TU Dresden Senate decides to introduce a time slot model in the teaching degree program

At its meeting on April 12, 2023, the Senate of TU Dresden decided to introduce a time slot model for the overlap-free planning of teaching in teacher training courses for the winter semester 2023/24. The decision was preceded by seven years of thorough consideration of approaches to overlap-free planning at universities as part of the "Synergetic Teacher Education" (TUD-Sylber) project, which is funded by the Federal and State governments as part of the Teacher Education Quality Initiative. The key points for the model were developed in close cooperation with the university management, the Faculties, the timetable and room planners and the Central University Administration.

Due to the high complexity of teacher training - more than 300 subject combinations can be studied at TU Dresden alone - students are often faced with overlapping courses. In the worst case scenario, this leads to an extension of the duration of studies, as courses cannot be attended as planned, or even to students dropping out. The urgency of this is also confirmed by students in a survey conducted by the ZLSB, in which 80% of them stated that they were affected by overlaps in their studies, 45% of them frequently to very frequently.

Better coordination between the timetable planners of the 17 Faculties alone is not enough to avoid overlaps in the teaching degree. This requires more complex mathematical approaches to course planning, such as time slot models, with which other universities have already had very good experience for many years. The project team in the Teacher Academic Affairs Office has also exchanged ideas on this in the nationwide network "Overlap-free students at universities". Finally, TU Dresden commissioned Prof. Kreuzer, Professor of Mathematics at the University of Hamburg, to create the model. His approach combines a good mix of concrete time specifications and possible leeway that planners can use individually. The subjects were divided into subject groups and each group was given core and optional times that can be freely planned.

In several discussion drafts, the Academic Affairs Office team tailored the model to the needs of TU Dresden in collaboration with Prof. Kreuzer. These included the consideration of laboratory and workshop times, times for events spanning several academic years, the study days of lateral entrants as well as times for committees and individual subject requirements. A model was achieved which, with appropriate planning of the subjects, enables 100 percent overlap-free teaching in the teaching profession at elementary school, 97.4 percent in the teaching professions at secondary schools and grammar schools and 94.3 percent overlap-free teaching in the teaching profession at vocational schools.

An advisory board has accompanied the various development phases and supported the coordination with the Faculties and the university management. Now the model has to prove itself in practice. The experience gained will be evaluated and incorporated into further optimization. Even if many existing times could be taken into account in the development of the model, its introduction will initially lead to a change in familiar times in one place or another. In the long term, however, it will create more predictability and, it is hoped by all involved, better study conditions for the 4,000 student teachers at TU Dresden.

Contact persons and further information:
Teacher Training Academic Affairs Office: Overlap-free studies
TUD-Sylber sub-project 2: Non-overlapping studies and student communication