Sustainability in Teaching and Professional Development

Good practices at Rosenheim Technical University of Applied Sciences

Laboratory E (STEM Education)

The laboratories of the Faculty of Social Sciences at the Mühldorf am Inn campus: The laboratories of the Faculty of Social Sciences at the Mühldorf am Inn campus offer students numerous opportunities to put their theoretical knowledge into practice. Lecturers use the resources for a wide variety of teaching methods in seminar-based classes. The campus is also home to Laboratory E, a facility dedicated to education for sustainable development, which forms a cross-cutting theme in the STEM education modules of the Early Childhood Education degree programme. The full catalogue of available resources and rooms can be viewed on the Learning Campus.

The leihBar – a living example of a sharing culture on campus

The E-Learning Centre offers not only media technology but also facilities, including an acoustically optimised video and podcast studio. Availability can be checked online via the TH Rosenheim dashboard (on the university’s intranet, accessible only to members of the university community), and the required equipment can be booked directly.

You can find more information here.

Good Practice – Laboratory for Agile and Hybrid Teaching at Rosenheim University of Applied Sciences

The imparting of specialist knowledge in lectures goes hand in hand with solving practical problems through student group work, which enables theoretical knowledge to be immediately applied in practice and thus consolidated. To enhance the individual learning success of its students, the Faculty of Management and Engineering at TH Rosenheim relies on problem-based and flexible teaching methods. To this end, the faculty has established the Laboratory for Agile and Hybrid Teaching, comprising two rooms whose facilities meet a variety of teaching requirements.

In one room, for example, an agile teaching and learning environment has been created, for which mobile furniture was specially developed and produced in-house in the university’s timber construction laboratories; this allows mini PCs running specific software for courses to be integrated via folding mechanisms as required, or ‘hidden away’ when free workspace is needed.

Another room offers a flexible infrastructure for hybrid group work and lectures. It features, on the one hand, high tables, room dividers and a seating area for creative group work, and, on the other hand, interactive taskboards and whiteboards for the virtual integration of experts and remote students, facilitating in-depth discussion.

During the lightning talk, the functionality of both rooms will be explained using a number of specific teaching and learning scenarios – ranging from traditional knowledge transfer in lectures, through agile group work techniques, to the active involvement of experts and students working remotely.

You can find more information about the Laboratory for Agile and Hybrid Teaching at TH Rosenheim here.

Good Practice – ‘WI-Story’ – A comprehensive company history as part of the Bachelor’s degree programme

Since 2024, teaching on the Bachelor’s degree programme in Industrial Engineering at TH Rosenheim has been based on an innovative teaching and learning concept. The so-called ‘WI-Story’ integrates practical and solution-oriented methods designed to enable students to engage more deeply with the course content and to boost their motivation. The concept was developed and refined as part of the university-wide HigHRoQ project, with support from the project team at the Faculty of Industrial Engineering. It was funded by the ‘Innovation in Higher Education’ Foundation.

A fictional company as an illustrative example

The WI-Story is based on the pedagogical concept of Problem-Based Learning (PBL) and context-based learning, and adopts a student-centred approach. At the heart of the new concept is a fictional company that manufactures e-scooters. This company serves as a common thread running through the various modules of the degree programme. Lectures and seminars are supplemented by questions and problems posed by the company, making the teaching more tangible and practical. This enables students to apply the theoretical content directly to practical scenarios and gain a better understanding of its relevance to real-world business practice. 

Identifying and understanding interfaces within a company

The WI-Story programme begins with a workshop in which students use the LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® method to grasp the interrelationships and interfaces between the individual study modules, as well as their necessity within a real-world company. This interactive and creative method enables students to grasp complex concepts in a playful way through building and modelling with LEGO bricks. It also promotes teamwork and provides an ideal introduction to the degree programme.

For further information on the ‘WI-Story’, please contact Gretel Huber, who holds a degree in Business Administration (FH), from the ‘Sustainable Engineering & Management’ research group.