At a glance
For: Prospective students, current students, lecturers
Topics: Flexible studying, sustainable studying, individual study plan, pilot study programs and projects, cross-program transfer, university-wide project week
Sub-project of making the study programs at Fulda University more flexible
Location: Fulda University
Pilot project ZDK – certificate for digitization and communication
The starting point for this project idea is the potential at Fulda University of Applied Sciences to collaborate interdisciplinarily at the departmental level, specifically incorporating the socially relevant cross-cutting theme of digitalization, a focus at the university as a research-intensive and dynamic institution. The development of new teaching formats is
of great importance at Fulda University of Applied Sciences. Internationalization and hybrid formats support the relevance of testing and designing digital forms that enable the (production and) reception of teaching and research content regardless of location, thus directly linking to the relevant topic of knowledge transfer. The largely untapped resources
of interdisciplinary topics therefore offer an excellent opportunity to convey subjects in an interdisciplinary and digitally didactic manner, making them teachable and, moreover, to present them as beacons of interdisciplinary teaching practice beyond the university, using modern forms of science communication.
The "Certificate for Digitalization and Communication" (ZDK) project builds upon these initial conditions, developing digitally supported and interdisciplinary teaching on the research topic of "communication" and thus enabling the intensification and didactic development of collaborative and interdisciplinary teaching. The ZDK is a
certificate program conceived by the two departments of Applied Computer Science and Social and Cultural Sciences, designed to foster the acquisition and deepening of both technical and digital knowledge, as well as theoretical and practical knowledge of communication. It comprises attendance at various courses offered by both departments and a seminar each semester specifically
designed for the certificate program, in which instructors from both departments jointly explore a communication-related topic from an interdisciplinary perspective. The certificate culminates in independent web-based application tasks for digital-communicative tasks undertaken by students who work together in teams of students from different disciplines, thus
applying and implementing the aforementioned idea of interdisciplinarity at the student level: The projects are also published on a dedicated website and thus gradually become reflectable examples of interdisciplinary cooperation.
The certificate program is currently in its first iteration after one semester. The project outlined here aims to systematically expand the Center for Digital Communication (ZDK) through increased resources, establishing it as the foundation for a teaching and learning concept that leverages the potential of both departments and consolidates student achievement in a digital environment. The ZDK is to be
further developed into a basis for sustainable interdisciplinary teaching, learning, and research practices at Fulda University of Applied Sciences on the topic of digitalization and communication, and to become the subject of development for a broadly applicable interdisciplinary digital didactics. The project aims to
transform the ZDK into a resource for digital-interdisciplinary teaching and research practice that can also be used by other departments. The following questions are central to this project: How can interdisciplinary teaching on the topic of communication be successful? Which digital tools are generally suitable for knowledge transfer and communication within heterogeneous groups? Which teaching tools and formats are particularly suitable for conveying content from different disciplinary perspectives to
students in co-teaching settings? How can synergies from cooperation be systematically integrated into teaching methods? Which teaching/learning methods are suitable for transferring interdisciplinary, student-led teaching research practices?
On the one hand, the results of the project flow back into the ZDK events as a practice of reflected didactics and, on the other hand, by expanding the digital presence, they are intended to enable scientific exchange on the topics of digitalization, communication and digital didactics that goes beyond the Fulda University of Applied Sciences.
