RSS feedhttps://ced.au.dk/en/viewen-gbThu, 28 Mar 2024 15:30:26 +0100Thu, 28 Mar 2024 15:30:26 +0100TYPO3 EXT:newsnews-61139Thu, 29 Feb 2024 09:02:12 +0100GAI cannot take humans out of the equationhttps://ced.au.dk/en/view/artikel/gai-cannot-take-humans-out-of-the-equationThere can be many benefits to incorporating generative artificial intelligence in teaching. However, GAI can be both incorrect and biased, which is why it is important that both teaching staff and students learn to use the technology correctly and in the right context. With the release of ChatGPT in November 2022, higher education institutions have been debating about how to incorporate Generative Artificial Intelligence (GAI) into education programmes. The easy access to GAI such as ChatGPT or Microsoft Copilot, poses opportunities but also challenges to teachers and higher education institutions.

“A major advantage, for example, is that GAI allows teachers to create more personalised educational content that would otherwise be too time-consuming. They can, for example, use GAI for learning analytics to then generate alternative examples, tasks or additional material tailored to students’ specific learning needs. A more personalised learning experience can improve students’ engagement and lead to deeper learning,” argues Christopher Neil Prilop who is an associate professor for applied learning technology at the CED.

“However, GAI also entail risks and challenges. For instance, GAI such as ChatGPT or Microsoft Copilot present their output with confidence although the information might be incorrect or biased. Hence, students must have sufficient domain knowledge to evaluate the output. Furthermore, the openly available Large Language Models are driven by commercial interests, which raises concerns about data privacy and security,“ he elaborates.

GAI demands AI literacy

Higher education teachers need to be able to navigate the potentials and challenges of using GAI in their teaching. First and foremost, teachers need to understand the technology as well as its limitations:

 “That includes students’ misconceptions. A study conducted by DJØF last year showed that a large number of students perceived GAI, like ChatGPT, as a search engine. This is exactly what GAI should not be used for as the chatbot generates output based on a statistical model. To put it bluntly, ChatGPT is a guessing machine that might present incorrect or biased information,” Tom Gislev Kjærsgaard emphasizes.

Tom Gislev Kjærsgaard is a development consultant at the CED. Together with Christian Winther Bech, who is an IT coordinator at the CED, he has held professional development courses about GAI for more than 600 members of staff at AU.  

”In the beginning, some teachers perceived GAI as a threat to education. Now they are seeing the potentials of GAI in relation to their educational practices,” Christian Winther Bech says.

He goes on to explain that to meaningfully implement GAI in teaching, teachers need to consider how they can mitigate possible risks such as students relying too much on GAI-generated answers. Both teachers and students require AI literacy to be able to make informed decisions.

Using GAI in feedback processes

A part of pedagogical AI literacy is to assess whether GAI tools can enhance students’ learning experience:

“GAI tools are exactly just that – tools – that have the potential to enhance students’ learning experience but might also entail detrimental effects. As with all educational technology, using GAI does not necessarily lead to learning. To enhance students’ learning experience, it is crucial to purposefully incorporate GAI in the learning process,” Christopher Neil Prilop points out.

One of Christopher Neil Prilop’s main research fields is feedback in digital environments. Feedback has been shown to be one of the most effective interventions that can be offered to students in higher education. However, providing students with high-quality feedback is demanding:

“Feedback processes are extremely time-consuming and add to the high workload of university teachers. That is why expert feedback by a teacher is only provided to a limited extent in higher education. Accordingly, there are already several research projects investigating to what extent GAI can be of assistance in providing feedback,” Christopher Neil Prilop says.

He adds that research shows that feedback provided by a GAI can outperform expert feedback on a surface level and that it is actually perceived as more trustworthy by students than expert feedback. Though these findings seem to offer a way to provide extensive feedback to the students, Christopher Neil Prilop has a different take on it:

“To me, these findings are actually more alarming than promising. Feedback processes are complex interactions. GAI does not perceive deeper meaning or context. That means the feedback will always be on a superficial, surface-structure level. GAI cannot take interpersonal factors into account. This can lead to feedback that does not take feedback recipients’ cognitive, meta-cognitive, or motivational disposition into account, which can entail limited feedback uptake.”

Although the higher level of trust in GAI feedback might be due to a novelty effect, it could also be based on students’ misconceptions of the technology. They might believe the information provided by GAI is 100% correct:

“If we think a machine can do the same or a better job than a human, it devalues feedback. As a result, students will place less value on feedback processes. We know that providing and receiving feedback makes students engage more with tasks and leads to deeper learning. So ‘outsourcing’ feedback, can be detrimental to students’ learning process. Consequently, GAI should be used to support and enhance feedback processes, not to take humans out of the equation,” Christopher Neil Prilop concludes.

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Knowledge exchangeNina Adolfsen 17091937321709193732
news-61103Mon, 26 Feb 2024 08:26:11 +0100New recommendations on the use of GAI at AUhttps://ced.au.dk/en/view/artikel/new-recommendations-on-the-use-of-gai-at-auIn the spring of 2023, AU's Committee on Education set up a working group to examine the challenges and opportunities associated with the use of generative artificial intelligence in educational contexts. A number of interesting recommendations have come out of this, which you can read about here. Knowledge exchangeNina Adolfsen 17089323711708932371news-61087Thu, 22 Feb 2024 10:33:03 +0100Using ChatGPT in teaching requires adjustment and subject matter knowledgehttps://ced.au.dk/en/view/artikel/using-chatgpt-in-teaching-requires-adjustment-and-subject-matter-knowledgeIn this article, Associate Professor Keld Pedersen shares his experiences with using ChatGPT as an integrated and intended part of his teaching. He explains how it is a useful tool for improving students’ workflows but emphasises the importance of using it in the right contexts.Keld Pedersen is an associate professor at the Department of Management. In the autumn semester of 2023, he started using ChatGPT in two of his courses: ‘Digital Fundamentals for Emergent Technologies’ in the Master's programme in business administration and 'Software Development' in the Master's programme in IT, Communication, and Organisation (ITKO).

The way in which he implemented ChatGPT in his courses was very different. In the ‘Software Development’ course, ChatGPT was intended to be used as a kind of supplementary instructor teaching. In ‘Digital Fundamentals for Emergent Technologies,’ the use of ChatGPT was more extensive and integrated into the teaching.

ChatGPT as an integrated part of the teaching

In the course ‘Digital Fundamentals for Emergent Technologies,’ ChatGPT was used both as part of the teaching and permitted to be used as part of the exam:

“It was a goal in itself that the students should use ChatGPT during the exam in the same way as it had been an integral part of the teaching," Keld Pedersen says.

In the ‘Digital Fundamentals for Emergent Technologies’ course, students are taught the theory behind various emerging technologies and how to implement these technologies in organisations. In addition, the students also test out the technologies themselves, for example, to generate programming code, find errors in code, or define specific quality specifications for a program.

According to Keld Pedersen, one of the major benefits of using ChatGPT as an integral part of teaching is that the tool can help students improve their work processes, such as the way they develop a program. It is not just a tool that can be used to generate the finished product.

He emphasises that using ChatGPT in teaching is not something that saves time when students are doing their assignments. But it changes what they spend their time on:

“Simply put, they will need to spend more time defining relevant content requirements, such as which theory to use, the language requirements, such as who the target audience is, and the structural requirements, such as how a text should be organised. Less time producing text and more time evaluating the text in collaboration with ChatGPT,” Keld Pedersen explains.

Not a skill that comes naturally

“AI is already so integrated into the programming technology and software packages we use that we can no longer avoid it. Hence, it is becoming increasingly difficult to tell students that they are not allowed to use it," Keld Pedersen says.

However, the amount of experience students have with the technology varies. Therefore, Keld Pedersen has some tips for other teachers who want to start using ChatGPT in their teaching. Among other things, he recommends setting aside time to teach students how to use AI to ensure that all of them are well prepared for the task:

“You cannot take it for granted that students know how to use ChatGPT in connection with their studies. Therefore, you should set aside a session to teach them both how answers are generated and how to ask the right questions – in other words, ‘prompt engineering.’ You cannot assume that they will immediately be able to use and enjoy the tool.”

Therefore, Keld Pedersen also recommends that you – if you wish to use ChatGPT or other AI tools in your teaching – further develop your teaching material so it is suitable to use with ChatGPT. You cannot use the same assignments as usual.

“For example, you can ask students to create different solutions to an assignment using ChatGPT and then ask them to evaluate the quality of the different solutions – such an assignment should also define the quality specifications. In this way, they learn to assess what is quality and what is not," Keld Pedersen suggests.

He also has excellent experiences with having students work together to create a prompt catalogue – a document where they collect great ways to use ChatGPT.

Not a shortcut to straight twelves

The ‘Digital Fundamentals for Emergent Technologies’ course was wrapped up with a 48-hour written exam:

“I was excited to see how the students would do. Maybe everyone would get 12!?" Keld Pedersen laughs.

“But you could not tell from the average grade that the students had used ChatGPT. The average grade was comparable to the averages in similar courses. I was a little disappointed about that. I had hoped it would have had a greater effect," Keld Pedersen says.

“To put it simply, when you use ChatGPT, your role changes from being someone who produces things to someone who sets requirements. And if the students do not know the academic fundamentals, they cannot set the right demands for ChatGPT. If you are familiar with the material and skilled, you can get a lot out of the tool," Keld Pedersen says.

He also points out that a major danger of this is that it can increase the academic gap between students. The strong students will get help to become even better while those who struggle a bit more do not have the same opportunity to improve their competencies with the help of the tool.

Best for specialised courses

On his other course - the software development course in the ITKO Master's programme - Keld Pedersen found that ChatGPT could not step into the role of student instructor:

“I expected that it would not be necessary to use instructors on the course. That the students could just use ChatGPT instead. However, that was not how things worked out. The students did not get much out of using the tool on their own,” Keld Pedersen says and elaborates:

“So far, I would say that ChatGPT makes the most sense in programmes that are relatively narrow and specialised, and where the material has been continuously learned over several semesters. It can be difficult to use it in programmes that are very broad, like ITKO, where students almost start from zero in every course. You can always use it as a text editing tool, but if you are at a relatively low academic level, it is difficult to utilise the tool to the fullest," Keld Pedersen concludes.

Learn more

At AU Educate, you can find inspiration on how to experiment with the use of chatbots and GAI in your own teaching. On the site, you can also find cases from other teachers who have used generative artificial intelligence in their teaching in the menu item ‘Teaching cases.’

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Knowledge exchangeNina Adolfsen 17085943831708594383
news-60913Tue, 06 Feb 2024 08:57:16 +0100Dialogue and trust pave the way for good AI practicehttps://ced.au.dk/en/view/artikel/dialogue-and-trust-pave-the-way-for-good-ai-practiceAt the Centre for Language Generation and AI, they do research on language models and their creative and educational potential. The CED has spoken with Rebekah Baglini, Associate Professor of Linguistics and Co-Director at the centre. She presents her recommendations on how to deal with AI from a university pedagogical perspective.The Centre for Language Generation and AI (CLAI) was established in 2023. At the centre, they research in foundational language models. Foundational language models are models that are trained on large amounts of text data without specific specialisation within a particular task.

At CLAI, the aim is to explore the implications of these models for research on cognition and language, ethical issues, and the creative and pedagogical potentials of the technology.

CLAI is located at the School of Communication and Culture and has researchers from fields such as linguistics, cognitive science, literature, and philosophy, to study the new and rapidly evolving technology.

Summer University as a natural laboratory

In the summer of 2023, Rebekah Baglini and three colleagues organised the summer course 'Artificial intelligence and co-creativity' for first-year students at Arts. The course aimed to give students an understanding of the principles and history behind the so-called Large Language Models (LLM), such as ChatGPT.

In addition, the goal was for students to gain experience using LLMs as a tool to do projects together and to help them with their writing process.

“The course functioned as a natural laboratory for us to explore the potentials and pitfalls of teaching ‘with’ generative AI. It became a space where we could explore the pervasive concerns about student misuse of artificial intelligence,” Rebekah Baglini says.

Recommendations for responsible use of AI

A survey conducted by Djøf in the autumn of 2023 revealed that more than half of the Djøf members who are students have used generative AI writing assistants during their studies. But it is still a new world, and it can be hard to keep up:

“It is still a challenge for universities to properly prepare students to utilise the new technologies effectively while maintaining academic integrity,” Rebekah Baglini says.

Therefore, she points to some recommendations based on the experiences from the summer course and her research:

“The recommendations highlight the importance of engaging students in open dialogues about the learning objectives, and co-defining responsible AI use in context-specific settings,” Rebekah Baglini explains.

Among other things, she emphasises that LLM policies cannot be a one-size-fits-all solution:

“What is legitimate and illegitimate will vary across disciplines and contexts. In a Technical Sciences course, it might be more acceptable to use an LLM as a writing assistant for a formulaic research report, but not in a writing-focused humanities course,” she explains.

She believes that faculties need to be clear in their study regulations and learning objectives about what is considered to be acceptable and ethical use of LLMs. She recommends that regulating the use of LLMs should be founded on communication and trust, explaining that the software that supposedly can detect AI-generated text is not reliable:

“The software can place students in a role of adversaries and have them be falsely accused of cheating. As a result, many American universities have begun reversing their adoption of these detection tools. Even OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, shut down its detection classifier due to its ‘low rate of accuracy’,” Rebekah Baglini says.

Instead, she recommends empowering students to have agency in their educational practice and learning, rather than creating an adversarial relationship based on mistrust between teachers and students.

A key skill in the future labour market

“Students will increasingly be expected to have proficiency in using LLM tools in the labour market, which makes prompting of LLMs an important skill,” Rebekah Baglini says.

That is why she recommends that all students learn to use it – not just students in IT-related degree programmes:

“Prompting LLMs is a skill that must be learnt. The students need to learn ‘computational thinking’. You can develop LLM literacy within any field of study,” Rebekah Baglini explains.

Resources for educators

There are many resources for teachers seeking to make constructive use of LLMs in the classroom. Rebekah Baglini offers some suggestions for further reading:

Help is also available at the CED, including the 'Generative AI in teaching' course and the AU Educate page on chatbots. 

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Knowledge exchangeLone Folmer Nielsen 17072062361707206236
news-60907Tue, 06 Feb 2024 08:35:56 +0100Chatbots and generative AI in teachinghttps://ced.au.dk/en/view/artikel/chatbots-and-generative-ai-in-teachingOn AU Educate, the CED has created some pages to help you become more familiar with the use of chatbots and generative AI in your teaching. In this article, we have highlighted some of these. Help is available at AU Educate if you want to work with chatbots in connection with your teaching. The CED has developed a page about chatbots within the focus area on teaching with technology.

On the AU Educate website, you can learn more about how to work with the topic of ‘chatbots’ in itself from an academic perspective and how you can use chatbots as a resource in your teaching.

The page also recommends that you talk with your students about how they can and cannot use chatbots, and about the limitations and ethical implications of using chatbots.

You can also find teaching cases on how other teaching staff at AU have used chatbots in their teaching.

Activities in teaching that revolve around chatbots

At AU Educate, you can also find inspiration for a wide range of activities that you can use in your teaching. The activities are designed as step-by-step manuals and can be integrated directly into your teaching, regardless of the academic content.

One of the activities described is idea generation with a chatbot. During this activity, the students use chatbots as a tool to quickly get an overview of a topic before they investigate it further and in-depth. The purpose of the activity is to get the chatbot to contribute to new approaches to the topic, or to discover an interesting issue or an unexpected approach to their work on academic assignments.

You can also find a suggestion as to how to do the Turing test with your students. The Turing test examines whether a machine can exhibit human intelligence to such an extent you think it is a human.

In the activity, the students go through some assignment answers and then assess whether the answer was written by a chatbot or by their fellow students. The purpose of this activity is to teach the students what chatbots can and cannot do and to train the students’ critical thinking skills.

The activity can spur academic reflection and discussions, for example, discussions on topics as diverse as consciousness and intelligence, source criticism, and plagiarism.

Course on generative AI in teaching

If you have little or no experience with generative AI, the CED has an introductory offer for you.

In the course 'Generative AI in teaching', you will, through presentations and activities, gain knowledge of and competencies in using generative AI, especially ChatGPT.

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Knowledge exchangeNina Adolfsen 17072049561707204956
news-60823Thu, 01 Feb 2024 08:17:19 +0100After-hours meeting: How are chatbots changing our working, writing, and teaching practices? https://ced.au.dk/en/view/artikel/after-hours-meeting-how-are-chatbots-changing-our-working-writing-and-teaching-practicesJoin the Centre for Educational Development for an after-hours meeting on how chatbots are changing writing and working practices – and the consequences this can have in regard to teaching. The event is on Tuesday 12 March 2024 from 15:00 to 17:00 and is held in English.The CED invites you to an after-hours meeting about chatbots. We will focus on how chatbots are changing the writing and working practices for everyone doing writing as a central part of their job – and the consequences this can have in regard to teaching.

Programme

  • 15.00: Welcome, coffee, and cake
     
  • 15.15: How chatbots affect the process of academic writing and working
    Tine Wirenfeldt Jensen is the owner of METoDo, a member of the Ministry of Children and Education's expert group on ChatGPT and test forms, and a member of the Copenhagen Business School’s advisory board on AI in education.
    She will talk about how the use of chatbots influences academic writing competencies and discuss how the technology of Large Language Models invites us to engage with a difficult discussion on academic writing that has been long overdue.
  • 15.40: Under which circumstances can writing with chatbots improve student performance?
    Franziska Günzel-Jensen is an Associate Professor at the Department of Management, Aarhus BSS.
    She will present the findings of an experimental study that she has undertaken together with Carsten Bergenholtz, Oana Vuculescu, and Lars Frederiksen. In this experimental study, they have investigated how the access to ChatGPT-4 affects AU students’ ability to analyze and respond to a standard organizational behavior case. Based on the quantitative as well as qualitative data, she will discuss who benefits from working and writing with chatbots (spoiler alert: not everybody) and how students can find their own work/writing rhythm with them. 
     
  • 16.05: Break
  • 16.15: How chatbots are changing the way we write
    Peder Hammerskov is a journalist and an assistant professor at the Danish School of Media and Journalism.
    He will discuss how the media and journalists are experimenting with the incorporation of generative AI in their writing practices. He will also explore how this influences the debate about students' writing and reflection competencies.
     
  • 16.40: Panel discussion and questions from the audience
     
  •  16.55: Closing remarks

Registration

You can sign up here
Registration deadline: 6 March 2024

Place

Aarhus University
Building 1912, room 114
Trøjborgvej 82-84
8000 Aarhus C

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MeetingStaffBente Kristiansen17067718391706771839
news-59860Wed, 13 Dec 2023 10:44:00 +0100Develop your supervision and teaching competencieshttps://ced.au.dk/en/view/artikel/develop-your-supervision-and-teaching-competenciesNo matter if you want to learn more about learning technologies, get competent feedback from peers, or in some other way develop your teaching practice, the CED certainly has an offer for you.NB: new course and dates added  as of 16 January 2024

A new year is approaching and the CED course catalog for spring 2024 is ready. We offer a wide range of competence-developing services that can develop your teaching and supervision practices.

The course catalog offer services for new as well as experienced teaching staff. We also have faculty-oriented courses, and our offers are in both Danish and English. The offers are continuously expanded and updated, so please keep an eye on our website.

If, contrary to expectations, you cannot find a course that suits your needs, please feel free to contact us. We offer advice and consultation services on university education and customised solutions if needed.

You can read more about the various offers and sign up here:

January

February

March

April

May

Year round

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CourseFor teachers at the Faculty of ArtsClara Risbjerg Omann17024606401702460640
news-60221Fri, 08 Dec 2023 13:53:29 +0100After-hours meeting: MEDICAL EDUCATION – A guide for the medical educatorhttps://ced.au.dk/en/view/artikel/after-hours-meeting-medical-education-a-guide-for-the-medical-educatorThursday 8 February 2024 from 15:00 the Centre for Educational Development invites you to an after-hours meeting on the occasion of the publication of the book ’MEDICINSK DIDAKTIK – En guide til lægen som underviser’. The meeting is in Danish.'MEDICINSK DIDAKTIK – En guide til lægen som underviser' is a research-based handbook that gives medical educators an introduction to educational principles and methods to organise and implement teaching that is student-activating, patient-centred, and linked to concrete learning outcomes and exams.

At the after-hours meeting, the book's editors and some of the contributors will give short presentations and involve the participants in reflections and discussions about medical education.

Programme:

  • 15.00: Welcome, coffee, and cake
  • 15:15: Presentation: Medical education – an overview
    Presentation by the book's editors Mette Krogh Christensen and Louise Binow Kjær, Centre for Educational Development, Aarhus University
  • 15:40: Workshop: Self-regulated learning – a strategy for lifelong learning
    Micro workshop by Rune Dall Jensen, MidtSim and the Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University
  • 16:05: Break
  • 16.15: Workshop: Feedback – how are different forms of feedback organised and implemented in clinical teaching?
    Micro workshop by Bente Malling, Aarhus University, and Jane Ege Møller, Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University
  • 16.45: Book reception and an opportunity to buy the book at a favourable price

Registration

You can sign up here (please note that the event is in Danish)
Registration deadline: 4 February 2024

Place

The CED’s classroom
Building 1910, room 228
Trøjborgvej 82-84
8000 Aarhus C

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EventsNina Adolfsen17020400091702040009
news-60215Fri, 08 Dec 2023 08:47:52 +0100Digital competencies to prepare students for the labour market of the futurehttps://ced.au.dk/en/view/artikel/digital-competencies-to-prepare-students-for-the-labour-market-of-the-futureAU has set ambitious goals for the development of students' digital competencies with the cross-faculty initiative 'Digitally Competent Graduates'. Research-informed working methods, local ownership, and a pragmatic approach are the key principles which will ensure that the efforts are adapted to the very diverse needs of the different degree programmes.Extensive digitalisation has an impact on research, education, and the labour market. According to the university’s initiative 'Digitally Competent Graduates' (abbreviated DKK – 'Digitalt Kompetente Kandidater'), by 2025, 50% of the degree programmes at AU must have a plan for how their curriculum is to be developed with regard to relevant digital competencies and graduates' future employability.

To help the university reach this target, the CED is now offering digital competency analyses that can help degree programmes assess the extent to which digital competencies are included in their curriculums,and whether they provide students with the opportunity to acquire the digital competencies they will need on the labour market of the future.

"If we look at the students who matriculated this year, we see that a large number of them will get jobs that do not yet exist, because society and development are moving so fast. We have to match that pace so that the students will be prepared to apply for the jobs that exist when they a graduate," explains Special Consultant Mads Ronald Dahl.

Together with Special Consultant Dorte Sidelmann Rossen and Division Manager Tina Bering Keiding, he is part of a working group at the CED which is facilitating work on the digital competency analyses.

Research-informed efforts across national borders

In 2006, the European Parliament and the Council issued a Recommendation on key competencies for lifelong learning. Digital competence is one of the eight key competencies highlighted in the recommendation. In 2018, the European Commission went on to publish a reference framework for digital competency called the Digital competency Framework for Citizens (DigComp). In 2022, an update, DigComp 2.2, was released, which is available here.

The CED working group on digital competency analyses has based its approach on DigComp 2.2. The group examined and evaluated what kind of framework and terminology to use to translate European digital competences into a Danish context. This evaluation was validated by representatives from all faculties at AU. 

In addition, the group collaborated with the authors and researchers from the European Commission's Joint Research Centre, which is behind DigComp 2.2. Throughout the process, the group also engaged with universities in France, Malta, Switzerland, and Austria. European cooperation was an important element in the work:

"It is really important that our graduates are internationally comparable. After all, they will be emerging into an international world. So we are trying to draw on the strongest international research and trends," explains Tina Bering Keiding.

European perspective, but locally rooted ownership

The working group from the CED is facilitating the preparation of the digital competency analyses, but ownership within the context of the DKK initiative is wholly anchored at subject level. Digital competencies vary from subject to subject and from programme to programme. That is why it is necessary that the degree programmes themselves define the competencies that are important for their students to acquire during their studies.

"While certain digital competencies are important for a theology student, for a business administration student, something else will take top priority. That is what the degree programmes have to define themselves," explains Dorte Sidelmann Rossen.

Locally rooted ownership is also reflected in the faculties' different approaches to the initiative. Health has chosen an approach that requires everyone to use DigComp as explicit frame of reference, while discussing and implementing it subsequently in the individual degree programmes. At Arts, the entire DKK project is taking place at subject level; the heads of department are responsible for initiating the processes and adapting the frame of reference as necessary to local conditions.

"We cannot just say that now we are all doing this from A to Z. In some places we have to start at Q. We need to tailor the process to the time and resources the faculties and the subjects have, and to the knowledge and experience they have with their students," concludes Dorte Sidelmann Rossen.

The pragmatic approach is thus crucial in order to ensure that digital competencies are integrated effectively across the degree programmes and support the students' academic development.

Strategic consultancy in many different areas

The CED is responsible for supporting AU's strategy for research-based degree programmes of the highest international quality, as well as specifically supporting the 2025 strategy's initiatives in the following areas: better introductory programmes for new students, an attractive environment for study, engaging Educational IT, digital competencies, entrepreneurship and research in the degree programmes as well as graduates for the labour market of the future.

The Digitally Competent Graduates initiative is just one of many topics and issues teaching teams and programme directors can receive competent advice and consultancy from the CED, based on three principles:

  1. The CED’s work is informed by research and also generates new knowledge about the universities.
  2. Responsibility for the strategic initiatives at AU lies with the involved subjects and programmes, while the CED offers tools, consultancy, and process facilitation.
  3. The CED’s approach is always pragmatic and solution-oriented.

Do you and your team need consultancy for a larger development process? Do not hesitate to contact us.

You can either contact Tina Bering Keiding (tbkeiding@au.dk | (+45) 24 42 46 56) or contact your faculty contact person.

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EducationNina Adolfsen17020216721702021672
news-60156Fri, 24 Nov 2023 08:58:14 +0100Are you teaching for the first time? InTeL will prepare youhttps://ced.au.dk/en/view/artikel/are-you-teaching-for-the-first-time-intel-will-prepare-you'Introduction to Teaching and Learning' is an online course for newly appointed teachers and experienced professionals, who are new to teaching. The course introduces a range of topics in teaching and learning broadly, but also offers the opportunity to delve into subject-specific disciplines – from lectures and classroom instruction to laboratory and clinical teaching.The content of the course 'Introduction to Teaching and Learning' (InTeL) is, as the name suggests, a basic introduction to teaching elements such as feedback, alignment, and student-centred learning. In addition, you can delve into themes such as lectures, supervision, and online teaching.

“With InTeL, we provide a basic introduction to teaching and learning. The course is aimed at teachers across career levels, fields of study, and teaching activities,” explains Anders Hjortskov Larsen, development consultant and InTeL course leader.

The course is designed to be highly flexible in terms of time, place, and pace to suit any teacher's busy schedule. There are no fixed meeting times, as the course is conducted asynchronously and online.

Solid foundation in a wide range of disciplines

The course is guided by online moderators – so-called e-moderators. Their role is not to convey the syllabus in the classical sense, but to guide and moderate the learning process of the participants. In the team there are always e-moderators representing each of the university's faculties.

The teaching materials in InTeL are prepared by experienced teachers, researchers, and educational developers from the CED in collaboration with the university's own experts in the respective subjects:

“The idea of InTeL is that the offer should have relevance across the entire university. All content is developed by experts in the topics and peer-reviewed,” explains Anders Hjortskov Larsen.

For new teachers in all respects

The course familiarises participants with central concepts and methods for improving the quality of teaching, such as alignment, active learning, learning objectives, educational IT, exams, and assessment. This makes it relevant for the less experienced teachers, says Anders Hjortskov Larsen:

"The target audience for InTeL is new teachers at Aarhus University or experienced professionals, who are new to teaching. In practice, this means that there are many postdocs and the like, but even more senior hospital physicians and lawyers who would like to be prepared for the role of part-time lecturer."

A module in other teaching contexts

Some teachers may already have become familiar with InTeL in other contexts. As the course provides basic knowledge, it has been used as an introductory module in other courses held by the CED. Each semester there are around 200 teachers who read and work with the exercises from InTeL.

“The content is used as a foundation in several different contexts. For example, we use some elements as building blocks for Science Teaching, which is a course for PhD students at Natural Sciences and Technical Sciences. In addition, we use it as part of an onboarding project for new teachers at Health, among others. Parts of the course are also used in courses for English-speaking instructors. We can do this because it is flexible content that, with a few tailor-made adjustments, can be placed in different contexts,” explains Anders Hjortskov Larsen.

Five-step content and peer feedback

The course is in English, held in Brightspace, and consists of five steps. In each stage there are activities associated, such as a quiz, video, or assignment, in which you must contribute and at the same time address the contributions of the other participants.

The five steps of InTeL are:

  1. Organisation of teaching
  2. Student work
  3. Themes
  4. Lesson plan
  5. Evaluation

“The course is based largely on active participation and peer feedback in discussion forums, where participants can exchange ideas about teaching with each other. During the course, the participants will be able to work with and develop their own teaching, as well as be inspired by the lesson plans of fellow course participants. This inspiration can be rewarding and motivating,” says Anders Hjortskov Larsen.

Six themes adapted to the teaching contexts of the participants

The third stage of the course is an elective module, where you choose a relevant teaching style as a starting point for your later work on the lesson plan.

“This means that a clinical teacher can read subject material about clinical teaching, a teacher who will be doing a lot of supervision can immerse themselves in this form of teaching, and a teacher who will be teaching online can prepare themselves with a theme about online teaching,” says Anders Hjortskov Larsen.

You can delve into the following six themes:

  1. Lecturing
  2. Small-class teaching
  3. Laboratory teaching
  4. Supervision
  5. Clinical teaching
  6. Online teaching and learning

After you have gone through the InTeL course, you will have developed a concrete lesson plan that you can use in your own teaching.

Signing up for InTeL and more info

The InTeL course runs over one week in February and September each year. You can find more information about the course and sign up here.

If you need more information, please contact Anders Hjortskov Larsen at ahlarsen@au.dk or by phone +45 42 31 87 04.

Just got a new colleague? Then feel free to tip them about the course.

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