Providing excellent teaching is a stated aim of the University of Konstanz. In order to support university teachers with developing their competencies as best as possible right from the start, QualiTut offers training for student tutors and advises lecturers on how to guide them.
QualiTut forms part of the University of Konstanz’s “b³ - beraten, begleiten, beteiligen” (b³ - advise, accompany, assist) project, which is financed through the “Qualitätspakt Lehre” (pact for quality in teaching) programme of the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research.
In QualiTut, the university didactics unit works closely with the following departments that have been piloting the programme:
- the Departments of Physics and Biology
- the Department of Computer and Information Science
- the Department of Linguistics
- and the Department of Politics and Public Administration.
University didactics provides expertise to university lecturers by offering didactic advice and workshops on the topic of tutor management. It also organises cross-departmental tutor training programmes.
Our members of staff in the individual departments ensure that our training programmes fit the departmental culture, tailor them to department-specific needs and offer advice and support to lecturers in all matters pertaining to the qualification of tutors.
Our goals:
- to prepare students for their tutoring responsibilities and thereby to improve the overall quality of student teaching
- to support lecturers with intergrating tutors effectively in their teaching
- to adjust existing structures to best support the consistent use of qualified tutors
- to raise awareness for the important contributions made by qualified tutors on all levels
Our quality assurance measures:
- We use a single training concept across the entire university.
- All our tutor training programmes and lecturer workshops are subject to evaluations.
- Because taking part in a tutor training programme earns ECTS credits in the area of transferable skills, it has become an integral part of many study programmes.
- Our instructors exchange ideas about methodological and didactic issues on a regular basis, ensuring that the quality of our training programmes improves steadily.
- All our instructors are qualified in university didactics.
Our success in numbers:
- Since its inception in 2012, more than 400 participants have successfully completed our tutor training programme.
- In the pilot departments, up to 80% of tutors have successfully qualified.
- 93% of the participants are happy with the training they have received and would recommend it to others.
Our network:
- QualiTut is a member of the “Tutorienarbeit an Hochschulen” (university tutorials) network, a federal association of universities specialising in all aspects of tutorial work and seeking to develop it further on the basis of shared standards of quality.
- We work closely with the University of Konstanz’s Centre for Transferable Skills (SQ). As a result, participants are eligible for ECTS credits, for example, in the transferable skills area.