"Didactic Fridays" is a program of monthly methodological and tool training sessions designed to benefit academic teachers from all disciplines. We warmly invite teachers from all higher education institutions in Europe and beyond. This program is designed as a space for mutual inspiration, enabling the exchange of experiences and the collaborative search for solutions. Our sessions will take place on the last FRIDAY of every month, from 1:15 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. CET (Central European Time).
The 1st edition 2023/2024 is closed. The 2nd edition starts on October 25, 2024. See you again in the new academic year!
November 29th
Dr. Joelyn de Lima (EPFL, Switzerland)
Teaching Transversal Skills for Engineering Students.
This interactive talk focusing on developing students’ transversal skills, is based on the evidence-informed, scholarly output from a multi-year translational research project - 3T PLAY. You will discover open-source activities that you can adapt for your own context, which are complemented by a framework for designing experiential learning activities focusing on transversal skills. These activities have been conducted in 20 countries on 4 continents and the participants have found them to be valuable in influencing their teaching practice.
Dr. Joelyn de Lima is a scientist & pedagogical advisor at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), in Lausanne Switzerland. Trained in the biological sciences, she transitioned to being a discipline-based education researcher. Currently her research and practice are focused on enhancing the higher educational experience for students. Her background has given her a unique blend of perspectives – in terms of culture (She has lived, worked, and taught on 3 continents), theoretical grounding (natural sciences and education), and practice (research & teaching, formal & informal education).
May 24th
Prof. Torbjörn Netland (ETH Zurich)
Autogeneration of educational videos using Generative AI: experimental evidence of learning experience and outcomes.
If you are a teacher, get ready to be disrupted by future AI teachers - in one way or the other!
Apr, 26th
Prof. Christian Pohl (ETH Zurich), prizewinner of Kite Award from ETH Zurich
Teaching transferable skills by tackling environmental problems
Join us for the next Didactic Friday session (26 April, 1:15 pm) where our honourable speaker, Prof. Dr Christian Erik Pohl, will introduce the innovative course held at ETH Zurich where students acquire transferable Skills while tackling real-life environmental problems. Discover how students are developing their problem-solving prowess, as they engage in real-life environmental challenges deeply rooted in Problem-Based Learning and Project-Based Learning methodologies.
Mar, 22nd
Prof. Lorenzo De Pietro (ETH Zurich)
Educational Developer at ETH: "Family of Diversity"
The speaker will try to explain my role and that of my colleagues in the educational developer network. Using our current common challenges as a starting point, he will share some perspectives and approaches to solutions from his Department.
Lorenzo De Pietro - I am educational developer and lecturer in the Department of Materials at ETH Zurich since 2018. I am responsible for quality assurance in teaching and learning, advising and supporting lecturers in educational issues, e.g. computer based learning technologies, coordinating curriculum development and providing connections to the central teaching services offered by the Rector's Office and the network of Educational Developers. (But more on that will be in my input/presentation!)
I am teaching an introductory programming course in the first semester of materials science studies and I am involved (co-teaching) in the project and lab courses of the first five semesters of the same study programme.
From 2016 to 2018 I was a high school teacher in mathematics and physics. Before that I did my PhD in the group of Prof. Danilo Pescia at the Department of Physics. During my PhD I studied spin-polarization in Field Emission Scanning Tunneling Microscopy.
Feb, 23rd
Prof. Bjørn Grung (University of Bergen, Norway)
EMQAL- a multi-cultural joint international Master’s programme: focusing on diversity of students.
Bjørn Grung is a professor of chemometrics at the University of Bergen, Norway. He has been involved in EMQAL (Erasmus Mundus Master in Quality in Analytical Laboratories) since its inception in 2007. Since 2019 he has been the coordinator of EMQAL.
The talk will present EMQAL, and discuss the challenges encountered with developing and running a program with participants from a variety of cultural and geographical backgrounds. This does not only apply to the diversity of the students, but also to the teaching and administrative staff.
Jan, 26th
Dr. Urs Brändle (ETH Zurich)
LEARN SCIENCE, MASTER CODE: HOW TO INTEGRATE ACTIVE CODING INTO EXISTING LECTURES AND CURRICULA.
