The Teaching Project

Fostering international knowledge transfer in higher edcuation: Oxford Tutorial meets WU Vienna

Severin Rapp & Lukas Lehner

The tutorial system is a core element of the teaching strategy at the University of Oxford and enjoys an excellent reputation worldwide. Tutorials are held in parallel with lectures. Students write an essay on the course content in preparation for the tutorial and discuss it with a tutor in groups of 2 to 3 students. This allows the perspectives of each participant to be individually addressed, arguments to be questioned, and course content to be embedded in broader debates. This teaching project aims to apply the principles of the Oxford tutorial system in the teaching operations at WU within an economic policy course. Such an approach examines whether the advantages of this teaching method can be achieved at WU despite the significant institutional differences between the two universities. It is particularly important to see if critical thinking can be fostered through the tutorials and if participation in the course improves. The tutorial system adapted to the WU course also allows master's students to gain initial academic teaching experience as tutors. Tutors discuss written assignments with students to explore new perspectives and, not least, to improve their own arguments. Using a mixed-methods approach, a scientific evaluation of the tutorial system is conducted, contributing to the international transfer of knowledge in higher education.

Scholarship of Teaching and Learning

Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) is the scholarly engagement of university teachers with their own teaching and/or the learning of their students (see Huber 2014, p. 21). The goal is to make the insights gained applicable to one's own teaching and to make them accessible to a professional audience. The idea of scholarship means a professional interest in approaching teaching-related questions in a scientific manner, further developing one's own didactics, and sharing the findings with others. Since 2017, WU has offered the opportunity to fund teaching projects that involve the systematic investigation of one's own teaching.

Event "The Art of Teaching 2024"

"Good teaching is an art" - following this motto, WU has decided to create a new event to spotlight excellent teaching. On June 20, 2024, the teaching award winners of 2024 were honored at WU, and posters on various teaching projects were displayed. More information about the event can be found here.