University education of the future

Personalised and supported by online resources – this is how Prof. Dr Anke Hanft, Scientific Director of the Centre for Lifelong Learning (C3L) at the University of Oldenburg, sees the future of academic teaching and further education. In this interview, she explains why changes in the world of work are also affecting universities. QUESTION : This year’s ‘Year of Science’, organised by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), focuses on the working worlds of the future. What role do academic education and further education play in the transformation of our future working lives? HANFT: Jobs cannot be considered in isolation from new technologies, and the world of work is changing rapidly. We must therefore link work much more consistently with further education. We can no longer assume that learning processes are complete once vocational training or a degree has been completed. Particularly in an ageing society, we must maintain lifelong learning. Companies are already putting this into practice; over the past few decades, they have significantly expanded their staff development programmes. But pressure is also mounting on universities to change their study models, which have so far been geared exclusively towards younger learners. QUESTION: How important is further education at German universities? HANFT: A few years ago, we carried out a major international comparative study on further education at universities for the BMBF. This showed that the prevailing view at German universities – that further education comes after a degree – is only a small part of the picture when it comes to the permeability between vocational education and higher education, particularly in the USA but also in Scandinavia. In Germany, we have two well-developed pillars – higher education and vocational education and training. In an increasingly demanding world of work, it is important to link these pillars more closely. Countries such as the USA, which do not have a vocational education system as strong as Germany’s, show us how qualifications – even for practice-oriented fields – are developed much more extensively through universities. This makes it possible to address issues of knowledge transfer in a more system-integrated way and to embed them within higher education institutions. Further education is a key driver of this transfer. Researchers gain a practical perspective QUESTION: So, universities and the world of work should be more closely linked... HANFT: Exactly. We must not make the mistake in universities of focusing exclusively on research and academia whilst neglecting teaching and the transfer of knowledge. Integrating the two more closely is also a task for further education. We are trying to achieve this, amongst other things, through the design of our learning processes – for example, by having students work on projects from professional practice in a science-led manner. In this way, our researchers also gain a completely different connection to real-world practice. We also cooperate closely with the Fraunhofer Society, which places great emphasis on knowledge transfer. This summer, we are launching our first joint certificate programme: through the Diploma of Advanced Studies (DAS) in Research and Transfer Management, we aim to teach researchers how they can improve the transfer of their research findings. QUESTION: Who will be studying at universities in the future? HANFT: With more than 50 per cent of a given age cohort holding a school-leaving certificate, our student body is becoming increasingly diverse. Students are increasingly choosing to undertake a degree at a later stage. In addition, the proportion of those who gain professional experience after completing a Bachelor’s degree and only commence a Master’s degree after a few years is growing. For example, in our education degree programmes, there are many early years educators who do not begin their studies until they are 30 or 40. They bring different skills to the table than 18-year-olds. However, when planning our courses, we have so far assumed that everyone with an Abitur has the same entry requirements. This, however, does not always guarantee academic success. Many universities are therefore stepping up their efforts to homogenise a diverse student body by attempting to compensate for shortcomings in school education. Quite apart from the fact that such measures are highly controversial, we also wanted to highlight that students may possess more skills than are required at the start of their degree. We therefore call for higher education structures to be tailored more closely to the growing individuality of students. What skills do students bring with them? Where do they lack certain skills to successfully complete their degree? In what areas do they bring more to the table than the average student? Which achievements can we recognise as credits? Compared to other universities, the University of Oldenburg has already made significant progress in this area. Embedding the individualisation of learning more firmly QUESTION: What does this mean in concrete terms for teaching? HANFT: The credit system makes it possible to design online-supported learning units in such a way that participants can put together their modules in a targeted manner and thus obtain exactly the qualification they need. In this respect, the Bologna Process has also become a driving force for lifelong learning. For example, we work with very small learning units – ‘learning nuggets’ – which are integrated into modules and facilitate various forms of in-depth and further learning. We need to embed this individualisation of learning – based on personalised learning pathways – much more firmly within university structures, whilst linking it to standards and quality assurance. The University of Oldenburg is already well advanced in this regard: for instance, our procedures for recognising credits for skills acquired outside the university are regarded as exemplary. Many universities benefit from our research findings and experience. We coordinate the accompanying research for the Quality Pact for Teaching – a BMBF programme supporting more than 150 universities. And we are involved in the academic monitoring of the federal-state competition ‘Advancement through Education: Open Universities’, which supports around 100 higher education institutions. QUESTION: So the much-discussed digitalisation is also an important topic here… HANFT: Yes, we embraced online-based forms of learning at an early stage. At <LINK c3l/>C3L</LINK>, we have a dedicated department that focuses solely on the pedagogical and didactic integration of learning technologies. We are regarded as leaders in this field within the further education sector. However, we need to link our higher education even more closely with online-based forms of learning – and increasingly incorporate this into undergraduate programmes. To put it bluntly: we don’t really need lectures any more. I can learn using study materials whilst receiving mentoring and feedback. I don’t need to do that in large lecture theatres. Face-to-face sessions can be put to better use for interactive forms of learning. “We must face up to this changed reality” QUESTION: The Federal Minister for Education, Anja Karlizcek, said at her inauguration that she wanted to make further education available to as many people as possible. I’m sure you would agree with that? HANFT: What’s important to me in this discussion is this: with over 50 per cent of a given age cohort holding a school-leaving certificate, we must recognise that students are entering our system with very different backgrounds and interests, so we must fundamentally ask ourselves: How do we want to conceive of university education in future? Do we want an education for a small elite who see their professional future in research? If so, universities of applied sciences should be further expanded and should seek to define their profile more clearly in terms of their integration with vocational training. Both universities and universities of applied sciences must face up to this changed reality and, in any case, devote greater attention to the transfer of knowledge. Further education is a key lever here. These are central issues of higher education and education policy that we must address. Interview: Constanze Böttcher