Abstract:

The Challenge:
The new curriculum for the business administration degree program at Karl-Franzens-University Graz was decided in spring 2023 and had to be implemented the following autumn. The course 'Information Systems Practice' is taking place for the first time, is intended for first-semester students, and must be designed and implemented in a few months without giving up the high didactic standards.
More than 600 students must be able to participate in 100 working groups. There are only three lecturers available, each with two teaching hours per week. The aim is to get new students excited about their chosen study and to make the subject's high application orientation experienceable. Innovative learning and teaching methods are to be used for this.

The implementation:
The students acquire the skills to develop prototype software applications that make their own everyday lives easier. Each group of six students presents the status three times and receives detailed feedback. Videos of the implemented functions are submitted, together with annotations. The presentations take place both in the lecture hall and via video conference. The work results and the teachers' feedback can be used in the eLearning system by all students regardless of time and place, so peer-to-peer learning is possible. Assessment is carried out on an ongoing basis.

The results:
The innovative methodological-didactic concept and the dedicated developed e-learning course show that it is possible to conduct a large course (> 600 participants) in small groups (6 participants) with individual ongoing feedback and three submissions and assessments. This was achieved despite limited resources with only three lecturers, each teaching 2 hours per week.
It has become possible for new students to be guided through a complex project process without being overwhelmed.
The students work on a task for which they are the customers. This expands other learning topics in other courses which are often very abstract, especially for new students.
We managed to design a large course in a methodological and didactic manner within a few months as part of a new study plan, develop the accompanying e-learning course, and successfully conduct the course even with over 100 people switching from the former curriculum.
Despite the high level of demand, the drop-out rate of less than 5% is very low, especially for first-semester students. The evaluation by the students is consistently good and very good, and we were also able to award the grades good and very good in most cases.

Keywords:

Curriculum Design, New Experiences for Curriculum Design, Agile Project Management, Flipped Classroom, Large Scale Courses.