We are happy to help you feel at home teaching in the university context - whether it is your first course ever or simply your first course at the University of Konstanz.
Read on to find out more about our teaching culture and supporting structures at the University of Konstanz, our courses and support services for university didactics as well as relevant contact information.
A crucial component of effective teaching at the University of Konstanz is a lively teaching and learning culture.
Code of Practice for Effective Teaching
At the University of Konstanz, we strive to provide our members the best possible conditions for study, teaching and research. Our Code of Practice for Effective Teaching expresses our understanding of what comprises effective teaching and studying.
Research-orientation
At the University of Konstanz, we are convinced that research-oriented teaching provides the best means for our students to reach the desired qualification targets. Research-oriented teaching means we encourage students to learn by researching, we include the newest research findings in our courses and we let students engage in independent, innovative scientific work early in their studies. (See the Code of Practice for Effective Teaching)
Competency-orientation
At the University of Konstanz, we ensure the competency-orientation of our study programmes at a variety of institutional levels: Our Code of Practice for Effective Teaching, which defines our general qualification goals in keeping with the Qualifikationsrahmen für Deutsche Hochschulabschlüsse qualification framework; our specific qualification goals, which apply to our study programmes and their respective modules.
Each individual lecturer is responsible for implementing this competency-orientation in his/her courses. This poses two challenges to you as a lecturer: You will need to adapt your teaching to fit the competencies listed in the qualification goals for the respective study programme. These goals are defined in the module guides for each study programme. You will also need to adjust your approach to allow students to obtain the competencies required for the course. This includes, for example, setting competency-oriented learning objectives, facilitating an active, participative learning environment and creating competency-focused examinations to fit the current examination regulations.
Use our German guide for competency-oriented teaching and testing ( “Kompetenzorientiert lehren und prüfen”) to organise your courses accordingly.
You are also welcome to take part in our workshops or to contact us for individual, personalised consultation on this topic.
Quality assurance
Visit the “Teaching” section of our website for more information about quality assurance in teaching at the University of Konstanz, e.g.:
- course evaluations
- student surveys
- system accreditation
- quality assurance resources
Feel free to contact us for a personal consultation on using evaluations in your courses or for your professional development and to learn about other possible instruments for receiving feedback on your teaching.
Organisation
The Vice-rector for Academic Affairs oversees everything related to “Student Affairs and Teaching”.
The Office for Curricular Affairs within our Division of Academic and International Affairs interlinks teaching staff, the Rectorate, the departments and the university administration.
For example, the Office for Curricular Affairs supervises the implementation of the Bologna process and the distribution and use of the university budget and external funds for teaching (quality assurance funds, Hochschule 2012 and Master 2016 programmes). It also manages the project "b³ – beraten, begleiten, beteiligen" to support teaching staff funded by the quality pact on teaching.