QuiS conference 2024

On October 1, 2024, the “QuiS Conference 2024 – Perspectives in University Teaching” took place in Wetzlar in the Leica World. Central topics of the funding program, from study orientation to mental health to making studies more flexible, were discussed.

The conference was a very nice experience for everyone involved at QuiS and the personal discussions and exchanges strengthened QuiS's network idea.

Video impressions of the QuiS conference

Press release THM | 02.10. 2024

It's not just course content that is subject to constant change. Study conditions and teaching formats should also always be up to date. The Hessian state program QuiS is committed to this goal. The 14 participating educational institutions discussed flexible studying, educational equity, conditions for student success and new teaching formats at the annual conference in Wetzlar.

“With QuiS, the state government is responding to the needs of an increasingly heterogeneous and diverse student body as well as to the internationalization of studies. QuiS gives us the opportunity to react quickly and directly to current challenges. With the program, we want to increase permeability in the education system, enable students to study with equal opportunities and lead them to successfully complete their studies," said Christoph Degen, State Secretary in the Hessian Ministry for Science and Research, Art and Culture, welcoming those involved from science, administration and university presidiums . Since 2021, the Hessian universities have been working on a variety of projects to develop university teaching, supported by the QuiS (Quality in Study and Teaching in Hesse) funding program. During the term of the current Hessian university pact, around 130 million euros are available.

The program is coordinated by the QuiS service point at the Technical University of Central Hesse (THM) in Giessen. Their Vice President for Studies and Teaching, Prof. Dr. Katja Specht, credited the program with strengthening collaboration and communication between universities and promoting the exchange of ideas and best practices. “QuiS has become a brand that stands for innovation and sustainable quality in studying and teaching in Hesse,” she said: The broad spectrum of QuiS includes topics and projects from the areas of internationality and diversity, to future skills and mental health to make studying more flexible.

The conference as a networking and working meeting in the Leitz Park of the camera manufacturer Leica served to promote an in-depth exchange of approaches and ideas. The supporting program was moderated by Prof. Dr. Claudia Schmeink and Jörg Pulfrich, who led plenary discussions and presented the workshop results. In two rounds of four workshops each, the keywords mentioned in the greetings were discussed, but also very specific questions were addressed, such as: “How can we strengthen decision-making skills among participants in orientation semesters?”

Students, as well as members of the presidium, university didactists and members of the “Student Success Commission” gave their very individual perspectives on the issues considered in QuiS. They came in response to the keynote speech by PD Dr. Painted Persike to speak. He is the scientific director of the Center for Teaching and Learning Services at RWTH Aachen University. In his lecture "The Blended University - On the way to the learning architecture of the future" he took up the idea of ​​blended learning as a combination of digital and analog teaching formats and transferred it to all areas of a university. “The implementation of the Blended University affects service structures, spatial design, the understanding of roles of all employees, the joint work of various actors and, as a result, significantly changes the culture of the entire university system,” he advocated for bold thinking beyond the exclusive modernization of teaching. His conclusion: To realize the blended university, a strategic change process is needed that is developed and implemented in a participatory manner with all status groups.

Video statements from the conference participants: “QuiS is …”

As part of the QuiS conference, all 14 Hessian universities had the opportunity to present and discuss the importance of the QuiS projects for the respective university in a virtual poster exhibition.

Browse through the documentation of the virtual poster exhibition, which includes the welcoming speech by Minister Timon Gremmels as well as the abstract of the keynote by PD Dr. Contains painted persimmon.

Documentation of the virtual poster exhibition, including an abstract of the keynote

Review of the conference program and workshops