Develop your teaching in English: workshops for lecturers in 2026/27

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From the foundations of teaching and learning to Virtual Exchange, sustainability and learning analytics: discover the English-language professional development opportunities available through the ZfW, Hochschuldidaktik NRW and UNIC InterTeach.

Workshop offers for English-speaking lecturers and teaching staff

Would you like to strengthen your teaching skills, explore new formats and exchange ideas with colleagues – all in English? In 2026/27, lecturers can choose from a growing range of English-language workshops offered by the ZfW at Ruhr University Bochum, the Hochschuldidaktik NRW network and the European university alliance UNIC. Participation in the ZfW programme is free of charge for RUB lecturers and can take place during working hours.

Start at RUB: Principles of Teaching and Learning

Learning takes place in the brain – but what does this mean for the way we design our courses? The ZfW’s English-language workshop Principles of Teaching and Learning offers a practical introduction to findings from teaching and learning research. Participants explore the model of constructive alignment, formulate precise learning outcomes and apply the ideas directly to one of their own courses. A preparatory assignment with instructional videos and worksheets helps participants make the most of the workshop.

Four online basic workshops from Hochschuldidaktik NRW

The series Central Principles of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education is designed for international lecturers teaching at universities in North Rhine-Westphalia. Four English-language online workshops address key areas of university teaching. All workshops take place from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

9 November 2026 – Teaching and Learning (Basics)
Trainer: Dr Hendrik den Ouden
Reflect on your role as a lecturer, consider teaching from the students’ perspective and explore learning motivation, constructive alignment and competence-oriented learning outcomes.

16 November 2026 – Guiding Students (Basics)
Trainer: Dr Barbara Kehler
Learn how to conduct effective and goal-oriented advising sessions, adapt your role to students’ needs and structure the advising process with practical tools such as preparatory questionnaires and SMART action goals.

23 November 2026 – Examining and Assessing (Basics)
Trainer: Daniel Pickert
Connect examinations with constructive alignment and competence orientation, distinguish between formative and summative assessment and reflect on quality criteria, reference norms and potential assessment errors.

30 November 2026 – Feedback (Basics)
Trainer: Dr Miriam Gertzen
Discover feedback as a reciprocal communication process between lecturers and students, try out different feedback methods and identify factors that support an open and productive feedback culture.

Registration opens on Thursday, 1 October 2026. To register for one or more workshops, send an email to highereducation@hd-nrw.de and include the workshop title, your name, university, faculty and department. Each workshop is limited to 30 participants, and the registration deadline is one week before the respective workshop. Early registration is recommended.

Further information is available in this document.

Learn across Europe with UNIC InterTeach

UNIC InterTeach is the professional development programme for university teachers across the UNIC alliance. It brings together lecturers from different universities and disciplines to develop innovative teaching and learning settings and explore new forms of international cooperation. All workshops are international, interactive, online and held in English. Participants can attend one workshop or several and receive proof of attendance for each completed workshop. A certificate of engagement is available after completing two workshops within the same core topic and documenting the transfer into local teaching practice.

The 2026/27 programme covers a broad range of topics. It starts on 1 October 2026 with Bridging Rural e-Service-Learning and Challenge-Based Learning, a practical workshop on connecting digital service learning with challenges faced by rural communities. Registration for this first workshop closes on 24 September.

Further examples include:

How to Integrate Virtual Exchange into Your Course? on 9 November 2026, introducing activities and tools for international online collaboration between students;

How to design your e-course? on 27 January 2027, using the playful ABC Learning Design method to create a visual storyboard for a blended or online course;

How to Design Project-Based Courses in the Context of Sustainability on 11 February 2027, combining project-based learning, sustainability and the purposeful use of AI tools;

Monitoring Student Progress in Moodle on 17 March 2027, focusing on learning analytics and Moodle reports that can help identify students who may need additional support;

Introduction to Service Learning in Higher Education on 9 and 16 June 2027, providing hands-on guidance for designing a service-learning experience in your own course.

Additional workshops explore Virtual Exchange and COIL, Challenge-Based Learning, sustainability competencies, inclusive education, Visual Thinking Strategies and large-scale near-peer programmes.

You can register for the UNIC InterTeach workshops in the Fortbildungsportal as well. More information about the offers of the UNIC Centre for Teaching and Learning on this website.

Find the workshop that fits your teaching

Whether you would like to strengthen the foundations of your teaching, redesign assessments, develop a productive feedback culture, internationalise your course or use digital data to support students: the English-language programme offers many opportunities to turn new ideas into teaching practice.

Choose your workshop, register early and connect with colleagues at RUB, across North Rhine-Westphalia and throughout Europe.

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Paula Ruppert
ist Mitarbeiterin der Hochschuldidaktik im ZfW. Ihre Arbeit dreht sich um die Themen Feedback und TAP und die disziplinspezifischen Beratung der Fakultäten.

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