24 June 2026

At the third Teaching and Learning Day, around 70 lecturers and students discussed how university teaching needs to evolve – with AI, greater engagement and unusual analogies.

On 10 June 2026, lecturers and students from Nordhausen University of Applied Sciences gathered in the Audimax to reflect together on the future of teaching and learning. Under the theme „The Future of Teaching and Learning“, the day focused on specific approaches, unanswered questions and an unconventional perspective on what academic knowledge transfer should achieve.

Keynote: When knowledge doesn’t stick

Ludwig David Lorenz, Future Scout Fellow at the Reinhard Frank Foundation and DigitalChangeMaker at the Hochschulforum Digitalisierung, kicked off the programme. In his keynote speech, „Connected Thinking“, he asked whether the academic transfer of knowledge really has a lasting impact – or whether students learn a great deal that is forgotten shortly afterwards. Lorenz called for more interconnected thinking and a university teaching approach that not only imparts subject matter but also highlights the connections between concepts.

„Knowledge that is not put into practice is lost. The question is not what we teach, but what actually sticks,“ said Lorenz, summing up the central argument.

Students have their say: „Learning or nothing – let’s bridge the gap!“

Unusually for a university event, an entire session was devoted to the students themselves. During the student workshop, they engaged in an open discussion about the gaps they perceive between what teaching promises and what they actually gain from it in their day-to-day lives. The findings are to be incorporated into the further development of teaching at Nordhausen University of Applied Sciences.

„We want to know how our students really experience teaching. This isn’t something that can be taken for granted – and today we had the opportunity to do just that,“ said Prof. Dr Cordula Borbe, Vice-President for Studies and Teaching, in her opening remarks.

Four workshops: from AI to mountaineering

In the afternoon, the participants split into four parallel workshops, each with a very different approach.

• Uwe Cämmerer-Seibel, Managing Director of the eTeach Network, demonstrated in the workshop „Course Development with AI: Thinking about Learning Objectives Taxonomically“ how AI tools can be used to formulate learning objectives more precisely – based on established learning taxonomies such as Bloom’s Taxonomy. This is not an end in itself, but a practical tool for teachers.
• Kirsten Lamschus from the Department of Health and Social Sciences at Nordhausen University of Applied Sciences addressed a less technical, but no less important, topic: engagement and rapport as the foundation of good university teaching. If you really want to connect with students, you need more than just good slides.
• Prof. Dr Klaus-Peter Neitzke from the School of Engineering at Nordhausen University of Applied Sciences demonstrated that even dry academic subjects can be explained in an engaging way – with a workshop on analogies: What do aeroplane engines have in common with soap bubbles? And what does electrical engineering have to do with mountaineering? His approach: complex relationships become easier to understand when linked to familiar images.
• Dr Manuel Robert Quaschner from the Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science at Friedrich Schiller University Jena outlined how engaging self-study formats in mathematics might look – specifically using the example of self-assessments in the Moodle learning management system, which provide an insight into learners’ progress without creating exam pressure.

Teaching projects in the spotlight

The programme concluded with a presentation of the university’s current funded projects and fellowships. Which teaching projects are currently underway? What is being trialled? The ‘Spotlight’ session highlighted that teaching development at Nordhausen University is not a one-off project, but an ongoing process.

Background

Teaching and Learning Day takes place regularly at Nordhausen University of Applied Sciences and is aimed at everyone involved in shaping or experiencing teaching: professors, lecturers, research assistants – and students. The aim is to foster an open discussion about what university teaching can and should achieve. The event was organised by Prof. Dr Cordula Borbe, Kathleen Hahnemann and Martin Groß – the Team from the Department of Studies & Teaching.