Teaching and Learning Research at the St. Pölten UAS
LEARN will put an even stronger focus on the field of teaching-learning research from now on: We contribute expertise in higher education didactics as well as current findings from educational science to research projects at the St. Pölten UAS. In addition, we initiate, accompany, and implement research. Examples include the development and evaluation of innovative didactic formats or interdisciplinary teaching projects. We also strive for cooperation with other educational institutions and social stakeholders.
The following overview of research projects in which we have been involved in so far provides the most important information on the project as well as information on impulses in higher education didactics gained from the research results.
Projects
https://www.fhstp.ac.at/de/newsroom/news/inpro-erfolgreiches-interprofessionelles-lernen und https://research.fhstp.ac.at/projekte/inpro-!nterprofessionalism-in-action
The central topic of the project is the transfer of knowledge from tertiary education to practice through interprofessional education and collaborative practice (IPECP) in rehabilitation.
Impulses for Higher Education Didactics:
- Options for the planning / implementation / further development of interprofessional teaching
- What to consider when working together in interprofessional and intercultural teams
- Planning and design of interactive learning materials and the tools used in this context
- Intensive forms of using the learning logbook and reflective learning
- How to support the self- and peer assessment of learners
https://www.fhstp.ac.at/de/newsroom/news/digitale-technologien-in-rehabilitation und https://research.fhstp.ac.at/projekte/direne-aufbau-von-kompetenzen-und-faehigkeiten-fuer-eine-neue-aera-der-personenzentrierten-und-mobil-gesteuerten-digitalen-rehabilitation
Recent achievements in digital technologies open up new possibilities for meeting the challenges that the healthcare sector is facing, which means that competences in this area should be expanded. This requires reliable, evidence-based teaching materials as well as instructions and assistance for integrating digital technologies into nursing and rehabilitation in a meaningful manner.
Impulses for Higher Education Didactics:
- Well-founded selection and use of digital platforms and tools in different educational settings as well as in interdisciplinary collaboration
- Important elements in the planning and design of (elements of) self-study platforms and individual activities there
- What to keep in mind when it comes to working together in interprofessional and intercultural teams
- How to integrate biography-oriented methods into the use of digital platforms and tools
- Options for the further development of digital literacy in learning settings
E³UDRES develops European solutions to regional problems in a globally linked world. Knowledge, core competencies, and skills are pooled and resources used collectively. E³UDRES² co-creates outstanding ideas and concepts for future universities, integrates challenge-based education, task-oriented research, human-centred innovation, and open and engaged knowledge exchange as interlinked core areas, and establishes an exemplary multi-university campus throughout Europe.
With the participation of Christina Tanzer and Christian F. Freisleben in work package 3: “The Establishment of I Living Labs”. Students from the six partner institutions work on challenges from European regions using Design Thinking methods, for which they receive 6 ECTS credits.
Impulses for Higher Education Didactics:
- Paths towards the optimal planning, implementation, and further development of a learning format with a scope of 6 ECTS credits and its integration into the curricula of different higher education institutions
- Important steps for learning in highly diverse and intercultural teams
- Intensive forms of using e-portfolios in didactic settings
- Reflective learning including a learning logbook in an intercultural study setting
- Accompanying students in the further development of their future skills
- Instructions for the use of Design Thinking in a didactic setting
Contents / Impulses for Higher Education Didactics:
- Recommendations for the use of VR/AR/MR in teaching including technical and organisational framework conditions
- Strategies for the integration of VR/AR/MR in didactic settings
- What to consider when initiating pilot projects, also in research
https://www.fhstp.ac.at/de/newsroom/news/digges-erfolgreich-abgeschlossen and https://research.fhstp.ac.at/projekte/gemeinsam-in-der-digitalen-gesellschaft
Existing digital teaching and learning materials were further developed across generations with the involvement of teachers, pupils, parents, and grandparents.
Impulses for Higher Education Didactics:
- Activating media pedagogics: planning, application forms, and technical basic conditions within the framework of didactic settings
- Further development of the hackathon method as a setting for learning
- Possibilities to integrate storytelling into teaching
- Production of explanatory materials and ways of getting there including different approaches to distribution options
- Paths towards the further development of digital literacy in a didactic setting
Supporting the Linz-based company Amago in the further development of its format “Explanatory/Teaching Videos”
Impulses for Higher Education Didactics:
- Suggestions with regard to quality criteria for “good” explanatory videos
- Proposals for options to distribute videos for learners
- Strategies for the creation of interactive explanatory/teaching materials
https://impecd.fhstp.ac.at/ and https://research.fhstp.ac.at/projekte/impecd-improvement-of-education-and-competences-in-dietetics
In 2015, a European team of experts from higher education institutions teaching the specialist discipline of Dietetics from Antwerp (BE), Fulda (DE), Groningen (NL), Neubrandenburg (DE), and St. Pölten (AT) formed a consortium and collaboratively defined measures to promote students’ education and development of competencies. A MOOC was created in this context as well.
Impulses for Higher Education Didactics:
- What to consider in the planning and design of (elements of) self-study platforms
- Optimal ways of employing E-tivities, and how these might interact in a didactic design
- Intervision of persons who work on a “teaching materials package” together, what they may learn in terms of contents and methods, and what they should consider in regards to intercultural collaboration processes
https://www.fhstp.ac.at/de/newsroom/news/soziale-teilhabe-im-laendlichen-raum
https://research.fhstp.ac.at/projekte/umbrello-digitale.dorf.dienste
With the participation of Josef Weißenböck and Christian F. Freisleben
Digitalisation as an opportunity for rural areas, and: how older persons can use and actively help shape information and communication services
Impulses for Higher Education Didactics:
- User-Centred Design: impulses for UX as an approach to didactic design
- Activating media pedagogics: promoting learning processes through the production of multimedia contents and as intensive forms of “learning by teaching”
- Options of the World Café as an instrument of learning and research as well as for the identification of needs and life situations and for finding and further developing ideas
Research to accompany the introduction of the ICM at the St. Pölten UAS with Design-Based Research (e.g., use of questionnaires, group interviews, and participatory observation for teachers and students)
Impulses for Higher Education Didactics:
- How to put student orientation into practice and promote student engagement
- What to consider when producing multimedia content
- How to support teachers in the planning and implementation of innovative teaching; important framework conditions for the ICM at a higher education institution
Since the conference “Inverted Classroom and Beyond 2020”: research on the ICM with a focus on student engagement / further development of preparation phase(s) and possibilities of promoting intensive collaboration between students even at this early stage (together with other researchers from the DACH region).
Further Projects
- 2016 – 2017: Innoscheck with driving schools from NÖ (ICM in this setting)
- 2017: Innoscheck with Horizont3000 (creation of interactive explanatory materials)
- 2019: contract research "Frühe Hilfe" planning and creation of interactive explanatory materials
- 2019: contract research “Virtuelles Klassenzimmer” (Vier HAK im Waldviertel) (hybrid learning settings; implementation VR/AR)
- 2020: contract research "Village" (Ludwig Boltzmann Institut" (health; mental health); creation of interactive explanatory material
- From second half of 2019: Group discussions with students and lecturers on the use of e-portfolios/Mahara
Team
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Expert Higher Education Didactics
Service and Competence Centre for Teaching/Learning Development and Educational Offers (LEARN)
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Head of
Service and Competence Centre for Teaching/Learning Development and Educational Offers (LEARN)
- Section Head Higher Education Didactics
- Service and Competence Centre for Teaching/Learning Development and Educational Offers (LEARN)