In coordination with the university’s strategic planning, the BiFö-team at PHZH addresses various topics in bottom-up groups. This results in implementation projects that are evaluated and shared. The current focus areas are AI & Assessment, OER, and laboratory program development.
AI & Assessment
Artificial intelligence—and language models such as ChatGPT in particular—pose a particular challenge for university teaching. The question of suitable forms of assignment setting and assessment is one of the key issues that the BiFö team at PHZH would like to address.
Specifically, two projects have been developed in this area: The project “AI-supported and AI-critical lesson planning” examines how students can make meaningful use of language models such as ChatGPT in lesson planning without uncritically adopting content. In the “FALKE-AI” project, a didactic design is being developed that enables lecturers to give their students formative feedback with the help of AI.
Open Educational Resources
The OER projects at PH Zurich pursue a strategic, process-oriented approach to promoting open educational practices. The focus is on establishing common structures and quality standards for the creation, use, and further development of OER. Several OER initiatives are currently being implemented, further developed, and redesigned, which contribute to this common strategy and strengthen university-wide cooperation. Networking creates synergies between departments and projects, and the exchange of know-how is specifically promoted. The aim is to ensure compatibility with the OER strategies of DIZH universities and to anchor openness as an integral part of teaching, research, and knowledge transfer.
Laboratory for Program Development
The “Laboratory for Program Development” is a university-wide experimental space at the PHZH for addressing key issues at the level of degree programs in education and continuing education. To strengthen a learning culture that focuses on individualization, flexibility, and co-construction, concrete digital solutions are being tested for two main areas:
- strengthening individual professionalization processes within the network, and
- supporting student-centered entry and navigation through the program.
The lab sees itself as an open community of practice and creates space for joint thinking, development, and evaluation.