Inquiry-Based Learning - Undergraduate Research: The German Multidisciplinary Experience

by Harald A. Mieg (Editor)

Overview

This open access book provides a systematic overview of experiences with Inquiry-Based Learning (IBL) and undergraduate research (UR) in German universities, covering both research universities (Universitäten) and universities of applied sciences (Fachhochschulen). Divided into three parts, the book starts with the principles and common practices of IBL/UR at all universities. Part Two discusses the implementation of IBL/UR for twenty-one individual disciplines, ranging from architecture to theology. Part Three discusses the potential of IBL/UR in relation to several topics including diversity, digitalisation, different forms of universities, and the national job market. The book summarises the project of the German network of UR, comprising approximately 50 universities, and results of a national initiative called Qualitätspakt Lehre which is intended to improve teaching at German universities.

Today IBL and UR are essential parts of high-impact education strategies for universities around the world. In his university reform plans of the early 19th century, Wilhelm von Humboldt introduced Inquiry-Based Teaching and Learning as the core principle of the modern research university in Germany, as well as worldwide. IBL was re-discovered in the German university reform initiatives of the 1960s. Since then, IBL has been applied in teachers' education in German universities. The book presents IBL/UR experience as complementary to what is usually presented in English-speaking academia. In Germany, IBL/UR is applied broadly throughout the social sciences and planning, but not in the core sciences, whereas in the US undergraduate research is common in the sciences but less so in the social sciences. Moreover, in Germany, IBL/UR is often linked to applied and community-oriented research — something that is just emerging in the US.

 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9783030142230
Publisher:	Springer International Publishing
Publication date:	04/12/2019
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	406
File size:	8 MB

About the Author

Harald A. Mieg is (honorary) professor of Metropolitan Studies at the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and also affiliated to the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich. The focus of his research is on planning processes in cities and research methodologies. He was the initiator and coordinator of a German national research project on undergraduate research in Germany ("ForschenLernen," lasting 2014-2018, 15 universities involved). In this context, he coordinated the edition of a series of books on undergraduate research and inquiry-based learning in Germany.

Table of Contents

Foreword.- Preface.- Introduction.- Part 1: Principles.- Concepts and Cases: Science Studies on IBL.- Focus on Learning.- Processes and Capabilities of Self-Learning.- Research-Oriented Learning and Teaching from a Didactic View.- The Turn "From Teaching to Learning": Towards a Student-Centered Learning Culture.- Focus on Research.- Development of Competences through IBL.- Research-Oriented Study Programs as Enculturation to Science.- Reflection.- Focus on Curricula.- Examinations and IBL.- The Peer-to Peer Principle of IBL.- Inter- and Transdisciplinarity.- Part 2: Disciplines.- I) Professionalizing Disciplines.- Teachers' Education and IBL.- Social Work and IBL.- Information Science and IBL.- II) Life Sciences.- Medicine and IBL.- (Natural) Life Sciences and IBL.- Health Sciences and IBL.- III) STEM.- Mathematics and IBL.- (Natural) Sciences and IBL.- Engineering and IBL.- IV) Arts and Design.- The Arts and IBL.- Design and IBL.- Architecture and IBL.- Specific Disciplines.- Business Administration and IBL.- Cultural Studies and IBL.- Geography and IBL.- Historical Studies and IBL.- Law and IBL.- Philosophy and IBL.- Sports and IBL.- Sustainability Studies and IBL.- Theology and IBL.- Part 3: Perspectives.- IBL as an Academic Profile: Bremen University.- IBL from the Perspective of Applied Universities.- IBL and Digital Media.- IBL and Diversity.- Perspectives for Economy and Society.