Data-Driven & Smart Technologies

Project management: Prof Dr Daniel Schilberg

Funding organisation: Federal Ministry of Education and Research

Duration: 2023 – 2027

The fourth industrial revolution is already in full swing: people, machines and processes in industry are directly networked with each other. Can the Ruhr metropolis keep up? After all, standard products have long been able to be produced overseas cheaply and in high quality. The key lies in sustainable and efficient production. In order for regional companies to succeed in this transformation, Bochum University of Applied Sciences advises and supports them in the digitalisation and networking of their production processes. In the UAS_BO Smart Factory, real processes are recorded and possible scenarios are played out. Answers are also developed to the question: "How do you prepare employees for change?".

Further information on the project here.

Project leader:  Prof. Dr. Carsten Keßler & Sadra Matmir, M.Sc.

Funding provider: European Research Executive Agency (REA)

Duration: 2023 – 2026

The aim of the AquaINFRA project is to develop a virtual research environment equipped with multidisciplinary data and services following the FAIR principles to support marine and freshwater scientists and stakeholders in restoring healthy oceans, seas, coastal and inland waters. The AquaINFRA virtual environment will enable target stakeholders to store, share, access, analyse and process research data and other digital research objects from their own discipline, across research infrastructures, disciplines and national borders, using the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) and other existing operational data spaces. AquaINFRA not only supports the ongoing development of the EOSC as an overarching research infrastructure, but also addresses the specific requirements of enabling marine and freshwater researchers to collaborate across these data spaces.

A specific goal of AquaINFRA is to develop a research infrastructure based on the EOSC that connects the marine and freshwater domains. This includes the development of a cross-domain and cross-national search and discovery mechanism and the development of services for spatio-temporal analysis and modelling through virtual research environments. A number of strategic use cases, including a pan-European use case and more targeted use cases in the Baltic Sea, the North Sea and the Mediterranean Sea, will provide the framework for the joint development and testing of services in the relevant research communities.

It is expected that the results of the AquaINFRA project will contribute to the use of the EOSC as an overarching research infrastructure that enables collaboration between marine and freshwater scientists and stakeholders working to restore healthy oceans, seas, coastal and inland waters.

Bochum University of Applied Sciences leads the work package on community engagement and capacity building in AquaINFRA and also contributes to the various technical work packages.

AquaINFRA

Project leader: Prof. Dr. Heike Köckler (University of Applied Sciences for Health)

Network Coordinator: University of Applied Sciences – Department of Community Health, Bochum

Funding provider: Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)

Duration: 10/2023 – 09/2026

Volume: 1.45 million € (of which 95% funded by the BMBF)

Partners:

• Bochum University of Applied Sciences – Department of Geodesy
• University of Leipzig - Faculty of Education – Institute for Special Needs Education
• City of Bochum - Environmental and Green Space Department
• Wittekindshof – Diaconal Foundation for People with Disabilities – KIZ Herne, Herne
• Planning firm Dr Frehn, Steinberg & Partner, urban and transport planners, Dortmund
• Federal Centre for Health Education (BZgA), Cologne

Motivation

Public participation is an integral part of municipal planning procedures. So far, groups with limited articulation have not been able to participate sufficiently. People with so-called intellectual disabilities are experts in dealing with barriers. They should therefore be increasingly involved in the development of digital, barrier-sensitive formats for participation in municipal planning.

Objectives and approach

In the DiKomAll project, researchers from the disciplines of health promotion, spatial planning and geoinformatics, education, inclusion cooperate with practitioners from municipal administration, urban planning, Computer Science and UX design as well as co-researchers with so-called intellectual disabilities. They are working together on low-barrier, digital participation formats. To this end, they are trialling existing software solutions such as KomMonitor, KoboToolbox, Ogito and StadtRaumMonitor in real procedural contexts such as noise action planning and the specialist health plan. The aim is to develop digital participation applications that are easy to use for different groups and easy to understand in terms of content. At the same time, their results should be presented in a way that is relevant to the process and easy to understand.

Innovations and perspectives

The insights gained and demonstrators developed open up new possibilities for municipal participation far beyond the group of people with disabilities and the selected planning procedures. The result is viable paths for an inclusive digital municipality for all.

More about the project here.

Project leader:  Prof. Dr. Carsten Keßler

Funding provider: German Research Foundation (DFG) (project number 460036893)

Duration: 10/2021 – 10/2026

Volume (in €): Share of Bochum University of Applied Sciences: 35,6445.69 

Co-op partners: see project details page

NFDI4Earth is one of the consortia within the National Research Data Infrastructure (NFDI).
It brings together the leading national institutions in the Earth system sciences and comprises more than 50 organisations. These organisations cooperate in international and interdisciplinary networks with the overarching goal of understanding the functioning and interactions in the Earth system and tackling the diverse challenges of global change. NFDI4Earth addresses the digital needs of researchers in the Earth system sciences. A large amount of sensor and simulation data in very high spatial, temporal and thematic resolution is leading to rapidly increasing data volumes. The description and evaluation of Earth system processes, their dependencies and changes therefore urgently requires efficient research data management and more powerful collaboration environments for joint, cross-disciplinary data analysis.

NFDI4Earth

Project leader: Prof Dr Carsten Keßler (FB G)

Funding provider: Ministry of Culture and Science of NRW

Duration: 10/2023 – 12/2025

The aim of the project is to establish integrated data management for neighbourhood development as a platform for exchange between citizens, planners, municipalities and businesses using the example of energy and mobility in a co-creation process. Such a neighbourhood data infrastructure (QuDI) consists on the one hand of technical components, such as the server infrastructure for the underlying data space and the provision of applications, but also agreements on the use of standards and governance that ensures the exchange between the groups involved. 

With the right infrastructure, the aim is to promote the path towards modern and sustainable neighbourhoods with a high quality of life. This path involves numerous, sometimes lengthy steps. From checking for contaminated sites to drawing up development plans, carrying out participatory procedures, planning and dimensioning energy and mobility, inviting tenders for development and construction, right through to the first residents moving in and the opening of facilities such as daycare centres and care services as well as the establishment of shops and service providers, a process lasting several years must be completed in which citizens, planners, local authorities and businesses repeatedly meet and interact with each other at various levels. A close dialogue between these stakeholders is essential from the outset in order to enable the participation of all relevant interest groups. A common data basis not only creates a fundamental common understanding of a neighbourhood to be planned and the local context, but can also help to speed up planning and approval processes, think about future coexistence in the neighbourhood and create new business areas for industry and commerce. 

In order to be able to use all the data that describes the many different facets of future neighbourhoods as widely and effectively as possible, automated access to the data via software that interacts with the data and uses it to create offers for end users, such as applications for energy management in the neighbourhood, apps for exchange within the community or mobility apps, as well as the use of these products by residents, tradespeople, planners and staff in the various municipal offices involved, who benefit from processing in the form of apps, dashboards, maps and other forms of visualisation. For both types of use, it must not only be possible to obtain and display data about the neighbourhood, but also to generate and provide new data in order to enable data-based decision-making and make decisions in politics and administration transparent and comprehensible. 

Further information: https://applied-excellence.ruhr/

Contact person: Jonas Schug, M.A.

Funding organisation: Ministry of Culture and Science NRW

Duration: 2023 – 2025

In the "PilotStEv" project, a prototype for a practice-oriented and learning data-based evaluation, communication and control concept for digital teaching and learning programmes is being designed and piloted in the context of digital self-study courses.

Procedure:

Three fields of action can be identified:

• Design and development of a learning analytics system
• Data-based evaluation and optimisation of the control, navigation and adaptivity of digital teaching and learning offerings
• Design and development of a (partially) automated information and communication tool for participants in digital teaching and learning programmes

The concept developed in the project context is documented in the form of a guideline and can subsequently be transferred to all Moodle-based digital OER self-learning courses. The communication tool can be used - in a modified form - in all Moodle courses.

Further information on the project here.

Project leader: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Clemens Faller

Funding provider: Ministry of Economic Affairs, Innovation, Digitalisation and Energy of the State of NRW

Co-partners: FGW Remscheid, Münster University of Applied Sciences, Dörschler GmbH, BLECO GmbH

Duration: 09/2021 – 12/2025

Volume (in €): 1.679.000 

(THEAsmart & THEAsmart2):
Waste heat from industry, commerce, households and solar energy generation represents a large energy potential in Germany and worldwide. Large quantities of fossil fuels could be saved if this could be utilised more efficiently. Against this backdrop, the "THEAsmart" research project has already identified the basic framework conditions and interdependencies of technical usability. Potentials were identified that make the utilisation of heat sources with the help of SMA systems in various applications appear technically possible, economically viable and ecologically sensible. Two core approaches are therefore to be further researched in the follow-up project THEAsmart II and presented as prototypes in demonstration projects. The developments should be able to tap heat sources and convert thermal energy into kinetic energy (SMA fluid pump) or electrical energy (energy harvester) in different application areas and fields of use. So-called wet actuators, SMA actuators that are activated by means of fluids, will be further optimised for energy conversion in the already patented applications from the THEAsmart project.

More about the project here.

Project management:  Prof. Dr.-Ing. Clemens Faller

Funding organisation: Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection

Cooperation partners:  Here you can find a list of cooperation partners.

Duration: 01/2023 – 08/2025

In the Bergisch region, the automotive industry is of far above-average importance in terms of employment and added value. This means that the region and the industry are particularly affected by the changes that are currently occurring more frequently and at a faster pace:

• increasingly stringent ecological requirements,
• the increasing digitalisation of products and processes and
• increasing (de)globalisation trends.

The varying degrees to which the sub-regions are affected by the changes in the automotive (supply) industry and the mobility transition are leading to heterogeneous transformation patterns. Key challenges lie in a shortage of skilled labour and a lack of (digital) skills. The key to a successful transformation is an action-orientated intensification of knowledge.

The aim of the project is to establish a network under the umbrella of a "living" regional transformation strategy in which all relevant stakeholders learn with and from each other in a participatory process.

The transformation strategy to be developed combines the results of extensive analyses of developments in the region and its environment (market, competition) with the results of intensive surveys of the transformation in companies in the region. It forms the "bracket" of the project, so to speak, and guides the activities and measures for initiating and implementing the transformation process in the companies and organisations.

Tailored to the specific needs of the regional stakeholders, skills development programmes are being (further) developed and tested - from the industrial level (adaptation of training occupations) to hybrid forms ("dual studies") and higher education.

In addition, a variety of formats will be used to enable stakeholders to successfully manage the changes to their business models associated with the transformation, the necessary organisational development measures and the transition to new value creation networks. The action-oriented transfer of knowledge at company level is central to a successful transformation process; the transformation skills of the company stakeholders are built up and (further) developed through the in-depth application and testing of transformation tools.

The result is a modular transformation toolkit with courses, methods, guidelines, etc., which provides suitable solutions for the various patterns of affectedness and is anchored in the region through intensive networking.

The activities and measures are continuously assessed in a formative evaluation process and fed back into the updating of the transformation strategy.

The transformation tools developed and tested as well as training and advisory services will be brought together in the "Bergische Akademie für Transformation" with the aim of making the services available to interested companies and employees after the end of the funded project period.

The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection is funding this project under the title "Action-orientated knowledge transfer in the Bergisches Land multi-model transformation region" (HaWiss Multitrans).

Traiber.NRW

Project leader: Prof. Dr Angela Schwering and Hon. Prof. Dr Albert Remke (Institute for Geoinformatics, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster)

Project leadership at Bochum University of Applied Sciences: Prof Dr Carsten Keßler

Funding provider: OERContent.nrw / Ministry of Culture and Science NRW

Duration: 04/2022 – 03/2024

The aim of the OER4SDI project is to develop and publish a structured and coherent collection of CC-licensed OER materials that support students in the teaching subjects of geoinformation processing (e.g. geoinformatics, geodesy, geomatics) in gaining a comprehensive understanding of the architecture, implementation and use of spatial data infrastructures. This concerns the conceptual, technical and legal foundations of distributed spatial data infrastructures as well as models for their development and management at regional, national and international level. Students should develop the essential skills that will enable them to contribute to the development and valorisation of these infrastructures in their future careers. The OER are published via the state portal ORCA.NRW and used in teaching over a period of at least 5 years.

The aim of the courses is to develop a comprehensive understanding of the architecture, implementation and use of spatial data infrastructures. After completing the courses, students should be able to

1. Understand spatial data infrastructures in terms of the associated objectives, components and processes and apply this knowledge to existing spatial data infrastructures.
2. Understand the key principles and legal bases (e.g. copyright, protection of personal data) on which the collection, processing and provision of data in Europe is based and how their use can be controlled in licence agreements (in particular licensing as open data).
3. Understand the essential technical components of spatial data infrastructures (standardised data structures, functional components and APIs, technical system environments such as cloud infrastructures) in their essence and be able to apply this knowledge in practice to solve typical specialist tasks.
4. Understand how the core processes of providing and using geoinformation products are implemented in practice, what problems arise in the process and what skills are required to solve problems.
5. Understand common strategies and processes for the development and maintenance of spatial data infrastructures, evaluate their advantages and disadvantages and apply this knowledge to solve specific tasks.
6. Evaluate the current status of the implementation of spatial data infrastructures, understand key research and development topics and be able to use this knowledge to categorise current developments. 

The didactic concept of the previous courses is to be expanded with the development and use of OER. The aim is to utilise the advantages of OER, such as the fact that the materials can be used independently of teaching time, the opportunities for self-assessment or the possibility of selectively deepening teaching content.

The project is being coordinated at the University of Münster and is being carried out jointly with Ruhr University and Bochum University of Applied Sciences. In addition, the project is supported by the associated partners Technische Universität Dresden, University of Twente, 52° North Spatial Information Research GmbH (Münster) and ignite education (Jena).

More about the project here.

Project leader:  Prof. Dr. Carsten Keßler

Funding provider: Erasmus + capacity building in higher education (project reference number: 610328-EPP-1 -2019-1-BE-EPPKA2-CBHE-JP)

Co-op partners: You will find a list of the project partners here.

Spatial and earth observation data are becoming more and more widespread. These data refer to information describing phenomena below, on and above the earth and cover many topics, such as road networks, rivers, soils and geological subsoils, buildings, land use and land cover, digital terrain models, etc. To improve sharing, access and use of these data, Spatial Data Infrastructures (SDI) and Earth observation (EO) platforms and services are usually developed by public authorities (in co-operation with the private sector where appropriate).  While in Europe specific initiatives such as the INSPIRE Directive (Infrastructure for Special Information in Europe) and the Copernicus programme are driving and supporting these developments, non-European countries are also taking initiatives and efforts in this direction, even if these are sometimes still in the nascent stage.

In (North) Africa, where Morocco, Algeria, Egypt and Tunisia are no different. There, national SDIs or similar initiatives are emerging to promote the use of GI and EO data. However, these infrastructures are not being developed without a purpose. They are needed to support activities in many scientific and policy areas. Indeed, geospatial and EO data are processed and linked with other information to solve complex problems in various fields, such as agriculture (e.g. minimising the use of water and other resources), transport and mobility (e.g. improving accessibility to certain regions) and space, as well as for planning and territorial management (e.g. Sustainable Development of urban areas), etc. The use of geoinformation technology in this context is not new. However, setting up and using SDI and EO platforms and services is not yet common practice. In many regions, the knowledge, skills and competences to develop, maintain and use these infrastructures and related technologies are relatively low.

To summarise, we can conclude that higher education curricula in North Africa already include some elements of geographic information science and EO data and technologies. However, a systematic modernisation of these curricula and their further development is needed to take into account the newer approaches and techniques as well as the latest concepts for the collection, management and dissemination of spatial and EO data for cross-thematic and cross-border applications. SEED4NA will focus on the improvement of existing curricula for higher education institutions in four North African countries and will take into account these developments based on previous experiences in Europe and in particular the lessons learnt from various European projects such as BESTSDI (development of SDI curricula in Western Balkan countries), giCASES (application of case-based learning techniques in GI education) and the recently launched EO4GEO project (curricula design using EO data for climate change, smart cities and integrated applications). There will certainly be some synergies with all these past and ongoing projects. SEED4NA will build on the experience gained and refine the applied methods in various ways.

SEED4NA

Project leader: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Christoph Mudersbach

Funding provider: Federal Ministry of Education and Research

Co-op partners: Ruhr West University of Applied Sciences (direction of the research network), industrial partners and cities. You can find a list of co-operation partners here.

Duration: 10/2021 – 09/2024

A three-year research project on climate change adaptation strategies will start on 1 October 2021 in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Bochum University of Applied Sciences under the sub-project management of Prof. Dr Christoph Mudersbach. The research project entitled "Soil-pipe system as an innovative element of climate-adapted urban drainage" deals with adaptation strategies to climate change in urban areas.

The aim of the project is, on the one hand, to store rainwater in the trench of a sewage pipe during heavy rainfall and release it into the ground with a time delay. On the other hand, part of this water is to be stored for longer periods and made available to the trees for subsequent dry periods. As a result, the leaves grow more vigorously and the evaporative cooling that occurs during transpiration creates a better (cooler) microclimate in the city. Local authorities are under enormous cost and action pressure to develop cost-effective measures to combat both flash flooding and urban heat stress in a confined space. By utilising the pipe trench, a large storage body is available without the need for additional space on the surface.

In order to utilise the previously unused pipe trench as a storage body (infiltration trench), a departure from previous practice is required. Pipe trenches are currently highly compacted to ensure a stable bedding of the pipes and to prevent cracks or breaks in the pipes. Roots should be kept away from the pipe trench as far as possible, as they can penetrate the pipes via cracks or joints. The planned use of ductile iron pipes removes both restrictions. The flexible pipes can be embedded in coarse gravel materials without breaking and are considered root-resistant, so that roots can grow into the pipe trench without damaging the pipe. Another new type of material for the pipe trench is also to be tested. The company Rockflow has developed a pipe trench made of rock wool, which has a higher storage capacity of 95% compared to gravel bodies.

In particular, the filling and emptying processes as well as the flow processes in the pipeline trench designed as a trench body require hydraulic engineering investigations. These investigations are being carried out in a test section in the Hydraulic Engineering Laboratory at Bochum University of Applied Sciences.

Further information: http://www.schwammstadt.de/

Project leader: Prof. Dr. Jörg Frochte

Funding provider: Foundation for Innovation in University Teaching under FBM2020-VA-219-2-05750

Volume (in €): Bochum University of Applied Sciences' share: 948,973 euros

Co-partners: Dortmund University of Applied Sciences and Arts (consortium leader), Westphalian University of Applied Sciences and Arts

Duration: 08/2021 – 07/2024

With digital mentoring, the three partner universities are addressing several challenges that are currently influencing and shaping teaching and learning: on the one hand, there is the fact that their first-semester students usually start their studies with very different prerequisites, for example with different approaches to higher education entrance qualifications and an increasing social and cultural diversity of students. In addition, the three network partners also want to take into account the increasing length of study programmes and the significant increase in the use of digital teaching elements.

The digitalisation of teaching in particular opens up new opportunities that digital mentoring makes use of. The "learning analytics" method used here utilises the data generated by students' learning activities in order to better recognise the needs of individual learners and provide better support for the individual learning process. To this end, the three universities use the information from various sources, such as administration and learning management systems, compile it and analyse it in compliance with all data protection regulations. The use of educational data mining is intended to help compile recommendations for the further course of study, which will supplement the support and guidance provided by professors and service facilities such as the student advisory service.

Digital Mentoring

Project leader:  Prof. Dr. Jörg Frochte

Funding provider: BMBF Call 2873

Volume (in €): 166.545

Co-partner: University of Leipzig, University of Weimar

Duration: 03/2021 – 03/2024

With SharKI, we are developing a shared task platform to enable teachers to implement, execute and evaluate AI-supported shared tasks in courses. The aspect of educational data mining is integrated. The primary goals at HS UAS_BO are robotics and control engineering.

SharKI-C

Project leader: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Christoph Mudersbach

Funding provider: Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)

Volume (in €): 330,000

Duration: 03/2020 – 03/2023

The ProComE project is concerned with analysing the probabilities of occurrence of combined hydrological and meteorological extreme events in order to improve the assessment of societal risks. Combined extreme events are defined as the simultaneous occurrence of two or more extreme events, such as storms and heavy rainfall. The research project is embedded in a large research network with 16 sub-projects under the direction of the University of Bonn as part of the Climate Change and Extreme Events (ClimXtreme) funding programme of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research. The research network is being funded with a total of around €5 million, of which the ProComE sub-project accounts for around €330,000.

The following combined extreme events are to be analysed as part of the project:

• Heavy rainfall and river flooding
• Heavy rain and storms
• Heavy rain and storm surges
• River floods and storm surges

Further information: https://climxtreme.net/index.php/en/

Project leader: Dr. Michel Royeck (Scientific equipment and information technology, DFG)

Funding provider: German Research Foundation (DFG)

Thematically diverse funding for 15 universities in the Major Instrumentation Campaign for Universities of Applied Sciences 2022 with a total funding volume of around 14 million euros (plus programme allowance)

The German Research Foundation (DFG) launched its second major instrumentation programme for universities of applied sciences (HAW). This funding programme, which is specifically geared towards HAW, aims to supplement and expand existing good scientific equipment infrastructures with a view to knowledge-oriented research. Embedded in the structural and scientific priorities of the universities, the funding opens up the potential of the facilities for research and also aims to lay the foundation for further DFG projects. As part of the large-scale equipment programme, the procurement of scientific equipment is funded, and funds are also provided for personnel and other measures to strengthen the use of equipment infrastructures for current research issues.

HAW were each able to submit a project with a proposal volume of up to 1 million euros and a duration of up to five years to the DFG. The 2022 call for proposals was once again very well received: 71 proposals with a wide range of topics and subject areas were received. In 2021, 72 projects were submitted, 16 of which were funded. All applications were discussed in detail by recognised experts at review meetings. The results of the review were summarised by the responsible evaluation committee, the Committee for Scientific Instrumentation and Information Technology.

The DFG's Joint Committee followed the resulting funding recommendations and decided to fund 15 proposals of outstanding quality. In its opinion, the proposals paint a multi-faceted picture of the HAW in the device infrastructure sector and document the research potential of the working groups involved. The funding decisions represent a funding volume of around 14 million euros (plus programme allowance), which corresponds to an approval rate of 21.5 percent.

The call for proposals for a third round of the large-scale equipment programme for universities of applied sciences will be published in January 2023.

Billions in property damage, almost 200 deaths: the flood of the century in July 2021 showed that the Ruhr metropolis is not adequately prepared for extreme weather events caused by climate change. Artificial intelligence can help to improve the resilience of cities. The project is creating a digital and smart monitoring system for flooded streets. Where in the Ruhr metropolis is it particularly dangerous when it comes to flooding? Analysing weather data and forecasting models should provide clues. The Hydraulic Engineering and Hydromechanics research department is working together with experts in applied artificial intelligence on the central question: What does urban development look like that takes floods, heavy rainfall and the like into account? Solutions are developed and implemented together with, for example, water boards, local authorities, municipal utilities and administrations.

Further information on the project here.

Project leader: Prof. Dr. Roland Böttcher

Funding organisation: Ministry of Culture and Science NRW

Co-operation partners: Information on the cooperation partners can be found here.

The "ebwl-oer.nrw" project as part of the "OERContent.nrw" funding line is developing a cross-university digital teaching and learning programme in the field of "Introduction to Business Administration". The digital teaching and learning programme was developed by a consortium of seven universities and subsequently made freely available to all universities in NRW via the DH-NRW.

Technology:

• Autonomous Moodle course
• Integration of various technical elements (H5P elements, learning analytics, etc...)
• Participation from various Moodle and ILIAS systems via ECS server.

What is there?:

• Interactive Moodle course with sequential navigation
• 18 lessons with 62 learning units (incl. in-depth texts)
• Co-operation with Lange and Schäffer-Poeschel Verlag
• 62 animated videos on core Business Administration topics
• Videos are interspersed with interactive H5P elements
• Collection of questions with approx. 1500 questions
• Different question categories
• Individual practice and final tests final tests for all lessons
• Individual grading (portfolio examination)

Structure of a lesson: 

• Knowledge transfer
  • Interactive video (7 - 15 min)
  • Script
• Consolidation of knowledge
  • In-depth text
  • "Learning-with-questions" - Quiz
• Knowledge test
  • Final lesson test

Additions:

• Animated web series as a narrative framework ("Die Unternehmensbrater ")
• Approx. 100 animated glossary terms (screencasts)
• Bonus: scripts, crossword puzzles, web links, quizzes

Success factors:

• Linking the elements
  • All elements are related to each other in terms of content and technology.
• Target group proximity & preparation
  • The approach is appropriate for the target group.
  • All content elements are written and produced exclusively for the course.

Challenges:

• Communication and control
  • The communication and control of autonomous self-learning courses is complex.
• Supply of OER material
  • Difficulties can arise due to the lack of and inadequate supply of copyright-free material.

Evaluation:

• Testing & piloting
  • Testing & optimisation over four semesters with participants from three universities.
• Participants
  • Around 500 participants active in the course so far. Interaction and views
  • Up to 90,000 interactions within 7 days.
  • Up to 2,500 tests completed in 7 days.
• Forums and communication structure
  • Various forums and detailed FAQs for communication with participants.
• Transparency
  • Progress can be viewed by participants at any time ("The green arrow to the goal")

Further information on the project here.

Responsible for the project:  Prof. Dr Volker Klingspor

Funding organisation: Foundation for Innovation in University Teaching

Duration: 2022

The learning objective of the Business Informatics module is the ability to solve data literacy tasks using self-written programmes. Students solve programming tasks in exercises. Due to the different prior knowledge of the students, the level of difficulty of the tasks only affects some of the students. The learning steps are too large for overtaxed students, tasks cannot be solved independently and sample solutions are often considered without attempting to solve them oneself. The ability to create a solution themselves is not achieved and students lose motivation. Underchallenged students lack the stimulation to gain an understanding of data processing beyond the minimum learning objective in order to be better prepared for the demands of digitalisation.

Individual exercises should be suggested to students according to their learning progress. Instead of providing sample solutions, they should be intrinsically motivated to take part in the exercises through continuous, automatic assessment of their solutions. An additional extrinsic motivation is to be provided by a bonus system that students can use to improve their module grades. For this purpose, a sufficiently large pool of tasks is to be created from which individual tasks with a customised level of difficulty can be generated.

Further information on the project here.