Basic Qualification for Junior Staff - Foundations of Teaching in Higher Education (STEM Disciplines)

The workshop "Basic Qualification for Junior Staff - Foundations of Teaching in Higher Education" is designed to support staff new to teaching. The course is held in English language and addresses teaching-related issues and contexts specific to STEM disciplines (for example, teaching in the lab). The course introduces to practicalities of teaching at Vienna University, assists new teachers in planning their courses and offers a networking opportunity among peers.

 Who is the main audience?

The course is mandatory for university assistants without doctorate (praedocs) in their first year of employment if they take on teaching responsibilities (cf. collective agreement § 49) as well as for assistants in the second year of employment if they teach for the first time. Praedocs have to complete the course before or during their first teaching assignment. The aforementioned obligation does not apply if a person can prove prior experience in teaching in Higher Education.

In addition, we invite all interested teaching staff at the University of Vienna to attend a Basic Qualification course (provided enough spots are available).  

The "Basic Qualification for Junior Staff" was designed specifically for:

  • Teaching staff with little or no German skills
  • All teaching staff wishing to develop their skills in speaking about teaching in English and/or who intend to apply for international jobs in the future
  • All teaching staff who appreciate exchange with participants from international backgrounds

 Course Content and Learning Objectives

  • Developing a repertoire of teaching/learning methods appropriate for participants' disciplines (such as teaching in the laboratory, experimentation, math exercises etc.)
  • Introduction to online teaching/learning
  • Understanding principles of assessment in STEM courses
  • Phrasing learning objectives as competencies
  • Developing a teaching/learning concept (course design)
  • Knowing the fundamentals of study law
  • Reflection upon the role as a teacher in Higher Education
  • Introduction to interdependencies between curriculum, module plan and course plan

Course format

The basic qualification course take place in a blended-learning format including both face-to-face meetings and digital elements including a video conference as well as asynchronous online activities and independent learning.

 

Immediately after the workshop, you will write a short teaching concept, in which you will apply what you have learned to your own teaching context. The total workload for the workshop is about 18-20 hours on average, depending on your prior knowledge and individual engagement.

 Course Facilitator

The English-language courses for new teachers from STEM disciplines will be facilitated by Dr. Ivan Yudushkin.

 Dates for the academic year 2024/25

Each Basic Qualification workshop consists of two face-to-face sessions and one online session. These are the dates for academic year 2024/25:

  • September 2024:

    Monday, 16 September, 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. (face-to-face),
    Thursday, 19 September, 9.00 a.m. to 12.00 p.m. (online)
    and Monday, 23 September, 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. (face-to-face)
  • November/December 2024:

    Monday, 25 November, 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. (face-to-face),
    Thursday, 28 November, 9.00 a.m. to 12.00 p.m. (online)
    and Monday, 02 December, 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. (face-to-face)
  • February 2025:

    Friday, 21 February, 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. (face-to-face),
    Monday, 24 February, 9.00 a.m. to 12.00 p.m. (online)
    and Friday, 28 February, 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. (face-to-face)
  • June 2025:

    Monday, 02 June, 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. (face-to-face),
    Thursday, 05 June, 9.00 a.m. to 12.00 p.m. (online)
    and Tuesday, 10 June, 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. (face-to-face)

 Location

Face-to-face meetings will take place at the following address:

Center for Teaching and Learning, Universitätsstraße 5 (3rd floor), 1010 Wien.­

For the video conference, please follow the link on the Moodle course site.

 Registration

New Registration Method Over the Summer

Due to the implementation of a new platform for professional and career development courses, the registration method has changed!

 

The university is currently developing a new central platform through which you will be able to find and book all staff and faculty development courses. The new system will go live on September 03, 2024.

The previous registration system is no longer active, therefore no registration platform will be available over the summer.

 

However, if you would like to sign up for a September course, we ask you to do the following:

  1. Send us an email to basisqualifizierung.ctl@univie.ac.at, stating the desired course and your details (name, ID, employment category: praedoc, lecturer, etc.). This helps us to keep track of registrations and ensure the capacities needed so we can guarantee you a spot.
  1. Register for the desired course in the new system during the first week of September (starting on September 3).

Please watch this space on information on how to access the new booking platform. As soon as we know more, we will share the information here. 

We apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for your patience. If you have any questions, please contact us at any time at basisqualifizierung.ctl@univie.ac.at.