Werkstatt Lehre takes place twice a year, during the semester breaks in March and September, with both online and on-campus activities. “Teaching staff are looking for support and new ideas, especially during this time of year as they prepare for the next semester,” Julie Direnga explains. This is where Werkstatt Lehre comes in. It provides a space for university teachers to share ideas and experiences, hold discussions, and develop and test new teaching methods. “The topics of the individual workshops are based on the needs of the teaching staff, which we survey beforehand,” adds Franziska Richter. Werkstatt Lehre was initiated in 2023 by the SKILL-UB project (student-centered, collaborative, innovative teaching and learning at the University of Bremen) in cooperation with several university institutions such as Studierwerkstatt, the Office for University Didactics, the Center for Multimedia in Higher Education (ZMML), and the Bremen State and University Library (SuUB).

Focus on Attitudes and Roles in Teaching

The current focus on attitudes and roles in teaching is a response to a frequently expressed wish of university teaching staff. “Many teaching staff want to rethink their approach in order to be more responsive to students and their needs,” Gabi Meihswinkel explains. Reflecting on the inherent value of their work also plays a central role. The Studierwerkstatt employee asserts that teaching concepts need to be reconsidered and the role of the teacher redefined, especially in the wake of the accelerated digitalization caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. One central approach here is “unconditional teaching,” which is relationship-oriented teaching. “It is clear that relationships play an essential role in teaching and learning situations. Teaching involves more than just imparting knowledge or using the right tools; it is also crucial that teaching staff members are approachable,” Gabi Meihswinkel explains.

A “Safe to Fail” Culture, Examinations, AI, and Much More

In 45- and 90-minute workshops, participants explore a “safe to fail” culture in teaching and examination settings, allowing students to feel a sense of learning success rather than frustration. Another workshop tackles the question of how to communicate successfully with students, especially during office hours and in email interactions. The SKILL-UB project presents a new, playful approach that participants can integrate into their own teaching. Julie Direnga explains that the game “Mensch, was brauchst du?” (What do you need?) was developed to give teaching staff a way to encourage students to reflect on their expectations of the course and talk about them in an relaxed setting. In addition to the workshops on the key topic, there will be sessions on different aspects of university teaching. The online event “Help, AI has eaten my exam strategy” will address the question of whether and how teaching staff can redesign their assignments and exams in response to the availability of generative AI. Workshop participants at SuUB can unwind and chat with other participants over a warm drink on the ground floor, where the Werkstatt-Café will be open all event long. A special highlight awaits participating teaching staff with a completely new item on the program. “For the first time, we’re offering peer-to-peer workspaces. There, participants can follow up on the ideas from the workshops directly on site with the support of colleagues and work intensively on their own teaching concepts.”

Werkstatt Lehre on March 10 and 11, 2025

The workshops will take place from 9 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. either online or on site at SuUB. The two-day event will be opened by the Vice President for Teaching and Studies, Professor Maren Petersen. This year’s keynote speaker is Professor Norman Sieroka, who will discuss the importance of a student-centered approach to teaching based on his many years of interdisciplinary work in philosophy and physics. All teaching staff are invited to attend either individual sessions or the entire event on both days. Teaching staff members and interested employees of the University of Bremen can register via Stud.IP for the event program visit. (in German only)

Werkstatt Lehre is organized by the SKILL-UB project (student-centered, collaborative, innovative teaching and learning at the University of Bremen) which is funded by the Stiftung Innovation in der Hochschullehre (Foundation for Innovation in Higher Education), in cooperation with the Center for Multimedia in Higher Education (ZMML), Studierwerkstatt, the Office for University Didactics, and the Bremen State and University Library (SuUB).