With the short time investment, the learning curve is steep and participation is highly recommendable.

Excellent teaching is a crucial part for a young research group leader – to establish your own field, to educate the next generation, and most of all to attract students for your group. Nevertheless, often no formal training is required at a university – which leaves you to jump into cold water As a last safeguard, YIN has established the one-day workshop Teaching Compact to get you jump-started into teaching mode. It gives you a quick survival guide including different roles of teachers, how to plan a course, as well as different teaching and activation methods. For instance, do you know the best technique on how to capture the students’ attention, how long it takes them on average to start playing with their phones, and – crucially – how to best win back their interest? Moreover, the crucial interplay between the learning goals, the course, and the exam is dissected in detail. But, don’t expect a theoretical lecture about teaching strategies. During the course you will directly apply the introduced concepts to your own lecture in an interactive format with the group.

The leader of the workshop is an extraordinary teacher! She creates a very interactive working atmosphere where active participation is mandatory. An asset which is also desirable for the classroom after all. Your acting talents will be tested during role play exercises on real-world scenarios. Not only may they teach you about potential conflict situations in the classroom but will surely create some laughs as well. At the end of the course, you will have learned where you and your colleagues find themselves on the spectrum from directing to nurturing and whether your role is best described as Midwife or Mountain Guide. With the short time investment, the learning curve is steep and participation is highly recommendable.