Guidelines for University Teaching at Universität Hamburg

(agreed by the Academic Senate at its 719th meeting on 10 July 2014)

The aim of university teaching is to facilitate education through science and scholarship. This includes creating conditions that enable students to acquire high-level academic knowledge and abilities, develop their skills independently, and become mature members of society both capable of and willing to actively shape that society into a social, ecological and sustainable, democratic and peaceful place and take responsibility for the future.

University teaching is based on Humboldt’s idea that education lies in the unity of research and teaching. Learning through research, life-long learning, and the ability to communicate with one another through argument grounded in science are the main characteristics of this kind of teaching.

All members of Universität Hamburg are obligated to pursue this aim of education through science—instructors, students, administrative and technical staff alike. We expect them and the committees and divisions of the University to devote themselves to successful university teaching with due time and care, to treat others with respect, and to observe the guidelines for good scientific practice. We expect all members of the University to commit to providing the financial, staffing, and technical infrastructure necessary for university teaching.

University management shall ensure that the framework for good teaching exists with the aim of:

guaranteeing the freedom of teaching and research;
facilitating degree programs that meet scientific standards;
maintaining and developing the University as a place of life-long learning for all;
supporting the interdisciplinary and international orientation of teaching;
offering opportunities for training in higher education teaching to all university teachers and, in particular, to young researchers; advancing exchange between university teachers; and encouraging research on teaching and learning at the University; and
giving due acknowledgement to the quality of teaching demonstrated by applicants in the academic search procedure.

The faculties are expected to maintain the appropriate academic standards in the degree programs that they offer and to ensure their studyability. This entails:

developing a faculty-approved, specific teaching profile for each subject and/or degree program that corresponds to the research areas in that subject and lends itself to further development reflecting current research findings;
shaping this profile so that the resulting aims for whole programs as well as individual phases of study and classes are readily visible;
offering degree programs in which the individual study phases relate to one another;
professionally organizing degree programs, providing suitable advising, and improving study opportunities for students from new target groups (life-long learning);
taking into account the demands of the workplace faced by graduates when designing degree programs and also taking the fundamental skills required for an academic career (e.g., judgment and critical reflection) into consideration;
regularly surveying students’ expectations and feedback on courses and incorporating feedback into program planning and design;
developing cooperative teaching and learning formats and supporting new course types; and
giving due acknowledgement to the quality of teaching demonstrated by applicants in the academic search procedure.

University teachers are expected to:

develop the courses they teach according to the latest research in their fields;
work together with students who, as autonomous subjects in the learning process, are responsible for shaping their own studies; devise courses that rely on the principle of dialog and encourage students as much as possible to develop their intrinsic motivation and engage in learning processes crucial to personal development;
ensure that learning aims and the demands that these place on students are transparent for all involved, craft examinations according to these aims and demands, and make the two latter known to both teachers and students;
provide students with the necessary feedback on grades, strengths, weaknesses, and potential for further development, and advise students on their individual courses of study; and
undertake professional development and training in both didactic and methodological matters, engage in discussion with other teachers about questions relating to teaching, and pay due attention to student diversity, in particular with respect to students’ prior learning and learning styles.

Students are expected to:

familiarize themselves with all matters relating to their studies, for example study and examination regulations;
organize and attend courses offered by the University;
grasp themselves as subjects and autonomously design their courses of study, act accordingly, and engage in dialog with teachers and other students as a principle of learning; and
provide teachers and other students with necessary feedback.

Commitment to educating through science and scholarship and orientation toward the resulting demands on all those involved will not only enable Universität Hamburg to strengthen its position in science; by equipping graduates with profound academic skills, the ability to reflect and evaluate, and a great sense of responsibility, the University simultaneously fulfills one of its fundamental obligations to the society underpinning it. Realizing this general principle is only possible if the University is given the requisite resources and framework conditions.