ZBL [denk]anstoß - Internationalisation in Higher Education
Our guest lecture with accompanying workshop in the winter semester 2026/27
"Mind the gap: Tips, tricks & tactics for bridging the language barrier with international students" (ENG)
Guest speaker: Dr Darren Paul Foster, language lecturer and English teacher at Freie Universität Berlin
Date: Wednesday, 20 January 2027, 10.00–11.30 am
Online lecture and discussion via Zoom
About the lecture – Divided into roughly four sections, with time for discussion in between, we will discuss tips for preparing for a class with an international group of students with varying levels of English, tricks for feeling more confident when teaching the class in English, and tactics for quickly creating a welcoming and inclusive learning environment.
By the end of the session, you will know how to make communication as effective as possible, how to work positively with the diversity of the group, and how to alleviate any anxieties you or your students may have about the class being conducted in English. If any of the above resonates with you, please do come along and let’s talk about it! There will also be a short workshop the following day to explore planning for your own teaching context in greater depth.
Credits – This lecture is worth 2 CU in Area B of the Certificate for Teaching in Higher Education awarded by Bavarian universities (Zertifikat Hochschullehre Bayern). Please select the appropriate option on the registration form.
Date: Thursday, 21th January 2027, 9 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
Online via Zoom
About the workshop - Would you like some support in preparing to teach an international student group? Do you have questions about how to create a supportive atmosphere in your specific teaching context? Are there any areas of teaching in English that you personally do not feel very confident about? If so, you are at the right workshop. We will go into more detail about how to confidently teach groups of heterogeneous international learners and consider the specific challenges that your own teaching setting brings. Via discussion, individual work and practical exercises, we will discuss:
- Trouble-shooting: What challenges do you anticipate in your teaching context, and what might be the best approaches to overcome them?
- Rapport building: How can we help to form a supportive learning community both inside and outside of class?
- Materials: What kind of materials provide learners with different language levels equal access to information?
- Contribution: What methods and tools do we have to encourage learners to contribute to class discussion and actively engage?
By the end of the workshop, you will feel more confident teaching in an international setting and be clear on the attitude, approaches, and tools that will make it a success.
Credits - This workshop can be credited with 4 CU in Area A of the Certificate for Teaching in Higher Education awarded by the Bavarian universities (Zertifikat Hochschullehre Bayern). Please select the appropriate option in the registration form.
Dr Darren Paul Foster, from Cornwall, England, is a language lecturer at Freie Universität Berlin who specialises in academic and professional skills courses. With an MA in European Languages and Cultures and a PhD in Modern Languages from the University of Exeter, he also runs higher education workshops for other lecturers on intercultural competence, academic writing and professional presenting at various universities in Germany. As a qualified English teacher, he also runs workshops on classroom discussion, assessment in English and the use of humour in seminars.
As a service facility for students, the Writing Center at the CTL bundles a wide range of services on the subject of writing in German and English. We support students and doctoral candidates in writing texts that meet general academic requirements and provide access to specialised writing support in the subjects.
Writing to collaborate!
Through the projects WueGlobal (funded by the DAAD) and Monuments & Memory, the Writing Centre is internationally networked and supports personal exchange between teachers and students from the participating universities.
The jointly created virtual exhibitions, formats such as podcasts, videocasts and illustrated essays strengthen digital international cooperation, promote intercultural perspectives and increase the visibility of the University of Würzburg as an internationally networked location. The events on the thematic focus Transatlantic Cultures & Histories create transnational digital teaching and learning spaces that make it possible to work together on questions of collective memory, migration and cultural memory.
Upcoming events for teachers
D: Enhancing Teaching Through Feedback and Reflection (Online)
Key Takeaways for Your Teaching Practice: A sharper awareness of how feedback, evaluation, and reflection interconnect; greater confidence in applying constructive feedback and reflective methods and a clearer sense of how to use these processes to guide my ongoing professional development.
Dates: Thursday, 29 October 2026, from 9.00 am to 12.15 pm and Thursday, 5 November 2026, from 9.00 am to 12.15 pm
Course instructor: Dr. Monika Staab-Shentsis
More information and registration
C: Assessing Student Performance (Online)
Key Takeaways for Your Teaching Practice: After the workshop, you will be able to choose and prepare specific types of assessment, evaluation and feedback, including task formulation, matching the levels of the intended learning outcomes for your courses.
Dates: Thursday, 12 November 2026, from 9.00 am to 4.30 pm and mandatory self-study phase to be completed by 26 November 2026
Course instructor: Alexandra Bergedick
More information and registration
E: Teaching in International Settings (Online)
Key Takeaways for Your Teaching Practice: A sharper awareness of how diversity shapes the learning environment; the unconscious assumptions I bring into my teaching; and the ways I can adapt my content, methods, and interactions to foster more inclusive and effective learning experiences in international settings.
Dates: Friday, 4 December 2026, from 9.00 am to 4.30 pm
Course instructor: Dr Monika Staab-Shentsis
More information and registration
You can find more courses in English at ProfiLehrePlus. Please tick the box "Seminar in English".
The Graduate School of Life Sciences regularly offers the seminar “Supervising BSc and MSc Students.” Participation in this seminar can be credited towards the Certificate for Teaching in Higher Education (basic and advanced level). Registration takes place via OpenWueCampus. Current dates can be found in the GSLS calendar.
English-language self-study courses
Challenge-Driven Learning [EN]
How can students work on complex real-world challenges? And how can this approach to learning contribute both to addressing societal problems and to developing key competencies?
Constructive Alignment [EN]
How can courses be designed so that instructors' goals and students' goals are aligned? How can learning objectives, teaching methods, and assessment formats be purposefully coordinated?
Funding CLASSIC vhb
The Virtuelle Hochschule Bayern (vhb) provides funding of up to €15,000 for the development of a second (English) language version of a CLASSIC vhb course. Further information and funding conditions
The English and Spanish-language courses offered in OPEN vhb
"Introduction to academic research", "Digitisation, Artificial Intelligence and Lawbuilding" or "Confidence in statistics": OPEN vhb courses are open and free of charge for all interested parties. The non-curricular courses can usually be completed in 10 to 20 hours. Interested parties can enrol on all current courses at any time. There are currently 28 courses on offer in English and 2 courses in Spanish. To the OPENvhb course programme
Teaching Without Borders: CHARM-EU's Vision for International, Hybrid Education
CHARM-EU creates a truly international learning environment where students and educators move seamlessly across universities, cultures, and teaching traditions. Its mobility framework combines virtual, blended, and physical participation, allowing learners to join courses from partner institutions and collaborate in diverse, multicultural teams.
This same spirit shapes the short course Innovative Teaching in Inter-Institutional Hybrid Classroomswhich supports educators in co-teaching across borders, designing shared curricula, and using hybrid technologies to connect classrooms in real time.
Together, these initiatives show how CHARM-EU builds a European educational space where knowledge, people, and practices circulate freely. International teaching becomes not an add-on, but the core of how CHARM-EU prepares learners and professionals to work across languages, disciplines, and societies.
Four goals of international teaching for CHARM-EU
- Enable cross-border collaboration among students, teachers, and institutions.
- Develop intercultural and global competences through shared learning experiences.
- Advance innovative hybrid pedagogies that link classrooms across Europe.
- Expand mobility and access so learners benefit from multiple academic environments.
Contact
Good practices from teachers for teachers
Digital reach through hybrid event formats
The sound of living environments - digitally networked research-based learning
Cultural learning in social virtual reality
Tools and methods for hybrid settings
Wooclap: Interaction in a hybrid environment
Online whiteboards: Hybrid co-operative settings
Teaching-learning concepts
Virtual worlds as spaces for interconnection and interaction
Infrastructure for hybrid and digital learning at JMU
CHARM-EU Hybrid Classroom: Seminar room for hybrid teaching-learning scenarios
Treffpunkt 108 at the CTL
DigiLLabs for digital teaching and learning at PSE: labs for specific subject groups
In 2026, the university board, together with the student council, will award univeristy teachers in the category "Internationalisation of courses" to coincide with this year's Teaching Day .
The Teaching Award 2026 honours innovative and sustainable approaches to the internationalisation of courses that create a profound intercultural and global learning context. The decisive factor is the conscious integration of international perspectives into subject-specific content, teaching methods and forms of cooperation.
Does your lecturer offer his seminar in English, depending on the language skills of the participants? Is your professor committed to international cooperation in her teaching - for example through projects and exchange formats with foreign universities? Does your seminar leader create a respectful, open space for diverse perspectives and cater to the different backgrounds of the students? Then nominate them for the teaching award!
Aim of the Student Award for Outstanding Teaching
- To raise the status of teaching and bring a breath of fresh air into teaching by promoting new ideas and successes.
- To send out a signal of appreciation for good teaching and recognise lecturers who develop and implement innovative teaching concepts.
- Recognising exceptional commitment to teaching.
- Showcase exemplary teaching concepts and practices and share them with others.
About the vote
Every year, all students have the opportunity to nominate their lecturers for the Student Teaching Award. In 2026, the topic is "Internationalisation of courses". The winners will be honoured on Teaching Day in November.
Contact
Chair of the Student Council: Stephan Jaborek (Faculty of Biology), fsr@uni-wuerzburg.de
Registration for the lecture (and workshop) „Mind the gap: Tips, tricks & tactics for bridging the language barrier with international students" - Dr. Darren Paul Foster
[denk]anstoß - what is that anyway?
From self-organisation, reading and writing strategies to digital literacy and critical thinking - with the "[denk]anstoß" format, we focus on an interdisciplinary topic every year, which often falls by the wayside due to the tightly scheduled university routine.
In addition to an introductory lecture at the start of each semester, we offer brief insights into current discourse, present tried-and-tested concepts, highlight strategic options for action or invite discussion and participation.
The formats are aimed at students and teaching staff.
