, Computing Science students are to deal with current and socially relevant topics such as "smart homes" 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 digitalised infrastructures of cultural studies research is the aim of the "Digital Literacy in Material Culture" project led 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.
