In the new project dedicated to XR in teaching, the Polymer Materials research group and the Centre for Learning and Teaching in Higher Education (FBZHL) will be taking a new approach. The Innovation in Higher Education Teaching Foundation is funding the development and testing of new teaching strategies with "Freiraum 2022". The Bayreuth project is set to run from 1 September 2022 to 31 August 2023 and will include over 180,000 euros in funding. This funding will cover both the conception and the implementation of the events that deal with technology-based experiences in teaching.
"With the help of this funding, we at the University of Bayreuth can take an important innovative step in the area of digitally supported teaching," said Dr. Frank Meyer, Director of FBZHL. "The coronavirus pandemic is not the only reason we have seen that it is becoming increasingly important to design digital resources in university teaching. A society that is becoming more digital requires teachers, and also students, to know XR."
XR is a generic term for technologies such as virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) and mixed reality (MR). In the project, XR application scenarios (with, for example, mixed reality glasses for 3D projection) in blended learning (the combination of computer-supported learning and classical teaching) are to be developed, tested and evaluated together with students. Didactic recommendations are to be derived from this and made available campus-wide beyond the Polymer Materials research group. FBZHL is also developing further education formats in the project. "It is a great opportunity for my team that we can acquire this technology and now also try it out and introduce it in teaching," said Prof. Dr.-Ing. Holger Ruckdäschel, Chair of Polymer Materials. "We already use digital technologies and augmented reality in our application-oriented research. XR in teaching creates the basis for transfer to students and is thus an important building block for their professional careers."
FBZHL already offers lecturers at the University of Bayreuth various opportunities to develop their teaching individually. The programme on teaching in higher education includes counselling and coaching as well as various self-study courses. In the future, training units on XR in teaching will be added to the courses for lecturers.
