Teachers and students at Paderborn University discuss accessibility and diversity at the twelfth "Tag der Lehre"
The exchange between lecturers and students is fundamentally important in order to create new impulses and further develop the teaching programme at universities. At the "Tag der Lehre" on Tuesday, 25 June, at Paderborn University, participants discussed this year's topic "Removing barriers, enabling access - accessibility, diversity and variety as an opportunity for innovative teaching" in various formats. The question was also raised as to whether and to what extent artificial intelligence (AI) can support this process.
The "Tag der Lehre" has been held annually since 2012 and is organised by the Higher Education Development Office. Prof Dr Volker Schöppner, Vice President for Teaching, Studies and Quality Management at Paderborn University, and Dr Nerea Vöing, Head of the Office of Educational Innovation and University Didactics, opened the event. "Nowadays, we see accessibility in a much broader context than a few years ago. We are primarily concerned with promoting diversity. The aim is for everyone to be able to realise their full potential," said Schöppner.
Opening keynote on "AI in teaching: Where do we stand and what does this mean for accessibility and diversity?"
In his keynote speech, Dr Peter Salden, Head of the Centre for Science Didactics at Ruhr University Bochum, addressed the question of the extent to which AI can enrich teaching at universities in terms of accessibility and diversity. In a positive sense, AI can be seen as an individual learning assistant that can partially compensate for certain physical or social limitations. For example, in the form of AI tools that read texts aloud to visually impaired people. However, it is also important to ensure that standardised AI or distorted algorithms do not lead to misinterpretation of data. When analysing surveys, Salden was also able to deduce the clear wish of students that lecturers should define clear rules regarding the scope in which AI may be used in practice.
Panel discussion and workshops promote interdisciplinary dialogue
Accessibility and diversity can be analysed from different perspectives. In a panel discussion moderated by Daniel Al-Kabbani, Salden, Dr Anne Haage, a member of staff at the digital accessibility.nrw competence centre, Kathrin Weber, a research assistant at Paderborn University's Service Centre for Students with Disabilities, and Julian Rische, Chairman of the General Students' Committee (AStA), discussed opportunities and challenges in studying and teaching. Following on from this, the event continued in smaller, parallel groups. In addition to round tables, a DisQSpace and workshops for interdisciplinary dialogue, a themed forum with short presentations offered insights into innovative teaching at the university.
Presentation of university teaching certificates and awards for outstanding teaching
The "Tag der Lehre" served not only to exchange ideas but also to recognise special achievements by teachers at Paderborn University. Dr Sigrid Richter, Lena Berglind and Alina Stappert from the Centre for Language Teaching were awarded the "Förderpreis für Innovation und Qualitätsverbesserung in der Lehre 2023" for their project "KITSl: KI-Tool-Kompetenz für Sprachlernde und -lehrende". The "Teaching Prize for Young Academics 2023", which is awarded for outstanding courses and supervision of students, went to Hannah Drath and Philipp Hagemann for "Reading Textbooks Critically of Racism" (both in absentia), Rieke Becker for "Introduction to the History of Early Modernity" and Tim Hetkämper and Lars Meihost for "Practical Course on Microcontrollers and Interface Electronics (PMI)".
Dr Joschka Kersting, Luise Adler, Dr Jennifer Dröse, Dr Christina Lammer (all absent), Janis Wehde, Anne Oberrrath, Ronja Hannebohm, Nicole Janicki and Caronline Schreckenberg received their certificates for the further education programme in higher education didactics "Professional teaching skills for the university", which represent a sound qualification in higher education didactics and are recognised both nationally and internationally. In addition, the "E-Learning Label" was awarded for the previous semester, which recognises courses in which e-learning is used as an essential part of teaching. In the "Professors" category, Prof. Dr Bärbel Mertsching achieved the highest number of points for her course "Robotics", while Christine Grosser took first place in the "Young academics" category with her course "Action competence in the classroom".
This text has been translated automatically.
