Good Practices Collection of Didactical Methods

The Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a comprehensive didactical approach that emphasizes the importance of providing an inclusive and flexible learning environment. Developed to accommodate the diverse needs of students, UDL ensures that each student has the opportunity to learn in a way that suits their unique learning style. This approach is based on three core principles: providing multiple means of engagement, multiple means of representation, and multiple means of action and expression.

In practice, this means that educators design their lessons with various methods to engage students, present information in multiple formats, and offer different ways for students to demonstrate their knowledge.

By doing so, UDL aims to remove barriers to learning, ensuring that all students, regardless of their abilities or backgrounds, can participate fully in the learning process.

For example, teachers might use visual aids, interactive activities, and group projects to cater to different learning styles.

The Game-Based-Learning Research in Education and Action Training (GREAT) project, funded by the Leonardo da Vinci program, is dedicated to exploring the potential of digital games in vocational training. The project's main objective is to identify suitable digital games for use in professional education and to develop a comprehensive training model that equips trainers with the skills necessary to implement game-based learning in their classrooms.

GREAT aims to revolutionize traditional vocational training by introducing engaging, interactive, and educational digital games. These games are selected and tailored to meet the specific needs of vocational training programs, ensuring they provide relevant and practical learning experiences. The project also focuses on creating a robust framework for training trainers, providing them with the knowledge and tools needed to effectively incorporate digital games into their teaching methodologies.

The project includes several key components:

• Identification of appropriate digital games for vocational training.
• Development of training materials and guides for trainers.
• Dissemination of research findings and methodologies through seminars, events, and publications.
• Collaboration with educational institutions and stakeholders to promote the adoption of game-based learning.

A group of second-year Bachelor students in social work at the FHJ has created this video, which explains “how to do counselling” in the German language (with subtitles both in English and German available) for the target groups of social work students (bachelor-level), practitioners and professionals in social work.

The video, which lasts approximately 20 minutes, comprises the process of preparing, implementing, and reflecting on a successful counselling approach and counselling conversation in social work.

The case study provided is the counselling process or one-on-one consultation of a student who wants to emancipate herself from her parents’ expectations regarding choosing a particular profession. Social work literature supporting this particular counselling approach is available and referred to (theoretical approach of Dr Peter Pantucek-Eisenbacher).

Context of creation and diversity dimension: people with (learning) disabilities

The video has been created in the context of the Academic Peer Counselor Curriculum, which has been presented in the WP2.1 GPC of the Diverse Course project. One expert of the respective Academic Peer Counselor Curriculum, Daniela Sprenger, instructed one group of students to produce the respective video. The process was supported by course instructor Esther Brossmann-Handler as well. Thus, the “counseling of counseling” video was intended to be particularly useful for people with disabilities, including learning disabilities, who learn counseling skills as a profession, in order to professionally act as peers to people with (learning) disabilities as well.

At the beginning of the semester, in the first meeting of the class, small groups are created in which representatives of three groups of participants are mixed:

a.    Experienced professional social workers (pink color)

b.    Beginners of professional social workers (with less practice experience, yellow color)

c.    Experienced professional from neighbor disciplines of social work (e.g. pedagogy, sociology, psychology, economics, law, etc., green color)

The group finding process is supported by a color system, in which each of the groups was assigned a particular color. Moreover, the process was provided by introductory questions. After a while of open discussion of the plenary (with smaller interactions possible in the sense of a market-place-discussion), in each of the created groups, each of the colors has to be represented at least once.

For preparation: Three differently colored cards with the following questions; cards are provided with key threads of the FHJ.

The GP Empowerment Bingo can be used for (1) the group getting to know each other better, (2) learning about what participants think about a topic (e.g. empowerment) and (3) an accessible way to talk with each other about the meaning of (e.g.) empowerment.

For that the classroom (max 30 people for overview reasons) gathers and each person gets a piece of paper with a number of 1 – the number of participants in the room. The instructor also has pieces of paper numbered with the same amount and draws one piece after another.

With each number the student who holds the respective number gets asked one question, that the facilitator created beforehand. Every participant gets one question. Afterwards the group may reflect over the statements (or in between, if an interesting discussion arises).

The GP is highly transferable since the topic may be chosen freely by the instructor and in relation to the class he/she is dealing with.

If there are students from a lot of cultural backgrounds, the questions might be adapted to that, or to diversity related topics, or disability. In the appendix are example questions from the handbook. The following questions relate to the topic of empowerment:

How do you create your own safety? How do you deal with hierarchy, power?

How do you feel about getting a compliment and what does it do to you? What kind of socialisation message did you get from home?

Who was your biggest role model?

How do you show what you are doing, and to whom (colleagues, supervisor)? Visibility. Do you take yourself seriously? How?

What do you do if you feel like you’re not being heard? When did you stand up for yourself?

If you want to know something, where do you get that from or from whom? How do you cope with your own vulnerability?

What has helped you to develop your own vision?

What has helped you to develop your own independence?

What do you do to see situations / issues in a clearer perspective? What gives you energy?

What costs and gives you energy? How do you create your own balance? Do you dare to have your own opinion?

How do you deal with disappointments? What is your goal?

Can you develop your talents in a meaningful way? How do you relax?

How did you build your own assertiveness?

Are you assertive (enough)? Please give an example.

Do you dare confront your colleagues if they do not follow through on their appointments?

Do you think that you take matters in your own hands enough?

Before the first meeting in class students are given the following task on Moodle:

“Before our first class, I would love to get to know you a bit better. So, your first task is to write me a short (max. 1 page) letter containing the following information:

1. A few personal details describing yourself and what you like doing (personality, hobbies etc.)
2. Why did you choose to study midwifery? Why do you want to be a midwife?
3. What are your experiences with English up till this point? (Did you enjoy English at school, do you use English in your everyday life? Have you been to an English- speaking country? Do you feel comfortable speaking English in front of a group etc.)
4. (Why) do you think it could be useful for a midwife working in Austria to be competent in the English language?”

What the English lecturer learned from this exercise and why she thinks it is a good practice example:

Building a relationship with students is easier when you know something about them. This is sometimes difficult to do during class because of the number of students. In a letter, students communicate what they want to share – they are not put on the spot like when a question is asked directly in class.

When there are common interests (either between the educator and the student or between different students), this can benefit the atmosphere in class. Especially in a foreign language class, a positive, open, and friendly atmosphere is essential since this can reduce inhibitions when it comes to speaking.

It is useful to understand students' motivation to study this particular course.

The third question is especially useful for different reasons. Firstly, the educator can get an idea of how varied the levels and experience of English are (often very heterogeneous - some students have spent more than a year in an English-speaking country, some spoke it for the last time at school years ago).

Secondly, their feelings about the language are also very important for an educator. It can be assumed that it is easier to admit in a letter, rather than face to face in front of peers, when you have problems, anxiety or do not like speaking English for example. If the educator is aware of this they can make sure they are sensitive to these attitudes in the classroom.

Reflecting of the necessity of the course they are taking is beneficial. It is more useful that students realise themselves why they need what they are doing rather than the educator simply telling them

In the past the lecturer has also written a letter to the students herself – they got this letter first and had to reply with their own.

Not suitable for very big groups. Around 15 students max. recommended

The letter would also potentially provide information helpful for creating Personas – if this is a goal.

Extension of the GP” Introductory Letter in English Language Course”: Diverse Group Formations in the CLIL* classroom

At the FH Joanneum Institute of Social Work, several courses, including International and Intercultural Social Work, use a CLIL-based approach.

This means that subject-specific content is taught in a foreign language – in this case, English. This method aims to enhance both subject-specific knowledge and language skills simultaneously.

This GP aims to facilitate a better classroom environment in a room with international students/learners. With this short reflection exercise students should develop “good” aspects in communication in a transcultural setting. These aspects can later be implemented by the educator. Participants are asked to imagine a dialogic situation that they have perceived. This can be a dialogue in a university, private or professional context. Afterwards participants discuss in small groups of four why they think it was a successful dialogue. They identify the reasons for this and write them on cards. The trainer then collects all the reasons, which are discussed in the plenary session.

The goals of the dialogue method include reflecting on good experiences in dialogues and with intercultural communication; visualization of different perspectives on how “good communication” can be shaped; making visible the complexity of dialogic communication between members of different cultures; recognising the experiences of the participants.

The following steps are to be taken:

Step 1: Selection of a dialogue (self-reflection by means of written notes)

Step 2: Reflection on dialogues in small groups (students should share their selected dialogues in the small group in order to make the diversity of the dialogs visible)