Apprenticeship Day 2019

"This day of teaching is also a day of learning." Prof. Dr. Josef Rosenkranz, Prorector for Studies and Teaching at FH Aachen, summed up the tenor of the event in his welcoming words. FH Aachen had invited to the 4th Day of Teaching, the event was themed "Deep Learning - From Knowledge to Understanding". Around 160 participants - lecturers, staff and students - had come to the main building of FH Aachen to discuss the question of how to design teaching so that it leads to sustainable learning.

In times of digitalisation, knowledge is freely available in hitherto unimagined quantities; it is crucial to develop both responsible and creative procedures for transforming knowledge into cognition. In his welcome address, Rector Prof. Dr. Marcus Baumann emphasised: "Students learn here not only to reproduce information, but to reflectively question it, to link it anew, and to develop it into new knowledge through understanding."

So how do you ensure that students not only know, but also understand? What can teachers contribute to move from understanding to application, analysis or synthesis of knowledge? The first presentation by Dr Kristina Edström (Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan, Stockholm) already provided interesting answers. She advocated setting clear goals and defending high quality standards. However, this is only promising if the teaching offers also reward active learning on the part of the students. She said, "We have to design the courses in such a way that the students' work leads to the desired goal."

That students should achieve goals of the respective degree programme seems self-evident. However, exam preparation and successfully passed exams do not always lead to deep learning and understanding: desired learning outcomes are not achieved and cannot be retrieved in later phases of study or in the professional world. In his lecture, Prof. Dr. Peter Riegler from the Ostfalia University of Applied Sciences Braunschweig/Wolfenbüttel addressed how students' misconceptions can be recognised and effectively overcome. He presented research results showing that the "comprehension rate" of students is significantly higher when (inter)active learning methods are used in teaching.

The Day of Teaching was also a day of learning: Through workshops and a panel discussion, participants had the opportunity to exchange ideas about different aspects of modern teaching and to take away new ideas. The cooperation of the students was also important. During the panel discussion, Ann-Kathrin Dragesser and Marco Trawinsky emphasised that they would like to see more speed in the introduction of innovative teaching methods.