JGU concept for the consistent further development of teaching skills integrates systematic staff development and innovative elements of a learning organization
23.04.2010
Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) received the Rhineland-Palatinate Award for Teaching Excellence for its concept of strategic alignment of teaching and the consistent further development of teaching skills. "We are delighted to have received this award," says the President of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Professor Dr. Georg Krausch. "It confirms both the measures already introduced to further improve teaching at our university as well as the concept and projects to develop a uniform teaching strategy which we have been fielding since the 2009 summer semester." With approximately 34,600 students from more than 130 countries, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz is the largest university in Rhineland-Palatinate and currently the sixth largest university in the Federal Republic of Germany. "The university is committed to its mission of 'making people ready for the future'," the President continues. "And that is why we see teaching as the area where the skills and knowledge vital for the future must be conveyed. To fulfill this mission, the university has been subjecting its teaching performance to an intensive review process over the last 10 years, and this has led to a uniform teaching strategy which the University Senate is to adopt in the upcoming winter semester." The JGU Center for Quality Assurance and Development, with its many years of experience in quality assurance in research and teaching, will monitor this process with a broad range of quality assurance measures.
The Learning Organization – A Forum for Learning and Teaching
The JGU concept of the strategic alignment of teaching and the continuous development of teaching skills encompasses the entire university with its various faculty cultures and includes systematic staff development policies. In addition, the jury noted that the combination of existing and new participatory elements in teaching was particularly innovative. "Our staff development project addresses elements of a modern learning organization, " says Professor Dr. Mechthild Dreyer, the President's delegate for the JGU's Pro Humanities and Social Sciences" project, in the context of which the Excellence Award-winning project was developed. "On the one hand, teaching has become a tangible issue discussed among staff members; on the other hand, skills already inherent within the university can be used in a more systematic fashion than was previously the case."
The innovative elements of the concept include, for example, teaching staff attending lectures and seminars held by colleagues, and then subjecting these mutual visits to an expert higher education didactic evaluation and documentation process, which is then discussed within a Forum for Teaching and Learning and supplemented by a series of workshops on the topic of quality management in business and science. Starting with the subjects of History, German Studies, and Biology, the consistent further development of teaching skills will be gradually extended to all subjects and university faculties. "Via this process, we can achieve systematic knowledge and develop best practices. We can also use mutual experience to stabilize and relativize the practical elements of teaching," says Dreyer.
JGU has already initiated a series of measures to continuously improve teaching conditions over recent years. These include its Library Program amounting to €3 million and the facilitation of study programs free of overlap as far as possible, particularly as part of the introduction of new teacher training courses and quality assurance measures for teaching initiated by JGU Center for Quality Assurance and Development.
Teaching at Mainz University
Teaching at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz is distinguished by the breadth of disciplines offered, its interdisciplinary potential, its internationality, and the manner in which it incorporates research into teaching. Being a comprehensive university, JGU is therefore able to offer various forms of interdisciplinary teaching and learning across its wide range of subjects. Furthermore, by internationally orienting its courses and facilitating international teaching cooperation and student exchange, JGU can offer its students various opportunities to experience international and cross-cultural exposure and interrelate with other cultures.
JGU's established structure to support young researchers is seminal in all teaching and research initiatives. In addition, the university is committed to crossing institutional boundaries. Its cooperation with the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry and the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, both located on the university campus, the Mainz University of Applied Sciences, and the Roman-Germanic Central Museum gives JGU students the opportunity to become acquainted with science in various institutional settings.
University President Professor Dr. Georg Krausch believes the State of Rhineland-Palatinate's Excellence Competition for Learning and Teaching is important in ensuring quality assurance within learning and teaching: "One of the core tasks of every university is to offer students the best conditions for learning possible. We see this as a dual responsibility. We have a responsibility towards our students, as we must provide them with an optimal education so they can have the best start possible in their future professional careers. And we have a responsibility towards society, as today's students are tomorrow's leaders and decision makers. Within our overall quality assurance program, the continuous development of quality in learning and teaching has therefore great significance."