Research and problem solving

Research and problem solving competent in conversations – a training program

In society, engineers are often seen as problem solvers – or at least as important stakeholders for clarifying complex interdisciplinary or new challenges. The ability to lead discussions is central to this. Students should therefore learn to solve difficult problems, especially in joint discussions, and to use themselves and the resources of others in a meaningful way. In these conversations, the discussion leader through the teaching staff – especially at the beginning of the learning and research process – plays a central role: He or she must guide the discussion process so that the participants can initially concentrate entirely on the processing of the content issues.

Goals and contents

In this workshop you will learn the “1×1” for planning and designing such problem-solving conversations in (small) groups in the context of research-based learning.

In addition to important methods for choosing topics or tasks and effective discussion control, we will deal with the following questions, among others:

•           How can you lead and conduct problem-solving conversations in individual, small and large groups in an independent and time-efficient manner so that students develop relevant competencies in cooperative problem-solving?
•           How can you decelerate technical discussions with students in an interesting way and away from the pressure to find solutions, or make dead ends a topic of discussion?
•           How can you yourself prepare and follow up such discussions with a view to developing your own conversational skills?
•           Which tips and tricks can you use in practice to react to blockades on a motivational, affective and last but not least cognitive level?
•           How do you gain clarity in your role as an expert and moderator, how do you make these roles transparent to students and how do you use this clarity for coherent discussion?

Methods

In a varied mixture of accompanying inputs, demo discussions and concrete discussion exercises (in small groups and in plenary), you experience, explore and train the work with discussion modules for your own professional context.