Successful 'Students as Partners' concept bears fruit

Theresa L. (student partner, Faculty of Media and Communication):

“I wanted to help the HSZG improve its teaching, which is why I’m participating in this project. Currently, my work on the project mainly involves researching approaches to promote digital skills among students and providing feedback on existing formats from a student’s perspective. In particular, artificial intelligence approaches can support us students in our learning and make many tasks easier. In the project, I help create microcourses designed to help students acquire skills. It’s great to see how my perspective is taken into account to improve teaching. I would also like to see more opportunities to get involved outside the project. By incorporating the student perspective into teaching and learning processes, the design of these initiatives is much more closely aligned with students’ needs. I highly recommend that my fellow students seize this opportunity and get involved as “Student Partners.” There are many benefits: Not only do you often have the chance to earn money for your studies, but you also gain subject-specific knowledge and insights into project work. For example, I was able to learn a lot about AI—its capabilities, functions, and areas of application.”

Christian B. (student partner, EI faculty):

“I wanted to broaden my horizons and saw participating in this didactics project as a challenge. The opportunity to positively influence teaching for future generations of students motivated me to get involved in the project, and I found the collaboration on an equal footing—as well as the chance to contribute my own ideas—to be extremely rewarding. Highlights for me were the project meetings of the Saxon consortium, where I was able to connect with other departments and gain diverse perspectives on the project topic. The diversity of the individual focus areas was interesting. It became clear to me that the challenges of digitizing universities are complex and that there is no “one” solution. Different teaching approaches exist from one university to another and even within faculties. The higher education system thrives on this diversity, and it should be preserved. Time and again, it becomes clear that the faculty at HSZG are very dedicated and eager to share knowledge even beyond the scope of their classes / courses. With regard to opportunities to help shape your academic experience and teaching, my advice to students is: Ask questions! In lectures or seminars…it doesn’t matter. That’s the easiest way to have a direct impact. As a former member of the Academic Affairs Committee, I recommend that if you’re interested in the further development of teaching, you consider serving on the committee as a student representative. I’ve worked with many digital tools as part of the project, and in this era of advancing digitalization, I can easily imagine applying this knowledge in the future.

Esther P. (student partner, faculty N)

“Digitization is becoming increasingly relevant, especially in students’ everyday lives—whether it’s doing research, completing assignments, and so on. That’s why I’m interested in improving teaching concepts and wanted to actively support the project. Currently, I’m assisting with the development of electronic exercises for students. Here, I have the opportunity to help design assessment tasks and thus contribute my perspective (the student’s perspective), making learning easier for my fellow students because I know which topics still need to be explained in a different way or which ones are difficult to understand. An explanation from a student’s perspective can be helpful in such cases. I’m glad there are projects like this where students can participate in shaping teaching and learning processes. It benefits both sides—teachers and students—to be able to engage in dialogue and improve teaching. This allows instructors to identify which topics and/or concepts aren’t working and to gain new ideas from students on how to improve them. I therefore advise other students to take seriously their opportunities to help shape academic processes—and, in particular, to use module evaluations as a forum for constructive criticism aimed at improving teaching.”

Ferenc T. (student partner, EI faculty)

“I wanted to gain project experience in the field of digitalization and pedagogy and expand my experience beyond the engineering field. The project gave me the opportunity to act as a bridge between students and professors or staff members to positively influence teaching for future cohorts. The focus was on advising faculty on teaching approaches (from a student’s perspective) as well as testing and implementing digital tools designed not only to support day-to-day teaching but also to make classes more interesting and educational. As part of the project, I was able to meet a wide variety of people and gain insights into various fields of study. Through the insights gained from working with the network of Saxon colleges and universities, it became clear to me once again that the smaller class sizes at the HSZG’s Zittau campus offer many advantages for teaching. What struck me in particular was the comparatively close relationship between students and faculty at the HSZG, who are highly committed to continuously improving their teaching. If my studies weren’t already over, I would also be happy to support other areas by contributing my perspective as a student.”

Tina G. (student partner, faculty N)

“I was motivated to become part of the project because I saw an opportunity to actively contribute to shaping university teaching. At the start of the project, I participated in focus group interviews and helped evaluate them. The goal was to identify support services for faculty members. Currently, I’m working on audio response systems to increase interaction between students and instructors in the classroom. One challenge for me was collaborating with project team members from other universities across different locations. Because we work entirely online, building a sense of team spirit and getting to know colleagues from other universities is a bit different than when everyone is always on-site. One of my highlights is the digital exchange format supported by the project. Every two weeks, a faculty member presents their teaching method, discusses the advantages and challenges of the method with colleagues, and they support one another. This provides a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at teaching at the university. Overall, I appreciate the personal aspect of our university. It has a close-knit, family-like atmosphere, and the staff go out of their way to adapt classes / courses to students’ needs—as long as you communicate with them. Projects like D2C2 are a vital cog in this system. I would like to see such opportunities for student involvement expanded even further. It is very beneficial for teaching—and thus for the university—when students are actively involved in shaping their own learning environment. However, this also requires a sufficient number of interested students, and the smaller a university is, the more difficult I find it to find motivated students who, in addition to their classes and leisure activities, are willing to contribute to the university’s further development.”

Vice President Prof. Dr. Sophia Keil would like to thank the student partners who have so actively supported the D2C2 project on behalf of the Rectorate, as well as all those who have taken the opportunity to participate and transfer their knowledge by participating in the project's accompanying offers in order to advance the digitalization of university teaching. In this way, it was possible to create an alliance of various experts that would hardly have been possible without such a network.

We are therefore pleased to announce that the project will be extended by one year until 31.12.2025 due to its successful work. You are cordially invited to participate in the services provided.