Internal periodic surveys
The survey of first-year students focuses on the transition from school or work to university and identifies possible beneficial and obstructive aspects in the introductory phase of studies in order to derive measures for optimising the start of studies, which can be decisive for later academic success.
The Study Entrance Survey alternates with the Graduate Survey every two years in the winter semester.
Study requirements, previous knowledge/education, advertising measures/information about the degree programme, motivation to choose a degree programme and university, expectations of the degree programme and challenges in the introductory phase, advice and support services, satisfaction with the degree programme, preparatory or support services offered by the university, tendency to drop out.
Unit A.3 is responsible for the organisation, implementation and evaluation of the survey, which is closely coordinated with the faculties. The average time required to complete the questionnaire is approximately 15 minutes. The questionnaire is agreed with the faculties' quality officers and the PfQ and approved by the university management. The faculties have the opportunity to add specific questions.
Bachelor's, teacher degree and other state examination students in their first semester are surveyed.
The results are analysed at university, faculty and - where possible - degree programme level. The university-wide aggregated results are passed on to the university management, the faculties, the PfQ and the students in anonymised form and then published on the intranet. The faculty or degree programme-specific reports are sent to the respective deans of studies for dissemination in the faculties or degree programmes as well as the relevant central institutions. On request, the faculties are provided with a faculty-specific anonymised data set for their own evaluations in compliance with data protection regulations.
The results of this survey are used to better address the needs and expectations of prospective students. On the other hand, the starting conditions for students are to be improved at university, faculty and degree programme level in order to avoid students dropping out or minimise their number. Specific measures are discussed by the faculties in the subject commissions and reported on in the subject and teaching reports. The success of the measures is reviewed in the following year via these reports. Comprehensive results are discussed in the annual quality conference of the Extended University Board after consultation in the PfQ and transferred to the corresponding measure controlling. The effectiveness of the measures taken can be reviewed by repeating the Study Entrance Survey every two years.
Course evaluations serve to provide lecturers with information on the quality of the courses they teach and to encourage a dialogue with students in this regard.
The cycle is determined at faculty level and published in the evaluation concepts on the respective websites.
The focus here is on teaching and learning within an individual course. The following topics should be considered (see evaluation regulations): Framework conditions, structuring and design of the course, commitment of the lecturers, use of media, level of requirements, subjective learning success, special features of the subject, subjective perception of skills acquisition and personal motivation. The questionnaire should also include questions to assess the student workload.
The organisation is decentralised in the faculties. The Dean of Studies is responsible in each case. The student representatives are also involved and, on request, the Unit A.3 can provide advice. Some faculties carry out course evaluations on paper and pencil, others online. Paper questionnaires can be scanned in at the central data processing station or scanned at the decentralised scanning stations.
The results of the course evaluation are analysed using software and sent to the respective lecturers. The reports include comparative analyses (e.g. with the faculty average). The evaluation regulations provide for the publication of the results, whereby the type of publication is determined by the faculty with the consent of the student representatives.
The evaluation regulations recommend that the faculties carry out course evaluations in good time in order to be able to provide students with feedback on the evaluation results during the lecture period and to be able to draw conclusions for their own courses from the results. If the results are far below average, a discussion should take place between the Dean of Studies or the respective lecturer with the aim of finding out the causes and identifying possible remedies. The results of the discussion should be recorded in writing. The results and consequences of the course evaluations are reported in the programme or teaching report.
Lecturers who would like to change or improve their teaching are invited to take part in ProfiLehre 's numerous further education programmes on the subject of teaching.
The Programme Evaluation is intended to review the quality of relevant overarching structures and processes in study and teaching as well as the framework conditions and to ensure that they guarantee that students achieve their qualification goals. The aim of the Programme Evaluation is also to obtain specific suggestions for the further development of the study programme.
Programme evaluations take place at least once every eight years. Voluntary or event-related additional Programme Evaluations are possible at any time.
Topics to be considered include advice and support, internships, excursions, student workload, examination organisation, international mobility, recognition of study and examination achievements and the evaluation of teaching. Through a targeted survey and evaluation, the responses of students shortly before completing their degree programme can be used for an integrated final degree evaluation.
A catalogue of questions developed by a PfQ working group is made available on the intranet.
The faculty is responsible for further organisation and is advised by Unit A.3 as required.
The results are analysed in the faculties with the help of software. The results are published within the faculty, whereby the type of publication is determined with the consent of the student representatives.
The faculties discuss the results and consequences of the Programme Evaluation in the Programme Board and, if necessary, in other internal faculty committees. The results and any measures derived are included in the respective programme or teaching report and are also used for self-documentation in the context of the Programme Audit.
Profile description of Programme Evaluation (German only)
Catalogue of questions for the Programme Evaluation (German only) [EvaSys export file]
Evaluation working group, version from 26 November 2014/04 February 2015 - DRAFT
Catalogue of questions for the Programme Evaluation (German only) [EvaSys import file]
Evaluation working group, version of 26 November 2014/04 February 2015 - DRAFT
Question catalogue for Programme Evaluation (German only) [PDF format]
Evaluation working group, version from 26 November 2014/04 February 2015 - DRAFT
Graduate surveys provide important results on the quality of the degree programme and the employment opportunities of graduates. They serve to improve the design of study programmes as well as the general range of courses and study conditions.
The graduate survey focuses on the retrospective assessment of the degree programme and study conditions as well as the (professional) careers of graduates. The main focus is also on the skills and competences at graduation and their relevance for the time after graduation, in particular employment.
The results are analysed at university, faculty and - where possible - degree programme level. The university-wide aggregated results are passed on to the university management, the faculties, the PfQ and the students in anonymised form and then published on the intranet. The faculty or degree programme-specific reports are sent to the respective deans of studies for dissemination in the faculties or degree programmes as well as the relevant central institutions. On request, the faculties are provided with a faculty-specific anonymised data set for their own evaluations in compliance with data protection regulations.
The results are used to further develop the degree programmes as well as the general study organisation and advice at faculty and university level. The faculties report on the results, possible measures and their implementation in the context of the study programme and teaching report. At university level, the results are discussed in the PfQ and proposals for the overarching further development of study and teaching are submitted to the annual quality conference of the Extended University Board. The measures most recently decided upon by the Executive Board of the University are transferred to a measure controlling system.
