Curriculum development and course design

The Teaching and Learning Center works closely with Quality Management on the new and further development of degree programmes and supports teaching staff in the development of concepts for classroom and online teaching that comply with the University of Applied Sciences of the BFI Vienna's didactic principles.

We are guided by our guiding principles for excellent teaching, which are based on clearly formulated learning objectives, a well thought-out selection of teaching and learning methods and competency-based assessment methods in accordance with the principle of constructive alignment according to Biggs and Tang (2011):

Learning outcome orientation

The starting point for the design of curricula and courses is not the question of what content should be taught, but rather what specific competences the students should acquire. To this end, verifiable and meaningful learning objectives are formulated that define the desired knowledge, skills and competences in an active and action-oriented manner.

Expertise orientation

Competence-orientated teaching focuses on the combination of knowledge acquisition and practical application. The aim is to develop scientifically sound, practical professional skills and competences and to promote their knowledge-based application. In addition to specialised and methodological skills, the BFI Vienna University of Applied Sciences places particular emphasis on the acquisition of social and personal skills.

This requires well-designed learning environments that offer challenging but manageable tasks in realistic contexts and in which students can test and apply their knowledge and skills both individually and in collaboration with others.

Student-centred approach

Student-centred teaching promotes independent and self-directed learning through targeted methods, tasks and suitable learning environments. The focus is on active learning, which emphasises critical and analytical thinking and independent knowledge production. Students are encouraged to take responsibility for their learning processes and results by actively shaping the planning, implementation and reflection.

Self-organised and self-directed learning

Studying at the FH BFI Vienna also means learning how to learn in a self-organised and independent way. For lecturers, this goes hand in hand with a significant change in role:

• They advise and support students in the planning, implementation and evaluation of learning processes.
• They describe and explain learning strategies, which they reflect on together with the students.
• They manage the teaching and learning processes by clarifying and moderating objectives, roles and responsibilities.
• They give students feedback on the implementation of learning strategies and the achievement of learning objectives.

Through this continuous work, the TLC helps to ensure that our degree programmes meet current requirements and are designed with the future in mind in order to prepare students for their professional challenges in the best possible way.