Learning in an Increasingly Complex World: Teaching of Graduate Students in Research Oriented Projects

[摘要] Educators in Geomatics have to deal with increasingly complex and fast evolving technolo gies, e.g. Geographic Information Systems, Remote Sensing Systems, Radio Navigation Sat ellite Systems, and the coming Gravity Satellite Missions. Research on these complex matters is nowadays performed by larger research organizations and companies rather than universi ties. Tight university budgets and classified, proprietary developments prevent teachers from gaining insight into and personal experience with the latest techniques. The selection of rele vant curricula contents is therefore a difficult task. Even more challenging is the constant adjustment of the contents. Nowadays it is impossible to impart details of all Geomatics techniques, hence selective learning becomes important. Students need to learn, how to study a subject on their own. As demonstrated in the paper, the project seminar is an ideal opportunity for research oriented learning on the grad level by focussing on one exemplary task. This teaching method is an important part in the Geomatics education at the University of Hanover. For lecturer it pro vides the flexibility to choose a task oriented methodology. The regular interaction with the students gives detailed feedback on their individual progress. Students are highly motivated in the project seminar, since the projects are usually related to real research projects. The group of students works mainly on their own, the teacher basically accompanies the group. Beyond the technical and scientific problems, the students also learn the fundamentals of technical writing and presentation, of project management, and to take responsibility for the project budget. Within the seminar, the much sought after soft skills are explicitly trained. In the paper, recommendations for planning and carrying out a research oriented course like the project seminar are given. Information for lecturers on the acquisition and cultivation of the necessary methodological knowledge is included. ZUSAMMENFASSUNG Lehrende an den Universitten haben die Aufgabe, den Studierenden zunehmend komplexe und sich schnell entwickelnde Technologien wie z.B. der Geoinformations und Fernerkun dungssysteme, der Satellitennavigationssysteme oder der zuknftigen Satellitenschwerefeld missionen zu vermitteln. Forschung in diesen Bereichen findet inzwischen berwiegend in groen Forschungseinrichtungen und privaten Unternehmen statt. Angesichts knapper Bud