ThermoACTIVE promotes good teaching

In April, the 8th HDS Forum took place at the Leipzig University of Applied Sciences. Participants were treated to a varied program on the main topic of "Third Mission in Higher Education - Learning through Engagement, Teaching with Responsibility".

The event also included the official announcement of the new LiT.funding projects of the Teaching Practice in Transfer plus network funded by the Federal Ministry of Research and Education. With this funding, the Higher Education Didactics Center Saxony (HDS) supports cross-university cooperation between universities and universities of applied sciences and promotes the transfer of higher education didactic experience, knowledge and skills. Every year, four cooperative courses or teaching development measures in degree programs are funded over a period of two semesters. The aim is to support good teaching and make it visible in Saxony.

The Department of Technical Thermodynamics at Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences and the Chair of Technical Thermodynamics at TU Bergakademie Freiberg were able to beat off a large number of applicants with their concept and win one of these coveted project grants. At the heart of the project is a didactic concept called "thermoACTIVE" for actively ensuring understanding and promoting differentiated performance in technical thermodynamics. With this funding, the HDS honors innovative didactic approaches to improve teaching and recognizes extraordinary commitment.

The basis for "thermoACTIVE" is the "thermoE process" (funded by the Saxon State Ministry of Science and the Arts) and the results of the E-AssessMINT projects (funded by the European Social Fund), which were developed at the Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences by Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Hans-Joachim Kretzschmar(Department of Technical Thermodynamics) in cooperation with other educational partners. These innovative approaches make it possible to map typical STEM exercises electronically and create a variety of e-learning-supported teaching and learning opportunities. The project is actively supported at the participating locations by the staff of the Teaching Practice in Transfer project.