University of Bayreuth, Press Release No 044/2023 - 14 April 2023

Teaching Day at the University of Bayreuth

For an entire day, contemporary teaching will be the focus of attention at the University of Bayreuth: On 28 April, Minister of Science Markus Blume will present the State Government's "Prizes for Good Teaching" to university teachers from all over Bavaria. The presentation will be framed by keynotes, workshops and field reports on trends and possibilities of artificial intelligence (AI) and extended reality (XR) in teaching.

For the first time, Markus Blume will present the state government's award for good teaching as part of a "Teaching Day" at a university and thus "right in the middle of the action". The prize will be awarded to excellent teachers from all Bavarian universities who have already confirmed their attendance. The motto of the Teaching Day at the University of Bayreuth is "Next Level Digital Teaching".

"With our Teaching Day, we have placed a focus on innovative teaching formats with extended reality and are facing up to the challenges currently posed by developments in artificial intelligence. We want to give lecturers and students new impulses to reflect on and use innovative teaching methods. We want to take a positive critical look at this and further develop the methods at the University of Bayreuth in dialogue with the students," says Prof. Dr. Martin Huber, Vice President Teaching and Students at the University of Bayreuth, and adds: "We are very pleased that we can do this in exchange with the Bavarian Minister of Science."

On 28 April, the University of Bayreuth will show how various dimensions of AI and XR will change the future of teaching. Extended Reality offers new possibilities of visualisation in teaching with VR and AR glasses, which will be illuminated by scientists and students. Visitors are invited to try out the modern AR and VR glasses with Bayreuth teaching materials at experiment stations and to programme them interactively on site. Teachers will report on teaching projects with students using AI and XR. A poster session by and with the award winners about their visions for university teaching and their "next level" in teaching will round off the day.

"Heroes of Teaching"

With the prize for good teaching the Bavarian State Ministry of Science and the Arts annually recognises the work of the best teachers at Bavarian state universities. The award makes it clear that teaching is on an equal footing with research tasks. The award is endowed with 5,000 euros each. With the presentation of the award certificates for the years 2021 and 2022, the award ceremony will take place for the 23rd time.

The award winners are nominated by their home university. The students are involved in this decision. The prerequisite for receiving the award is an outstanding teaching performance over the course of at least two academic years at a university in Bavaria.

UBT

The award for 2022 goes to Dr. Adrian Roßner, formerly a staff member at the Institute of Franconian Regional History and in the Quality Offensive Teacher Education, now project coordinator for the Speinshart Monastery Science Centre. As a lecturer in his seminar "Digital Teaching in English Classes", he is regarded on campus as an expert in the field of digital teaching methods. If you talk to students about Mr Roßner, two things in particular are often highlighted: Firstly, his extremely humorous and respectful way of dealing with students, and secondly, his ability to present the content of his seminars in a forceful and always comprehensible manner. Adrian Roßner's particular strengths: He always supports students with motivation and help. One requirement in his seminar is to produce videos, record podcasts or write blogs yourself. In doing so, Adrian Roßner draws on his experience in the media: he produces the series "Gschichtla" about the history of Franconia for Bayerischer Rundfunk. Students sum up Dr Roßner's teaching like this: "Funny, insightful and profitable in the long run."

Uni Passau

Prof. Dr. Brian Valerius, then Chair of Criminal Law II at the University of Bayreuth and since October 2022 Chair of Artificial Intelligence in Criminal Law at the University of Passau, had already been awarded the prize the year before. He was nominated for his examiner course on the special part of criminal law in Bayreuth. The members of the selection committee were particularly convinced by the fact that Prof. Valerius provides two podcasts on each topic as well as detailed materials for self-learning in addition to the normal course held via Zoom. He also presented the content of the course in a well-structured manner and constantly involved the students via learning control questions. He also dealt intensively with feedback: after the evaluations of the first digital semester, he changed his concept so that the teaching better met the needs of the students. In some cases, improvements were made after criticism even during the course.

Agenda

10:00 a.m.: Start of the event in H24
Welcome by Prof. Dr. Stefan Leible, University President
"The future of teaching at UBT" by Prof. Dr. Martin Huber, Vice President Teaching and Students

Keynotes on the topic of "Artificial Intelligence

Prof. Dr. Niklas Kühl (Chair of Business Informatics and Human-Centred Artificial Intelligence)
Prof. Dr. Agnes Koschmider (Chair of Business Informatics and Process Analytics)
Felix Kaiser, Deputy Chairman of the Student Parliament
Dr. Max Mayer, research associate at the Assistant at the Chair of Business Administration and Taxation
Prof. Dr. Susanne Tittlbach, Vice President for Digital Affairs and Sustainability

12:00 a.m.: XR experiment stations (try out AR and VR glasses with Bayreuth teaching materials and programme them interactively)

1 p.a.: Teachers report on teaching projects with students using AI and XR

1:45 p.m.: Ceremonial presentation of the "University Teaching Certificates of the Bavarian Universities" by Vice President Prof. Dr. Martin Huber

2 p.m.: Workshops in the form of exchange discussions between teachers and students

3:00 p.m.: Ceremonial presentation of the "Prizes for Good Teaching" to the prize winners of the years 2021 and 2022 with Minister of State Markus Blume

Keynote on XR media with

Prof. Dr. Holger Ruckdäschel (Chair of Polymer Materials)
Prof. Dr. Jochen Koubek (Applied Media Science: Digital Media)

5 p.m.: Reception with Minister of State Markus Blume

Poster session by and with the award winners of the 2021 and 2022 Award for Outstanding Teaching in Bavaria on the question of what visions they have for their own university teaching by 2030 or what their "next level" in teaching would be.

Dr. Frank Meyer
Director of Centre for Learning and Teaching in Higher Education

Teaching Day at the University of Bayreuth

"Heroes of Teaching"

Dr. Frank MeyerDirector of Centre for Learning and Teaching in Higher Education

Anja-Maria MeisterPR Spokesperson University of Bayreuth

Dr. Frank Meyer
Director of Centre for Learning and Teaching in Higher Education

Anja-Maria Meister
PR Spokesperson University of Bayreuth