News Overview

Teaching and Learning News for teaching staff and students

Just in time for the start of the semester, the "Teaching and Learning News" provides you with all kinds of relevant news and support for your everyday life at the university.

Topics of the newsletter for teachers (among others): News on study law, information on "TU Graz greenlight", service offers for teachers, events

Topics of the newsletter for students (among others): "TU Graz greenlight", counselling services, Study at TU Graz @ Instagram, results of the student survey 2021

Safe semester with „3-G“ checks

Teaching at TU Graz in the winter semester continues to be subject to different COVID-19 regulations depending on the traffic light status, especially regarding safety distances in the lecture hall. Specially produced explanatory videos provide information:

3-G checks are required for on-site events at every traffic light colour. The checks are to be carried out independently by teachers or supervisors before entering the venue of the course/examination; alternatively, random checks in the lecture hall are possible. In the case of large lecture halls, security guards will also support the checks during all courses and examinations in the first two weeks of October.

Overview and details of 3-G checks in teaching

Faster 3-G checks with TU Graz greenlight

To speed up the 3-G checks, the web application "TU Graz greenlight" was developed. It is available on any mobile device with a web browser. The application allows students to validate their 3-G proof before the entrance check and thus create an entrance ticket for access to TU Graz premises.

To do this, students scan their 3-G proof with the application. If the 3-G proof is valid according to the current regulations, an entrance ticket is issued, which can be shown on the mobile device at the entrance control. Advantage: The admission ticket contains the photo and name of the student, which eliminates the need for an ID check.

Fact Sheet for Verifiers (Intranet TU4U, currently only in German)

New academic year, new study programmes: “CSS” and “DE”

The new academic year marks the official start of two new study programmes at TU Graz: the Master's programme "Computational Social Systems" (CSS, cooperation with University of Graz) and the Bachelor's programme "Digital Engineering" (DE).

Both studies are interdisciplinary. While students in Digital Engineering receive a comprehensive education in the fields of electrical engineering, mechanical engineering and computer science, in Computational Social Systems they can deepen their knowledge in the fields of economics, sociology, psychology, law and computer science, depending on their previous education.

Graduates contribute to technology development in mobility and energy supply (DE) or research socio-technical systems and their effects (CSS).

Virtual Teaching and Online Examinations

The senate of Graz University of Technology agreed the amendments to the part on Legal Regulations for Academic Affairs of the TU Graz statute on a proposal by the rectorate. It will come into force on 1 October 2021.

A new section "IV. Virtual Teaching and Online Examinations" has been added:

§ 28a. Support for virtual teaching and online examinations
§ 28b. Virtual teaching
§ 28c. Online examinations
§ 28d. Oral online examinations
§ 28e. Written online examinations

In the course of this, the old guideline on virtual teaching at TU Graz was repealed due to the new framework conditions. The COVID-19-Supplement to the Statute Part Legal Regulations for Academic Affairs will automatically expire on 30 September 2021.

New lecture hall occupancies and on-site attendances in winter semester 2021/22

By the beginning of September, the occupancy plans of all 38 lecture halls at TU Graz had been updated. Whereas the maximum occupancy rate used to be approx. 20-30% per room, a traffic light-dependent seat allocation now applies:

• Traffic light colour green or yellow: every second seat usable (green and blue marked seats).
• Traffic light colour orange or red: reduced occupancy (only seats marked green can be used).

For seminar rooms, laboratories, etc., no central labelling has been carried out; the regulations apply accordingly. If the infection situation is positive, a utilisation of the rooms of about 50% is thus possible again.

In principle, courses and examinations that are not already held virtually should again primarily take place in presence. Detailed information and the revised Corona traffic light guidelines can be found on the Intranet TU4U.

Vaccination campaign by Styrian universities

Since May 2021, on-site events at TU Graz can only be attended upon presentation of a “3-G” certificate (vaccinated, recovered or tested). This requirement will be maintained in the coming winter semester. To make it easier to provide the proof, employees and students will be supported with an own "Fast Lane" for vaccinations with the single-use vaccine from Johnson&Johnson from 6 September to 11 October 2021 at Messe Graz (Fairgrounds).

Registration is possible via the online platform (go to Voranmeldung: “Hier anmelden”), choose "Impfaktion der Steirischen Hochschulen" in the form. The offer applies to all citizenships, no Austrian national insurance number is required, only a main or secondary residence in Styria. All details can be found at https://impfen.tugraz.at.

New Plagiarism part of the TU Graz Statute

The senate of TU Graz agreed the part on Plagiarism of the TU Graz statute (in German) on a proposal by the rectorate. It will come into force on 1 October 2021. The Plagiarism part of the statute - in execution of § 19 para. 2a Universities Act - only regulates the aspect of study law, i.e. scientific work in studies and student support, and otherwise refers to the existing Guidelines on Safeguarding Good Scientific Practice at TU Graz.

Best practice of TU Graz: Exam Feedback

In addition to the course evaluation, Sigrid Weller (Institute of Business Economics and Industrial Sociology) has found a solution to enable customised feedback on exams.

After the exam, participants receive a feedbackr link, which they can use to indicate, for example, the appropriateness of the learning materials or the preparation time used (here you can find the exemplary questionnaire). By evaluating the answers and adapting the course, significantly more students were able to complete the course positively in the following semester.

This came to the attention of the British organisation Advance Higher Education, which is dedicated to progress in higher education. The contribution is currently the only best practice from Central Europe to be included on a new interactive map.