Project structure
A teaching strategy for TU Dresden
Using the teaching mission statement, vision for teaching, and Future Labs as a basis, the Vice Rector Academic Affairs and the Teaching Strategy Team have formulated work assignments and forwarded them to initiators. They presented their ideas for tackling these tasks in one of the three working groups. This resulted in 30 proposed solutions, which were presented to members of TUD. The Teaching Strategy Board recommends proposals for further processing. The resulting action plans will be iteratively presented to all stakeholders this year and, following feedback rounds, will be submitted to the committees. The goal is to develop a teaching strategy for the entire TUD.
Action plans and feedback loops
The project team will develop a uniform working paper for the sTUDies 3.0 teaching strategy by June 2024. This document contains the action plans developed on the basis of the proposals recommended by the Teaching Strategy Board and the comments of the university members. The proposals were developed in 2023 by three working groups made up of representatives of all TUD members. The Teaching Strategy Board is tasked with deciding which proposals should be recommended for development into action plans before they are submitted to the relevant TU Dresden committees. This is followed by a presentation to the Extended University Executive Board of TU Dresden as well as several feedback loops with various status groups and in the Standing Committee of the Senate on Teaching. The document, incorporating all feedback and stakeholder input, will be presented to the Senate in the second half of the year. The aim is to have a teaching strategy for TU Dresden adopted by the Senate in December 2024.
30 proposed solutions for the development of our teaching
In 2023 three working groups made up of representatives of all TUD members created 30 proposals. These proposals will be translated into action plans for the teaching strategy in the first half of 2024 with the involvement of the TUD public, provided they have been recommended for development by the Teaching Strategy Board. The document will then be sent for feedback meetings with various stakeholders and in the Standing Committee of the Senate on Teaching for discussion and completion. Only then will it be submitted to the Senate for discussion and, subsequently, for the passing of a resolution.
Agile and university-wide
The Teaching Strategy Team used agile working methods to develop the proposals for the development of teaching. A meeting structure designed according to the SCRUM method formed the basis of the work cycles (sprints). The proposal made by the working groups were based on the proposals made by the initiators. These outlined an initial idea of how to expand certain development areas, or whether they should be implemented at all. At the beginning of each work cycle, the initiators gave a presentation outlining their idea to the teaching strategy working groups. The members of the working groups reviewed the approach from the perspective of each group at the university and either developed the ideas or adopted them without major changes. This phase resulted in proposals that were open for commentary by anyone at TUD.
Who is involved in the project?
Project Officer Corinna Zimmermann supports and oversees the overall teaching strategy development process together with Helene Krmasch and Evamaria Moore. The process brings together representatives of all TU Dresden status groups and schools involved in teaching to develop ideas and initiatives together. In this way, the Teaching Strategy Team intends to adapt teaching to the requirements of a leading global university of the 21st century.
Initiators are university members with experience and expertise in one of the areas activity of the teaching mission statement. This can include students as well as technical and administrative staff. The initiators were selected on the basis of their expertise (experience and knowledge) in the various facets of teaching, which provides a good basis for identifying potential for shaping teaching at TUD. The initiators were responsible for developing initial solutions as they arose from the teaching mission statement or in the Teaching Future Lab.
A working group comprises a maximum of twelve university members who have experience and knowledge in the areas of activity of the teaching mission statement. They were invited by the Vice Rector Academic Affairs to join the working group and represent all members of the university. In total, three working groups were established to form the heart of participative strategy development. Based on the preparatory work carried out by the initiators, they developed proposals for the continued development and future-oriented organization of teaching.
The Teaching Strategy Board is composed of 12 members representing all university groups and one external student. The participation of representatives from all Schools and university members is an integral part of ensuring the long-term success of the Committee and the sustainable development of the teaching strategy. As a decision-making body, the Teaching Strategy Board brings together all structural, procedural and content-related proposals and initiatives that emerged from the solutions developed by the groups in order to develop a sustainable, targeted sTUDies 3.0 teaching strategy. The Board is convened by the Extended University Executive Board. The Board subsequently advises on the proposed approaches and offers recommendations to the appropriate committees for measures in the area of teaching.
The proposals developed by the working groups in 2023 will be presented to the Teaching Strategy Board by the project team. The Board makes the decision about which proposals will ultimately be submitted to the legislative committees such as the Standing Committee of the Senate on Teaching and the Senate at TU Dresden. If these decide to adopt the proposed measures, the decision-making process comes to a conclusion and a resolution is drafted, which follows the specific structural implementation.
Background
In pursuit of the teaching mission statement and an enduring plan for university teaching, the Vice-Rector Academic Affairs and the sTUDies 3.0 teaching strategy team have been creating structures for ensuring the continual development and refinement of teaching at TU Dresden since 2022. Find out more about the background and objectives of the sTUDies 3.0 teaching strategy program.