This workshop is part of the NRW-Zertifikat and exclusively designed for international scholars (Ph.D. students, postdocs) who did not complete their studies in Germany and are now teaching at UPB. This workshop will live on the exchange of our own experiences and examples.

Exercise courses are a central part of teaching in STEM. Students can apply the knowledge gained in lectures to solve specific problems and acquire fundamental problem-solving skills. However, empirical studies show that the learning success and satisfaction of students lag behind the possibilities. Causes include not only the students' learning techniques and the design of the exercises by the instructors but also the expectations of students from the lecturer. For international scholars, the German learning culture and the expectations of students from the lecturer, as well as their own expectations of the students, often pose challenges.

We will focus on differences and similarities on your own and the German learning culture, and how these can influence the success of your exercises. Based on your own experiences and practical examples in physics, we will work out possible solutions and strategies.

The participants are able to

• ... reflect on their own learning culture and role
• ... analyse the potentials and limitations of different teaching techniques and typical learning-situations,
• ... identify effective strategies
• ... apply various teaching techniques in a learning-culturally sensitive manner

"I've got my results. I'm done experimenting"

The goal-oriented and systematic training of learners in everyday research and in particular in scientific work in the laboratory is often challenging for all participants due to different expectations and expierences.

In the workshop we will use authentic situations from your everyday laboratory life to talk about strategies, how to accompany the learners, what pitfalls there are and what we can and cannot actually expect from our students.

In the first workshop of the Teaching and Learning Physics series, we will use a variety of evidence from my everyday research and your concrete experiences to

• different ways of organising the exercise format,
• a time-efficient implementation of different approaches,
• and strategies for dealing with individual learning requirements.

will be developed.

Exercise courses are next to the lectures a central part of teaching. Teaching exercise courses as a PhD student often includes a hard role switch from being a student to becoming a teacher for courses you sometimes just recently passed yourself. But how can we teach our students effectively and support them best possible?

In this workshop we will discuss typical challenges faced when teaching within such a format and will work out possible solutions and strategies how to deal with these challenges based on real world scenarios experienced by you. You are encouraged to bring your own struggles and scenarios, so we can work out together solutions for your challenges.

Supervising Bachelor's and Master's thesis can be very rewarding both scientifically for one's own project, as well as one's personal development. But it can also be a very challenging task as one has to juggle different objectives, such as the success of the project or the learning experience of the student.

In this workshop we will look into typical challenges experienced when supervising students' thesis work during the lab process and the writing process based on real world examples and find some strategies for effective handling with it. You will have the chance to discuss your own experience and find individual solutions and strategies.