Decentralised quality management at the Faculty of Biology and Psychology

What is it all about?

As part of decentralised quality management (dQM), the degree programmes are examined and evaluated in detail in regular quality rounds. All those involved in the degree programs (teaching staff, students, administration) are given the opportunity to discuss the degree program, its quality and its development prospects, work together on challenges and develop recommendations for action. External students and experts are also regularly involved in this process.

For the teacher training degree programmes, the subject-specific and subject-didactic parts of the teacher training degree programmes are dealt with in the faculty's dQM, while the educational science study components are supervised as part of the dQM of the Central Scientific Institution for Teacher Education (ZEWIL).

What does this have to do with me?

Examples of previous results of the process

• Establishment of a lecture series “Perspectives in Biology” on the topic of career opportunities
• Flexibilisation of the modules offered and creation of an elective (compulsory) area in the BSc in Biochemistry
• Integration of “Good Scientific Practice” also for Bachelor's students in the BSc Biodiversity and optional course for students in the teaching degree program
• Improved registration procedure for compulsory elective modules in the second stage of the BSc in Biodiversity (lottery procedure with prioritisation)
• Guide for students in the teaching degree program on the Bachelor's thesis in biology
• Possibility of an Erasmus+ stay also via the Faculty of Chemistry for students on the BSc Biochemistry programme

How does the process work at the Faculty?

The Faculty's degree programs have been divided into 4 clusters (see below), in each of which a quality round takes place every two years. Each quality round is prepared by an organization team consisting of representatives of all status groups. This team decides which topics are to be discussed and how the quality round should be structured. The actual quality rounds are open discussion rounds, to which all students and lecturers of the relevant degree programs are invited and discuss the prepared topics. The organizational team then formulates proposals for measures based on the results of the discussion, which are reported to the Study Commission and the Faculty Council. These bodies formally decide on the implementation of the measures and ensure the cross-faculty control of the quality management.