The videos are licensed for public use (Creative Commons). In the area of eGeneral Studies (eGS), students can choose topics outside of their actual degree and work on them at their own pace. The chosen eGS is then completed with an electronic exam, for which the users can register each month according to their own schedule. Upon successfully passing the exam, the students receive three credit points. “Digital learning is a good opportunity to use the university holidays as it balances out the degree”, emphasized Katy Roseland-Müller, Dean of Studies of the Faculty of Business Studies and Economics. She has received a great deal of positive feedback from students.
Increasing Number of Participants
The project leader at the ZMML, Dr. Christiane Bottke, confirms: “We are currently dealing with such a high demand that we have, for the first time, scheduled additional exam dates in the test center for August and September”. Around 1,200 students register for exams in the area of eGeneral studies each semester and a great deal more use the learning material. There are 24 video-based online course offers in the catalogue. The foundation is comprised of offers by the Virtual Academy of Sustainability, which is led by Professor Georg Müller-Crist at the Faculty of Business Studies and Economics. eGeneral Studies has now expanded with two new courses.
Interdisciplinary and Free Use
“Arbeiten mit Microsoft Excel” (Working with Microsoft Excel) is new in the eGeneral Studies list. On the one hand, it is preparation for the statistics module at the Faculty of Business Studies and Economics. Professor Martin Missong developed the course with his former doctoral student Dr. Ludwig Heinzelmann and his scientific assistants. One the other hand, the instructions on how to use the tabular calculation program are a freely usable and interdisciplinary offer for all students at the University of Bremen. The functions that excel has are presented systematically in a film. The course is clearly proving attractive: There have been over 1,500 video plays since its launch in the spring and the test center has been fully booked without exception, underscored Dr. Christiane Bottke.
Incorporating Online Elements into Teaching
“The digital processing of a lecture is complex and takes around a year of the project duration”, says Dr. Yildiray Ogural, director of the ZMML. It is also a question of resources. It is great that the productions are being financed by the quality pact project “ForstAintegriert” of the Federal ministry of Education and Research. Digital teaching is a necessity for the Faculty of Business Studies and Economics. “We have a high number of students, which requires amendments to teaching. Therefore, digital elements are being incorporated into day-to-day lectures”, explains Katy Roseland-Müller.
How Does I Write a Scientific Paper?
However, not only the business and economics-related topics are a priority for the Faculty of Business Studies and Economics. Practical academic skills are also being explained digitally. How do I write a scientific paper? Where can I find the relevant literature, how do I develop a good structure and logical table of contents? How do I cite correctly, where do I put the sources? These and many other questions are answered in six teaching videos with the title “Einführung in das wissenschaftliche Arbeiten” (Introduction to working scientifically), which have been compiled by the faculty together with the ZMML. The series can be used by all students and may also be integrated into lectures.
Next Step: Internationalization
“Quality assurance is very important to us and needs to be systematically developed”, explains ZMML director Dr. Yildiray Ogurol. New eGS courses are being prepared and the course “Diversity-Kompetenzen” (Diversity Competences) will start in the summer semester 2020. The next step planned by the ZMML is internationalization. He revealed that a cooperation with the YUFE network (Young Universities for the Future of Europe) is something that is being thought about.
Further information:
All ZMML offers https://www.uni-bremen.de/zmml/
Contact:
Katy Roseland-Müller
Dean of Studies
Faculty of Business Studies and Economics
University of Bremen
Phone: +49 421 218 66504
Email: kroselprotect me ?!uni-bremenprotect me ?!.de
Dr. Christiane Bottke
ZMML
University of Bremen
Phone: +49 421 218 61473
Email: infoprotect me ?!egs.uni-bremenprotect me ?!.de
