E-Learning und die Zukunft der Hochschullehre unter besonderer Berücksichtigung des Projekts "Vorlesungsnetz Chemische Biologie"

The thesis has as its focus the project „Vorlesungsnetz Chemische Biologie“ (teaching network Chemical Biology) which was cooperatively carried out between 2001 and 2004 by seven professors from Chemistry located at several German universities. An evaluation team composed of a professor from the Pedagogic Department as team leader and a research associate, namely myself, assumed the task of evaluating this project. The thesis reports on and evaluates the planning of the online teaching program as well as its final design and contents. It furthermore points out advanced future solutions for the area of online teaching. The theoretical part of the thesis is concerned, first of all, with the socio-economical theory of the information society and points out the continuously increasing importance of the “Erschließungskompetenz” (a soft-skill) allowing a controlled selection and exploitation of the information required in the modern job market. The thesis is subsequently concerned with learning theories and their impact on modern learning. It is, in particular, the constructivism which is singled out as playing an important role in this context. The thesis furthermore discusses the influence of the media on the learning processes and it is finally concerned with the incorporation of theoretical concepts of learning into the design of modern teaching approaches, taking also the possible impact of the “new media” into account. Within the framework of the evaluation activities we employed predominantly qualitative research methods such as semi-structured interviews with the professors responsible for the project and with the students. The evaluation of the interviews with the teaching staff yielded the result that their major aim was to provide up to date information via the online presentation and to provide in this way a guide through the increasing amount of technical information Within the framework of the evaluation an additional standardised questionnaire was developed addressing the topic to which extent the online presentation developed within the project corresponds to the real needs of the students. The result was that the majority of the students was satisfied by the user friendliness, by the presentation of the technical information as well as by the optical design. The thesis furthermore discusses advanced means by which learning processes can be supported going beyond the ones already presented within the project. Examples are specific designs for problem-oriented online presentations which require and support various levels of the direct activity by the students. One conclusion of the thesis is that the application of the multitudes of possibilities offered by the “new media” going beyond the ones already installed only makes sense if a general strategy for the application of the “new media” is developed within the university and also the corresponding infrastructure.