Digital Starter-Kit - Release - Overview of the Blue Engineering Seminar

Main Learning Outcomes

to not only solve problems, but to actually define them
to learn with and from others
share, analyze and discuss information on technology and society
to practice participation and democratic interaction
to consider technology and nature as social conditions

Student Driven Course Design

professor/lecturer is responsible for the seminar and supervises the student tutors

student tutors
- organize the entire seminar
- conduct one third of the seminar

students
- are involved and interact all of the time
- conduct two thirds of the seminar
- contribute to the future development of the seminar

Hard Facts of the Seminar

concept is used now for 10 years and is continually developed
transferable and adaptable concept - established at nine universites
integrated as compulsory elective module in numerous Bachelor study programs

3 to 6 ECTS points
- analogue seminar - 90 > 180 minutes presence time
- digital seminar - 90 > 120 minutes presence time plus 60 minute preparation/follow-up

Assessment
- Semester Project - Developing, conducting and documenting new building block
- Learning Journal - personal reflection and transfer

in total around 400 students per semester
- 150 participants per semester at TU Berlin with three tutors
- 30 participants per semester at TU Hamburg with two tutors

fully established at nine universities in Germany plus two to come in the next summer semester
- TU Berlin, TU Hamburg, TU Dresden, Uni Stuttgart, TH Köln, HAW Hamburg, HTW Berlin, HS Düsseldorf, HS Ruhr West
- Uni Rostock, Uni Paderborn

Schedule of the Seminar

around 13 to 15 weekly meetings
- analogue - 90 to 180 minutes + little preparation/follow-up
- digital - 90 to 120 minutes + 60 minutes preparation/follow-up

Three Phases of the Seminar

Phase 1 - tutors conduct basic building blocks
Phase 2 - participants conduct existing building blocks
Phase 3 - participants conduct newly developed building blocks

Building blocks - What is that?

modular teaching/learning units which cover one specific topic
preparation - video conference - follow-up
diverse methods and didactics - well documented
teaching/learning process is largely transferred towards participants
facilitation instead of experts’ knowledge
all building blocks are included in the digital starter kit

Examination - 100 points in total

50 points – semester project: develop, perform and document a building block with your team
50 points – personal journal: reflect the weekly sessions
Participation in weekly video conference is mandatory
max. 2 missed sessions per semester

Semester Project: develop, perform and document an own building block - 50 out of 100 points

Participants in groups of 3 to 5 develop a new building block
Documentation of the building block
Dress rehearsal of the building block
Peer-to-peer feedback
Incorporation of feedback
Premiere of the building block
Submission of documentation - final version

Personal Learning Journal – What is it for? - 50 out of 100 points

record your reflection on seminar’s content and your personal conclusions
use the tools within your journal
go a step further: newspaper articles, documentaries, conversations with friends…
include creative elements: inner dialogue, sketches, collages, role plays, songs…
some tasks of preparation and follow-up can be done in the journal
about 300 words per entry
analogue or digital - submission as PDF

Example Building Block - 100 Points – Demands on Technology Design - Digital

Individual Work - Your Demand on Technology Design

Task 1: Your Demands on Technology Design – Individual Work - 3 min

List all important values/demands YOU want to be considered when technology is designed.
e.g. profitability

Task 2: Rank your demands – Individual Work - 2 min

Score the values/demands you have just noted down by distributing 100 points in total amongst them.
e.g. profitability (20 points) - value 2 (30 points) - value 3 (50 points)

Group Work - Collective Demands on Technology Design

Overview of Tasks - Small Group Work - 7 min

Task 1: Present your personal demands and rankings to each other
Task 2: Agree on one set of demands as a group and score it
Task 3: Post your results in the forum

Task 1 - Present your personal demands and rankings - 3 min

Briefly present your values and your ranking to each other
Pay attention to similarities/differences when the others speak
Refer to the others when you speak

Task 2 - Agree on one set of demands as a group and score it - 4 min

Agree on values as a group and distribute 100 points among them

Task 3 - Post your results in the Chat

Choose one person per group to posts your demands/ranking in the chat
'for example - value A (50) - value B (30) - value C (20) -

Digital-Starter-Kit-Release-Jan-2021