TUM Future Learning Initiative
Starting signal for innovative pilot projects
The videos were viewed more than 150,000 times during the two-week voting period in the fall – by TUM students, lecturers, and staff members. In the course of the Dies Academicus 2020, the proposals with the most votes were presented by Vice President Prof. Gerhard Müller.
Sustainable ideas for the future
"We have been aware of climate change for decades, but society should be taking much faster steps in the right direction. That's why I would like to make use of my knowledge during my studies already, and work on sustainable projects for the future," is how Florian Kotthoff describes the idea that drives Veronica Becker, Daniel Maugg, and himself.
The three of them are now one step closer to this goal, because numerous eligible voters were convinced by their call "You have great ideas, we have great ideas, let's implement them together!" and, thus, voted for the "Sustainable Living Lab".
A programming language center for TUM
Gerassimos Kolaitis and Christian Graßmann presented their idea of the "Programming Language Center" in front of a camera as well. However, as Christian could not be on location for the shoot in Munich, Gerassimos had him "with him" on his laptop, via video conference. The two students had spontaneously come together as a team during the selection process.
Independent of each other, their proposals had been quite similar – and they immediately agreed on a common objective: "We want to establish a programming language center at TUM – for students of all disciplines." After all, an understanding of Computer Science is a helpful skill for the future. The reasoning and the possibility to acquire and deepen coding skills convinced the TUM family.
A new culture of taking breaks
"Team Quintessence" is not so much concerned with the "what", but more with the "how" of teaching. The six students have already put a lot of work into "BreakMore" and developed this proposal as part of their membership in the Junge Akademie, a support program at TUM. "We want to introduce a new culture of taking breaks at TUM – as a means of improving the teaching in a sustainable manner," is how Saskia Hutschenreiter, Jonas Papazoglou-Hennig, and Simon Gandorfer describe the joint concept, also speaking for their team members Daniel Frey, Sophia Hasbach, and Dennis Huber.
The aim is to allow for a rethinking of the concept of taking breaks – as an opportunity to reflect, to ask questions, or maybe to participate in an activity program." Enthusiastically, Saskia Hutschenreiter reports: "We tried out our concept at the Carl-von-Linde lecture hall once, and it went down really well with the students," and Simon Gandorfer promises: "When others run out of steam, we just recharge our batteries – and start the second half of the lecture with a fresh spirit."
More information and the winning teams' videos can be found here: www.tum.de/future-learning