Creative and practice-related teaching

Literature seminars with authors, public speaking trainer and actors for students of German Studies; and an inter-professional training ward for nursing care staff and doctors at the Children’s Hospital: The University of Freiburg has given its teaching prize of 70,000 euros, the Instructional Development Award (IDA), to two projects. The projects run for a maximum of 18 months and begin on 1 October 2018. In this time, the money is available to the prizewinners to use for their projects. For instance they can use it to engage someone else to take over their classes or to hire research assistants or temporary staff. The funding comes from the German government program, Qualitätspakt Lehre.

Professor Dr. Martina Backes and Professor Dr. Weertje Willms (Institut für Germanistische Mediävistik and Institut für Neuere Deutsche Literatur): “Creative Writing. An innovative course concept on teachers who conduct research, with practical relevance in cooperation with the Literaturhaus Freiburg”

Linking creative practical work with academic reflection while offering insights into literature as a business - this teaching and learning project in German Studies offers student the opportunity to explore and develop the potential of their own writing and their academic consideration of them. The students gain creative writing skills in several block seminars. Guided by authors, they are given topics and reflect on them using literary-criticism categories. The students take the texts they write and stage them: With the support of actors and public speaking trainers, they develop ideas for a play, which they then rehearse and present at an evening event at the Literaturhaus Freiburg. Working with the Literaturhaus also gives the students the chance of having their own input into this kind of production. The seminar is intended to become a permanent fixture in the German Studies Master’s programs in literary criticism - and to be expanded to include other departments where possible.

Professor Dr. Ute Spiekerkötter, Professor Dr. Andrea Heinzmann and Dr. Sebastian Bode (Freiburg Medical Center): “Implementing an inter-professional training ward (IPAPÄD) at the University Children’s Hospital - Department of Pediatrics”

Close cooperation between nursing staff and doctors is essential to treat and care for patients in the clinical environment. The project to implement an inter-professional training ward (IPAPÄD) at the Freiburg University Children’s Hospital - Department of Pediatrics places its focus on joint learning by trainees in nursing and pediatric care and medical students in their residency year.  Under the guidance of experts who work in the fields, they treat and care for patients and their parents, developing inter-professional and professional skills. Participants also attend an introductory event, emergency and reanimation training as well as peer teaching units, which nursing staff and doctors hold jointly. Students and trainees keep personal “learning journals” during their time at the training ward; that way they can record their progress and reflect on it. This project, unique in German pediatrics, makes an important contribution to the development of skills such as inter-professional communication, feedback and team work - all of which are key in participants’ later working lives. It is to be permanently adopted into pediatric training at the Freiburg Medical Center.

The University of Freiburg has published a collection of articles about early IDA projects:

Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg (Hg.): Kreativ, Innovativ, Motivierend – Lehrkonzepte in der Praxis. Der Instructional Development Award (IDA) der Universität Freiburg. Bielefeld 2016.