Abstract:

In the course of the Bologna reformation of the educational system in Germany, additional programs were added to the usual way of university education. Students need to work in groups and teaching their colleagues or learning by others became an integral part of daily student life. It is no longer only the professors’ and research assistants’ job to educate students in technical skills. Beyond this, in order to meet the new demands set by the industry nowadays, students have to acquire knowledge regarding technical but also non-technical skills. Thus, universities or their institutes have to provide the educational environment, where it is possible for the students to interact in an appropriate way mentioned above.

At the Institute of Energy Conversion Technology at the Technische Universität München (TUM) in Munich, some programs and courses have been established, where students teach students after a preparation by professional trainers or research assistants. The professors and research assistants also have to set up the guideline in order to provide the appropriate environment. Within this paper the advantages and disadvantages of students’ support in education are analysed and discussed within different programs at the department of electrical engineering and information technology at TUM. Courses, a first year tutorial program and a hands-on project serve as examples for this new learning environment where experiences could be gained. Based on these experiences during several years, the fullpaper describes the possibilities to obtain an even more efficient support by the students during their education on the one hand. On the other hand, it will be explained how to provide the best preparation for the disseminators.

Keywords:

Student support, soft skills, engineering, student project, teaching, education, personal development.