University Development Projects

Within the framework of our development projects that we carry out together with our funding organisations and partners, we are continuously striving to improve the quality of teaching and research as well as the promotion of early-stage researchers and continuing education at our university.

The aim of the DiAs project is to develop innovative examination forms and to implement them sustainably at all levels of higher education structures.

The ad-hoc transition of courses and examinations to digital formats necessitated by the pandemic presents the education sector with a major challenge. In this regard, examinations play a central role, because they are decisive for the further educational biography of students. Competency-based assessment in the sense of constructive alignment requires a precise fit of examination forms and tasks with the intended learning outcomes. Therefore, the main focus is on using digital technologies to establish innovative examination forms that extend beyond the previous standard of text-based examinations. If possible, these forms of examination should be applicable to all departments and subjects - and especially to other higher education institutions - and suitable for transfer into practice.

DiAs is funded by the Stiftung Innovation in der Hochschullehre (foundation for innovation in higher education teaching) with a total of EUR 1.4 million and runs until 2024.

Anyone who wants to take up a profession in education today needs to have digital skills and expertise. This is why digital education has been anchored as an interdisciplinary focus area in the strategic planning of the University of Education Karlsruhe for many years. As part of the "Qualitätsoffensive Lehrerbildung", an initiative launched by the Federal Government and the Länder to enhance the quality of teacher education, the InDiKo project is dedicated to the sustainable integration of subject-specific digital teaching and learning concepts.

Within the framework of this project, we are developing the compulsory study module Digital Media in Education, implementing digital teaching and learning concepts and establishing the virtual Innovation Space, an interdisciplinary teaching and learning environment, thus offering our students, teachers and early-stage researchers the opportunity for mutual exchange.

Maintaining the diversity of arts and cultural institutions and strengthening their individual potential for innovation - this is the goal of the collaborative "Kunst- und Kultureinrichtungen als Lernende Organisationen" (KuLO) project, centering on arts and cultural institutions as learning organisations. By the end of 2022, a hybrid, career-integrating continuing education programme will be created in a pilot phase that is targeted at the employees of arts and cultural institutions and is designed to prepare these institutions for the future.

The University of Education Karlsruhe, the Heidelberg University of Education and the Academy for Continuing Education in Heidelberg are jointly developing corresponding content and formats. One aim is to open up arts and cultural institutions both internally and to the public in order to promote diversity and participation. The focus is on audience development and accessibility as well as on digitality and sustainability, thus reflecting socially relevant discourses.

The project is funded by the Ministry of Social Affairs, Health and Integration with resources from the European Social Fund (ESF).

With the Karlsruhe individual Aptitude Check for Teachers (KAiAC-T), the higher education institutions in Karlsruhe were consolidating and expanding their collaboration in teacher education via a joint commission on teacher education (Gemeinsame Kommission Lehrerbildung GKL-KA).

The new Karlsruhe procedure gives students of the programmes in Teacher Education the opportunity to individually and thoroughly explore the tasks involved in the teaching profession both at the beginning and during the course of their studies. Via the exchange with fellow students they can develop their individual understanding of professional teaching and put it to the test in personal discussions with experienced school and university teachers. The KAiAC-T comprises a video-based self-assessment, peer assessments in teaching practice and didactics workshops, and a final, supervised reflection on aptitude.

Joint project coordination by the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and our university ensures optimal networking and also makes it possible to start the joint project at short notice. As of the summer semester 2020, successful participation in the KAiAC-T aptitude check is to be a standard prerequisite for admission to a master's programme in Teacher Education at all higher education institutions.

Our university is responding to the changing learning habits and diverse lifestyles of our students with the educational initiative Bildungsinitiative L² that fosters an active teaching and learning culture.The initiative, which is funded by the "Qualitätspakt Lehre" (quality pact on teaching) of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung, BMBF), strengthens self-organised, individualised and cooperative learning and provides university-wide opportunities for intensive exchange about the content and requirements of the degree programmes.

At the heart of the initiative is a two-semester training course for tutors who either assist with courses or offer accompanying tutorials. Since the introduction of the Karlsruhe Tutor Training, almost 300 students from all subjects and degree programmes have attended the elaborate training programme. Their evaluations have been excellent. In addition, specific tutor qualifications can be obtained in German and Mathematics. In the meantime, numerous advisory services and workshops have been developed on the basis of the initiative's measures in the areas of learning and study organisation, use of media, preparation for teaching practice as well as academic work and research. Most of them are carried out by students.

In consultation with all teachers, the educational initiative Bildungsinitiative L² also assumes responsibility for educational development at our university. Each semester, they organise public discussion evenings on exciting issues of school and university teaching. And they provide unbureaucratic funding for "micro-projects" - courses in which teachers and tutors work together to experiment with new ideas for teaching.

The Karlsruhe University of Education has extensive expertise in the fields of Early Childhood Education and Health and Leisure Education and offers established programmes of study covering these subjects, namely the bachelor's programmes in  Physical Activity, Health and Recreation (B.A.) and Childhood Education (B.A.). With the project "Beyond School - Flexible Laufbahnen in pädagogischen Berufen" (flexible career paths in educational professions), these degree programmes are being further developed and expanded by new structures in order to meet individual requirements.

Based on the expertise acquired from the above-mentioned degree programmes, part-time master's programmes in Early Childhood Education and Health Education are being developed and tested in pilot studies. In addition, cross-professional courses for students of the programmes in Teacher Education and specialists in Early Childhood Education or Health and Leisure Education are being established.