Social media communication

I am passionate about teaching...

"... always, because there is nothing more inspiring for me than teaching. I think the exchange is great. The students are a very direct feedback channel that I really enjoy and that also helps me with my personal development."

The teaching project allows students to...

"... apply the knowledge they have gained so far from the degree program, as well as from the Bachelor's degree. With the small bonus that they acquire additional hard skills, which they then need above all to prepare for professional practice. I'm trying to create a link - between university studies and what's required in their later careers."

My role in the teaching project...

"... is mainly advisory and supportive in nature, so I personally see myself more as a team member than a lecturer. We try to dial down the pressure to perform and really work together as a team on cool projects - projects that are fun, that inspire creativity, but still allow for deep dialogue about the issues."

My goal...

"... is to offer good teaching and thus stay in the minds and thoughts of the students. We want them to continue to maybe give a thought now and then to what they learned in the seminar."

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Idea generation:

The basic topic of the seminar "Social Media Communication" was already anchored in an existing seminar. The seminar was redesigned in such a way that the focus was shifted more in the direction of media design. This was made possible by the provision of the content publishing program "Affinity Publisher," which was purchased with the funding.

Usually, content publishing programs are used to design brochures or magazines. The technical requirements of the programs allow the creative freedom that would not be possible with Word or PowerPoint. Part of the seminar was therefore also learning how to use the program and applying that knowledge. Practice sessions were held, similar to exercises or tutorials, that taught this key skill.

In addition to preparing the input on the topic of social media, it was also challenging to prepare the topics of layout and design and to provide appropriate examples. It was just as challenging to teach the content publishing program. The seminar has evolved with time and student feedback on this point.

Project objective:

The main objective of the seminar is to develop a white paper on a self-selected issue in the field of social media communication. The white paper is a format used in corporate and agency practice, as well as by government institutions. The combination of scientific and creative work results in a condensed and low-threshold summary about findings or facts on a specific issue.

A challenge for the students is to summarize the scientific findings in a descriptive way that is independent of the target group. This interplay of technical expertise and cross-disciplinary development of creativity in the design of the white paper, was the focus of the exercise and coaching. The focus is thus on science communication.

Current status/further steps/feedback/further development:

During the pilot phase of this project, there was very positive feedback from students. The seminar will continue to be offered.

In the future, procedural things are to be improved and lead to the seminar running more smoothly in terms of the technical aspects. This includes university-wide licenses, which should make the software more accessible to students and make it possible to work on the project not only using designated computers at the university.

In addition, the practice sessions will be held in a block format in the future, making it easier for students to get started with the content and directly apply what they have learned.

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  The practical work

Working with a content publishing program

  Cross-disciplinary aspects

Connections with various subjects, for example, with sociology, psychology, philosophy, and art

  Flat hierarchies and creative collaboration

Creativity should be the priority, students should be able to try things out, gain new experiences, and think outside the box.

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Ms. Trepte was permanently involved in the process, which means her feedback is mainly part of this seminar. We always had feedback rounds within the DeLLFi projects and personally I found it incredibly helpful. It was great to get feedback from the outside of how to see myself with this seminar and what hurdles I might face.

I found the didactic exchange really exciting. You were dragged out of your own office a bit and you could listen with open eyes and ears to what other departments and institutes were doing and how they were doing. That was very inspiring and also important. I think it is very nice that the exchange between the institutes was also supported.

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The seminar could not have taken place at all if we had not been given these technical prerequisites. In principle, it was completely due to the funding that this seminar could take place at all, because we needed the program to implement it.

Now the main goal that we have is that we perpetuate the seminar and that it can be done again. Of course, now it will be improved with the knowledge gained from evaluation and feedback.

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