What it was about
INTERACT establishes inter- and transdisciplinarity as guiding principles in teaching: in the future, students will work in teams across disciplinary boundaries and develop practical solutions together with partners from academia, business, and society — led by Prof. Dr. Michael-Jörg Oesterle, Vice Rector for Teaching and Continuing Education.
Our core initiatives
At the station «Project-based learning in interdisciplinary teams», the team led by Prof. Katharina Hölzle presented the concept and first implementations of the planned compulsory module (6 ECTS). In it, students from different programs work together on real projects — for example, on questions such as: What does the sustainable medical practice of the future look like? Or: How can a sustainable kit for student workshops be developed and didactically integrated?
The station «Micro-modules» used a poster and a comic to make tangible how small, combinable learning units (approx. 1 ECTS) link foundational and specialized knowledge from different disciplines. They are a first step toward a course of study that can be assembled individually and better reflects personal interests and profiles — the team led by Prof. Frank Gießelmann is taking the lead here.
At the «Integrated Study Programs» stand, the focus was on the planned pilot program "General Engineering" and the cross-faculty collaboration involved in shaping it — led by Prof. Ingmar Kallfass. All visitors taking part could help decide live what such a program might be called and how its content could be structured.
Take part instead of listening
Instead of lectures, INTERACT relied on participation: visitors could vote in surveys, members of the project team and visitors got into direct conversation at the posters, and on pinboards the project gathered perspectives and wishes for the future of teaching — an especially frequently mentioned wish was interdisciplinarity and practical experience.
What's next
The Day of Teaching and Learning was the kickoff. In the coming semesters, the first pilot phases of INTERACT will begin — including AI support tools for students and teaching staff, developed by the team led by Prof. Steffen Becker.
