Funding for Digital Innovations in Teaching

The learning outcome is to acquire knowledge about applying cost accounting and income statement systems as they are used in business practice. This particularly includes the use of various calculation schemes (e.g., calculating product costing, for cost center accounting or for determining key figures in income statements).. Experience has shown that the time required to learn these calculation methods differs greatly. To overcome the resulting challenges in the lecture, learning videos that focus precisely on these calculation methods are provided. The students can watch these videos as often as needed. This ensures that the level of knowledge is the same for everyone. The discussion in the lectures can focus on the particularly difficult aspects that concern the interpretation of the results rather than the technique of the calculation method.

The experience confirms: Learning videos are very popular and commonly used – on average, each registered student watches an educational video 1.2 times. In addition to the learning videos, online quizzes that pick up on the content are integrated. They do not only provide feedback for students, but also give the teacher a better understanding of how well prepared the participants are.

Considering the increasing focus on evidence in professionalizing teachers, it is necessary to teach prospective teachers the most important tools for dealing with data during their education. Due to the growing relevance of evaluations in schools, basic statistical knowledge is becoming increasingly important and is needed to analyze evaluation results. Although data literacy is becoming increasingly relevant, there are still few courses for prospective teachers in this area and little research on the effectiveness of existing classes in terms of improving the students' competencies. This is where DATA comes in and develops a seminar concept to acquire data literacy competencies for students enrolled in a Teacher Education program. In the spring semester 2019, this seminar was offered at the School of Social Sciences for the first time.

In the seminars, being self-aware while dealing with data plays a special role to help overcome any fears: The students need to learn that it is possible for them to understand and independently apply statistical methods. For this purpose, the seminar for the independent application of empirical research methods was developed for two levels of difficulty (Bachelor of Education program, Master of Education program). The aim is to learn about empirical findings and methods and to explore their applicability in the educational context. The aims of the further development are (1) digitally improving and supporting the two seminars through target group-oriented learning videos. In addition to the methodological and content-related development of the seminars, (2) an extended evaluation should help to measure the students' improved competencies and thus continuously develop the seminar further.

Im Rahmen der Seminare spielt Selbsterfahrung im kompetenten Umgang mit Daten eine besondere Rolle um Berührungsängste abzubauen: Die Studierenden sollen lernen, dass es ihnen möglich ist, statistische Methoden zu verstehen und selbstständig anzuwenden. Hierzu wurden das Seminarkonzept zur eigenständigen Anwendung empirischer Forschungsmethoden in zwei Schwierigkeitsstufen (Bachelor of Education, Master of Education) entwickelt. Ziel ist es, empirische Befunde und Methoden kennenzulernen und sich mit der Anwendbarkeit im Bildungskontext auseinanderzusetzen. Ziele der Weiterentwicklung sind (1) die digitale Aufwertung und Unterstützung der beiden Seminare durch adressatengerechte Lernvideos. Darüber hinaus soll neben der methodischen und inhaltlichen Weiterentwicklung der Seminare (2) eine erweiterte Evaluation dabei helfen, den Kompetenzzuwachs der Studierenden zu messen und das Seminar so kontinuierlich weiterzuentwickeln.

The project aims to teach students enrolled in the Germanic Linguistics program how to work with learner corpora. Learner corpora are digital and linguistically enriched collections of data produced by learners of a language. The focus of this project lies on data from people who learn German as a second/foreign language.

Learner corpora have become an increasingly important data basis for empirical research on the acquisition of second and foreign languages. In linguistic programs, the acquisition of knowledge about dealing with such digital data collections and their use is becoming increasingly important.

The project focuses on data collection, preparation and analysis in learner corpora and aims to teach students' “digital data literacy”. The focus of the planned course lies on dealing with the learning content through in-depth practical work.

The course has two focus areas: 1. The transfer of knowledge about the structure and linguistic processing of learner corpora as well as the related challenges and solutions. 2. Working with (open access) learner corpora, i.e. the collection, analysis, and evaluation of available digital data. The teaching materials created (e.g. exercises and explanatory graphics) are intended to support the development of “digital data literacy”. Selected teaching materials are then published as open educational resources (OER) in the Central Repository for OER of higher education in Baden-Württemberg (ZOERR). The project is evaluated with a mobile quiz on basic terms and concepts and an examination in which students empirically work on linguistic topics based on a learner corpus.

Lesson planning is considered the 'core business' of teachers and plays an essential role for the quality of schools and lessons as well as for the development of teaching professionalism in several aspects. Lesson planning also plays a key role as a strategic 'bottleneck' in the diffusion of innovations. It is the interface at which new concepts can be translated into action plans for teachers and become effective in everyday school life. This is particularly true against the backdrop of current reforms in vocational education and training, which are characterized, for example, by the increased integration of online teaching and learning arrangements.

The project aims to promote both the willingness and the ability to adequately integrate online teaching and learning arrangements into lesson planning among students of Economic and Business Education.

The project is being implemented as part of a long-established seminar in Economic and Business Education on the design of business learning environments. The seminar will be further developed as a flipped or inverted classroom so that students can experience the benefits and potential design forms of online teaching and learning arrangements as early as possible in their own university learning process. Interactive learning videos are used here in particular. Learning materials will also be developed for the seminar. The materials will address the application possibilities of digital tools in commercial vocational education and training as well as their technical handling.

The logic exercise courses “Thinking and Arguing” and “Formal Logic” are cornerstones of the Philosophy programs at the University of Mannheim. The reflection and argumentation skills taught here are the basis for dealing with philosophical texts and theories and are of great importance for many other disciplines.

To optimize the exercise conditions and exam preparation, Ilias exercise modules are to be created and implemented as part of the “Digital Logic” project, in addition to the existing tutorials. Such practice modules allow students to deepen their knowledge of the course content in a flexible way and receive immediate feedback.

The sustainability of the project is particularly noteworthy. Once implemented, the Ilias exercise modules are permanently available to support regular courses. Due to these advantages, the “Digital Logic” project is intended to serve as a model for digitally supporting the philosophy curriculum beyond the field of logic. 

The project “Digitalizing the teaching of nonprofit management” aims to provide students with a practice-oriented, interactive and at the same time academic introduction to the management of nonprofit organizations. Students will focus on the special features and challenges of an increasingly professionalized and growing non-profit sector based on the different management functions of Governance, Human Resources, Marketing, Fundraising and Finance.

The project consists of a series of lectures with digitally provided short videos, a practical lecture and five exercise courses that will take place on campus. In the exercise course, case studies and management simulations are used to transfer the basics to the practice of non-profit organizations. Students will critically assess and discuss digital donation campaigns and marketing measures. Building on this, students work in groups to develop an analysis portfolio on the concepts and measures of a nonprofit organization based on the information available on the websites regarding the explained management functions of Governance, Human Resources, Marketing, Fundraising and Finance.

The course in Business and Corporate Taxation in Europe (TAX470) is part of the International Business Education Alliance (IBEA) study option in the Bachelor's Program in Business Administration. TAX 470 is composed of lectures and a case study presented by corporate partners from the Big Four. At the end of the course, the students learn how to evaluate the tax consequences when undertaking national and international financing and investment decisions and how to identify key tax issues that affect international transactions.

In the lecture part, we already included substantial elements of digitalization thanks to MOOC videos used to introduce the students to basic concepts on company taxation and are uploaded in the eLearning group in ILIAS one month before the first lecture starts. From the Spring Semester 2020 on, we plan to increase the level of digitalization in the case study part of the course. In particular, we aim at introducing three new distinctive digital elements: recorded videos, a cloud platform and conference calls. These three elements will increase the interaction of our students with corporate partners as well as will enhance our internal supervision with the help of carefully selected digital solutions.

This fall semester, the first step to enhance the level of digitalization of the case study started. In particular, a 30-minute video has been prepared where the key tax concepts needed to solve the case study were presented. Thanks to the availability of this video, each team can address the work on solving the case study according to their individual learning preferences. From 2021 on, we plan to use a cloud platform where all the material for the case study will be handled and we plan to implement a system of conference calls with the corporate partners. The use of a cloud platform represents a valuable solution to support the students in selecting the correct literature needed to solve the case study. While the use of conference calls with each team would create a stronger link between our students and the involved companies. Additionally, this element allows students to gain valuable experience for their professional career as they learn how to interact professionally with their business counterparts via conference sessions.

In the module “Fundamentals of External Accounting” (GeR), around 1,000 students from a wide range of bachelor's programs who are taking Business Administration as a minor acquire a sound knowledge of bookkeeping and accounting techniques as well as a basic understanding of the principles of proper accounting.

Due to the high number of students, the need for greater interaction with the course participants is becoming apparent, despite the large number of tutorials on offer. Experience has also shown that it is not easy for students from non-specialist backgrounds to familiarize themselves with the subject matter of the course. For these reasons, a concept for digitally upgrading the course has been tested since the spring/summer semester 2020. In addition to the regular use of mobile comprehension queries using QR codes in the face-to-face courses and the weekly offer of an in-depth examination of the course content via an online quiz, the concept focuses on organizing digital tutorials in the form of web seminars.

Like in the lecture and exercise courses, the large number of participants in the tutorials means that it is rare for students to speak, which means that the actual added value of a tutorial is lost. Supplementing face-to-face tutorials with two weekly digital tutorials enables participation without physical attendance and thus increases flexibility for students. Students can dial into the event using a computer or mobile devices. Participants in the digital tutorials can send questions anonymously to the tutor via chat. Tutors can integrate comprehension questions (single and multiple choice questions) with real-time evaluation at any time. In addition, tutors can obtain anonymous feedback on the respective course to adapt the didactic approach if necessary.

The “digital Cotutor” is an interactive learning system with several hundred learning questions. Questions are asked in multiple-choice format with varying answer options. They refer to textbook content and include links, arguments and misconceptions (in-depth, elaborative learning). For each incorrect answer option, there is a specific explanatory text that explains why this answer option was incorrect. The learning system repeats the questions depending on the learning history and provides feedback on learning success. The digital cotutor thus supports central cognitive and metacognitive learning strategies: distributed recall, repetition, elaboration, learning from mistakes, and success monitoring.

The digital cotutor records learning process data. It provides a performance index that calculates the “actual level” of knowledge based on the learning history. Furthermore, learning efficiency, the regularity of learning and the reading time spend on the explanatory texts can be determined. Te learning process data reflect actual learning behavior.

The digital cotutor was developed for and used in the lecture “Introduction to the Psychology of Education”. This lecture is attended by students of Teacher Education in their first semester. These students have heterogeneous learning requirements. The use of the digital cotutor was voluntary.

For the evaluation in the fall/winter semester 2019, average grades of the Abitur, questionnaire data on self-regulated learning (LIST-K, Klingsieck, 2018), learning process data, and exam results from the first exam of N = 177 students were available. The prediction of exam success was evaluated. The performance index was highly significantly related to exam success (r = -.48**) – the higher the performance index in the learning system, the better the exam grade. The digital cotutor therefore helped with understanding the learning content. The performance index was also predictive when the Abitur grade was included. In contrast, the questionnaire measure (LIST-K) showed no correlation with exam success (r = -.10, ns). This underlines the importance of data on actual learning behavior in researching and promoting learning strategies for students.

The “Introduction to Literary Studies” of the Department of German Studies is one of the basic courses offered by the department for students in undergraduate programs. As an orientation event – consisting of a lecture and tutorial – the course provides students of German Studies with terminological, theoretical-methodological, and fact-based basic knowledge in the field of Modern German Literature, which is indispensable for their further studies.

As part of the project, the teaching and learning content of this course was revised and an accompanying online module was redesigned. The aim of the project was to use e-learning tools to relieve classroom teaching of content that does not require discursive teaching. Students in the online module also learn specialist scientific skills, which are optimally acquired in practical and independent exercise units. The respective tutors are responsible for supervising the online module and students can contact them if they have any questions or difficulties understanding the content.

The online module comprises a total of eleven exercise units on the topics of editorial philology and researching and dealing with literature. If the exercise courses are not linked to the contents of the lecture, the necessary knowledge transfer will take place via secondary texts, but primarily it will take place via learning videos. In short sequences, for example, the bibliographic databases of the subject are presented and their use is explained on the basis of exemplary searches. The videos are made available to students across all semesters via the online platform Ilias and can thus be used repeatedly to prepare for a term paper in introductory or advanced seminars – for example, if you want to refresh your own knowledge of systematic literature research. The technical implementation and scope of the tasks are currently being revised based on student feedback.

As part of the “Podcasting Verfassungsrecht” project, podcasts on fundamental and current topics of German constitutional law and basic legal research were produced and published on the chair's YouTube channel. In addition to students, the target group included people interested in studying law at the University of Mannheim.

The topics of the videos were as follows:

1. Human dignity in three minutes.
2. Update constitutional law: The lower limit of the poverty line.
3. Update constitutional law: Limiting the “right to be forgotten” – The BVerfG relativizes data protection law.
4. Update constitutional law: An (almost) unrestricted “right to be forgotten” – The “Google Spain” ruling.

In addition, digital consultation hours were offered for the course “German Economic Constitutional Law”, the basic lecture in Public Law for students in the first semester. The students appreciated this offer a lot. The hope that the low-threshold online format would break down communication barriers that otherwise easily arise in large lectures with more than 200 participants was fulfilled.

The project has significantly increased the digital expertise of the team at the chair. This had the unexpected but all the more pleasing side effect that the chair was able to switch completely to online teaching immediately when face-to-face teaching was discontinued during the first “coronavirus lockdown” in March 2020. Not a single course had to be canceled and the announced dates of the lectures and study groups could be kept. The feedback of the students was very positive.

The production of short videos continues to be a valuable contribution to online teaching even after the return to face-to-face teaching. A format such as “Update Verfassungsrecht” also contributes to societal discourse and makes the University of Mannheim as a research location visible to the public.

Quantitative Methods (CC 303) is a first semester course in the bachelor's program with approximately 750 students per fall semester and a workload of 3 ECTS credits. In the course, students learn linear algebra and the basics of mathematical optimization. The very heterogeneous student body comes from the Culture and Economy programs, Business Administration and Economic and Business Education programs. Up to now, two lectures, five exercise courses and 25 tutorials have been offered each week. Students should attend one lecture, one exercise course and one tutorial.

The central component of the newly digitized course is the digital lecture on Ilias, which replaces a classroom lecture. The learning modules contain different videos with a length of five to 15 minutes for each topic. In addition, there are two test questions per learning module, which serve as independent checks for the students.

The core element is supported by three further supplementary elements:

• Bonus points: Within three days of the publication of the lecture, half a bonus point can be earned for the written exam by answering a question on the lecture material, allowing students to engage with the lecture in a timely manner.
• Mobile quiz For each exercise course, students solve two tasks independently and submit the answer using a mobile quiz, after which the correct solution is explained.
• Excel exercise courses: In addition to the examples in the lecture, some Excel tasks are covered in the tutorials and students are encouraged to solve them in the tutorial using their own computer. In addition, all solutions are documented as a video in another learning module.

The implementation was very well received by the students.

How can science be done in a more responsible way? The latest response from the European Union is RRI. The acronym stands for “Responsible Research and Innovation”. This is a concept that is already established in the natural sciences and even in STEM subjects. But please bear in mind: For historians, it has never been taken any further. So far. The aim of this seminar is therefore historical in both senses of the word: For the first time, proposals on how the RRI concept can be applied to history lessons in schools will be developed. 
Once the concept has been developed, we will link the concept to history lessons: To what extent are the central components of RRI already reflected in the competence orientation of history lessons? On the basis of these findings, the students develop their own projects and measures with mutual support on how pupils can learn study history responsibly. To this end, they will examine school history textbooks and the Baden-Württemberg curriculum, analyze and discuss the status quo and finally design a concrete project on how RRI could be integrated into history lessons.

The project aims to introduce students of law to the basics of academic writing and research. Experience shows that many students underestimate the difficulty of citing correctly. Exercises are designed to enable students to assess their own level of performance to identify any weaknesses at an early stage and remedy them.

Interested students can access and work on the learning materials independently via the University of Mannheim's e-learning platform Ilias. The team put great focus on presenting the legal academic approach not in abstract terms, but in a tangible way using specific problems students might encounter while preparing their bachelor's theses and term papers. Due to the strongly referential nature of jurisprudence, the focus of the learning modules is on the one hand on the correct citation of the sources used. Since students are also required to show a certain degree of creativity in organizing existing knowledge and developing new solutions, an additional module was created to raise awareness of plagiarism.

The e-learning modules contain yes/no questions from the cross-section of academic work, multiple-choice questions on the correct way to cite the individual categories of work and tasks in which plagiarism and non-plagiarism must be distinguished. Guidelines on academic working methods in the field of law are available for download in the Ilias group. Students can ask any questions in a forum.

The project aims to scientifically support an innovative course in the Master of Education program (Lehramt Gymnasium) at the University of Mannheim, which is located in the field of data literacy. The course has two objectives: (1) The course should demonstrably contribute to teaching data literacy. (2) In addition, the course is intended to positively influence the attitude of students in Teacher Education programs towards using performance data for their teaching. The factors of acceptance and perceived usefulness are particularly important here.

The didactic concept of the course is based on the approach of problem-oriented learning in real contexts to achieve a deeper theory-practice integration and reflection. It is important to make the concept of data literacy visible to students from both a theoretical and practical perspective. This is achieved, among other things, through implementing service-learning seminars in the curriculum which aim to strengthen theory-practice reflection by integrating theoretical, practical and reflective phases. The seminar focuses on heterogeneity and language diagnostics.

The effectiveness of the seminar will be tested in the fall/winter semester 2020 using a pre-/post-experimental and control group design. All students in the Master of Education program (in the first semester) should be included in the sample. The students who attend the BW3 seminar “Diagnostics in the classroom” are assigned to the experimental group. The remaining students are part of the control group. Effectiveness is measured by an increase in data literacy. In addition, the attitude towards, acceptance and perceived usefulness of reported student performance data is also recorded to check effectiveness.

What can students expect here?

Master's students in the Teacher Education programs who participate in this seminar can expect many new experiences, teaching and learning opportunities: The participants develop and test possible uses of digital media in the school and teaching context, apply the Flipped Classroom method, and can publish specially created teaching concepts as Open Educational Resources.

What does that look like?

In the first sessions, various relevant topics and content are presented and developed. Some of these seminar units take the form of flipped classrooms. This means that students work through the theoretical content independently at home with the help of learning videos so that they can then discuss and try it out in practice in the seminar sessions. Contents include theories of multimedia learning, design principles of digital media (especially learning videos), the concept of the Flipped Classroom and the idea of Open Educational Resources.

The students then work together to design 45-minute flipped classroom teaching units for upper secondary school pupils. The content of the units is agreed upon with the teachers at the cooperating schools in Mannheim. The principles of multimedia learning and flipped classrooms are to be observed and open tools are to be used. The participants test the designed teaching unit in the classroom and then reflected on it together.

Any revised teaching concepts and outlines are then made available to the respective teachers and schools as open educational materials. Publication on a suitable platform/repository is desired.