Daniel Schwertfeger on his participation in further training for the Saxon University Didactics Certificate.
When August and September are lecture-free periods at the Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences, many professors and employees are not sitting idly on the couch.
One of them is Daniel Schwertfeger. He completed his Master's degree in Sociology at the Free University of Berlin in 2014. Immediately afterwards, he was employed as a research assistant in the research project "Trust in Assistance Technologies for the Inclusion" of older people (VATI) at the Faculty of Social Sciences at Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences. In the VATI project, he was entrusted with the preparation, implementation and evaluation of a survey of people aged 60 and over in the district of Görlitz.
At the same time, his interest in working more closely with students grew.
No sooner said than done: in teaching assignments, he was able to share his experience in empirical social research with students on various Master's degree courses in the Faculties of Managerial and Cultural Studies and Social Sciences. The direct exchange with students about the content and research methods of his subject has always been a major concern for Daniel in his seminars: "The fact that not only the students can learn something in my class / course, but that I also learn something new through the students again and again, is a great experience".
Then came the time to think more intensively about good teaching and to take a closer look at skills development and methodology.
The HSZG brochure "Impulses for good teaching" became a source of ideas. And one idea was to take part in further training for the Saxon University Didactics Certificate. After a work colleague also reported on his good experiences of completing the certificate program, Daniel's decision was made.
"I'm now in Module 1 and am currently working on various methods and task concepts that I can use in my seminars. The module is also helping me to develop a broader understanding of knowledge acquisition and learning processes and how I can promote this as a teacher." A specific subject focus is not required to participate in the program of the Saxon University Didactics Centre. Daniel particularly likes the fact that the participants come from different academic disciplines: "Whether I'm talking to a psychologist, an engineer or a computer scientist in Module 1, we share a lot of experience from our teaching activities."
Learning a variety of teaching methods, developing your own teaching skills and exchanging ideas with other lecturers - all this is made possible by the Saxon University Didactics Certificate.
This Saxon certificate program will be offered from this summer in a new format offered.
https://www.hszgstage1.de/typo3/#_msocom_1The division into three modules has remained the same. The proportion of Module 2 has changed and the recognition of concrete active teaching is completely new.
In the context of the certificate, active teaching means
- active participation in course and curriculum development,
- continuous participation in formal further training (workshops, shortcuts, etc.),
- the transfer of your own teaching activities (conference contributions, best practice transfer, etc.).
You too can take part in this special certificate program and enjoy the exchange with teachers from other universities and other teaching fields!
We would be happy to advise you!
Authors: Daniel Schwertfeger and Robert Viertel