Goals and Core Areas
Goal of the Excellent Teaching Future Strategy
Vision
RWTH Aachen is pursuing the vision to ensure excellent teaching for the long term, that places students and the variety among them at the focus, while simultaneously maintaining an integrative research focus.
Mission
The innovative teaching and learning strategies should ensure that at least 75 percent of students in a beginning cohort, to whom university studies were recommended, successfully complete their studies. This goal should be achieved in ten years at the latest, without RWTH Aachen lowering its exisiting quality standard. Linked to this is the goal, to offfer graduates of the university outstanding career prospects in leadership and management positions in science and the economy. Stronger identification of students with their university is also simultaneously strived for.
Related Topic
Visit the platform for the generation of creative ideas of future teaching and learning methods at RWTH Aachen.
Four Core Areas
Since the beginning of 2010, representatives from all groups at the university have started to implement the goals of the excellent teaching future strategy. Four core areas are accompanied by core area coordinators, in order to communicate the preliminary results of work groups in the university and to network with each other and compare content within the framework of quality circles.
RWTH Aachen's teaching and learning development strategy is tailored to the students' needs and comprises four strategic core ares of activity.
Students
In the Students core area the focus will be on developing measures better to prepare prospective and first-year students for university life and learning. Young students who embark upon university life and education are to be provided with better information, will be matched up with mentors, and have to take self assessment tests which provide them with information on their strengths and weaknesses.
Teaching Staff
In the Teaching Staff core area the focus lies on measures to secure and develop the teaching competence not only of professors, but also of lecturers, teaching assistants, and student tutors.
Teaching and Learning Concepts
The Teaching and Learning Concepts core area is concerned with new concepts for preparatory courses, extended blended learning approaches in university teaching, and enhanced group and project work opportunities for students. In order to attain these goals, at the beginning of 2010, a so-called Exploratory Teaching Space (ETS) was established, i.e. an environment conducive to developing innovative teaching and learning concepts.
Structure and Organization
The teams in the fourth core area Structure and Organzation work on the structural and organisational framework for the various quality improvement measures in the area of teaching and learning. They also seek to enhance the quality of education by introducing incentives and rewards for excellent teaching. Further, the positions of the Vice Rectorate for Teaching and the Deans of Studies are to be strengthened and their responsibilities to be clearly defined.