Open Courses

The "Interdisciplinary courses" at the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar are aimed at students from various faculties and degree programmes. It is made up of regular compulsory courses that are open to all faculties and degree programmes, as well as additional interdisciplinary courses.

The "Interdisciplinary courses" are divided into three categories. We distinguish between

• "Open courses",
• "Academic Bauhaus.modules" and
• "Student Bauhaus.modules".

Detailed information on the distinction between "Open courses", "Academic Bauhaus.modules" and "Student Bauhaus.modules" can be found here. 

To open your regular course to students from other faculties and degree programmes, you must register it as an "open course". To do this, fill out an online form so that the Coordination of Interdisciplinary Teaching Programmes (University Development) receives all the necessary information to assign your course accordingly. 

This includes:

• Title and module coordinator: What is the title and who offers this module? 
• Information on the target group: For which study levels (Bachelor, Master, PhD) and for which faculties (AU, BU, KG, M) should the course be opened? 
• Short texts: What short text should be used to advertise the course on the "Bauhaus.Module" website as "Open courses"? 

This information allows the coordination of the "Interdisciplinary courses" to:

• find the corresponding entry in the course catalogue bison, 
• assign this entry in the structure tree to the heading "Open courses" within the ‘Interdisciplinary courses’,
• add the entry "all degree programmes" under degree programmes 
• formulate the information on the target group, 
• link the Learning Agreement and 
• advertise the entry on the "Bauhaus.module" website as "Open courses".

As soon as you have registered your course via the online form, it will be listed in the structure tree of the bison course catalogue under the heading "Interdisciplinary courses" as "Open courses" and advertised on the "Bauhaus.module" website. You have already submitted the necessary information on the target group and suitable short texts in the online form. 

What should I look out for in the bison entry? 

The information in the bison course catalogue forms the central basis for interested students to decide whether or not to register for an "open course". In addition, the respective academic counselling services also decide on the recognition of credits based on this information. 

When formulating the bison entry, make sure that both interested students and academic counsellors can find all the information they need. In the regular courses offered at the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, very specific conventions have developed in the various faculties and degree programmes that may not be familiar to members of other faculties and degree programmes.

The following information is particularly important:

• How do you register for the course? Does the entry clearly state by when interested students must register with whom and using which procedure in order to take part in the course?
• Is the information on skills acquisition and learning objectives complete? Do the respective student counselling services have all the information they need to decide whether to recognise elective, compulsory elective or compulsory courses? 
• Is the information on the transcript of records complete? Can interested students find out which examination is required (written exam, essay, artwork, learning portfolio, etc.) and the expected length (90 minutes, 7,500 words, etc.)? 

Ideally, the participants in your ‘open course’ should be made up of two groups: Students from the respective degree programmes for which you are the original lecturer, and students from other faculties and degree programmes. While the booking and recognition of credits for the first group is usually possible without any problems, students in the second group must clarify the recognition of examination credits in their curriculum with the relevant academic advisor at the start of the course. In this context, the respective student counselling service can request the conclusion of a "Learning Agreement". 

The "Learning Agreement" is a written preliminary agreement between the responsible academic counselling service, the students and the module coordinators. As a rule, the students concerned will approach you if they need your support in concluding a learning agreement. In most cases, all they need is a signature; the document remains in the student's possession. 

You can support students with the recognition of credits across degree programmes and faculties by 

• informing students from other faculties and degree programmes in your course at the beginning of the semester that they must consult their academic advisors to check the recognition of credits in their curriculum and, if necessary, conclude a "Learning Agreement’" and 
• signing the "Learning Agreements" if the students concerned ask you to do so. 

For regular courses, the "grade lists" with all details of the credits earned and the grade or attestation are sent by the lecturers to the secretariats or the authorised persons of the respective faculty so that they can be recorded in the POS examination management system and recognised in the compulsory curriculum. 

There is a special feature of "open courses", as the participants (can) be made up of two different groups: 

• Students of the respective degree programme take part in the course as part of their compulsory curriculum. For these students, the booking and recognition of credits is carried out as usual by your secretariat or the authorised persons in your faculty. This assumes that the students have duly registered for the examination. 
• Students from other faculties and degree programmes take part in the course outside their compulsory curriculum. As a rule, these students cannot register for the examination in a course that is not assigned to their degree programme. Accordingly, it is not possible for your secretary's office or the authorised persons in your faculty to enter the grades. However, the Examinations Office, which is regularly responsible for you as a teacher, has the necessary rights. 

It is therefore advisable to set up the grade list in two parts: 

• The students of the respective degree programme for which you are regularly working are regularly listed (with surname, first name, matriculation number, credits, grade or certificate). This enables your secretary's office or the authorised persons in your faculty to see immediately which credits they can record and recognise.
• Students from other faculties and degree programmes are highlighted. In addition to surname, first name, matriculation number, credits and grade or certificate, it is helpful to specify the degree programme and the relevant examination regulations. The latter can be found in the registration list in bison. In this way, the examination office responsible for you can immediately recognise which credits can be booked separately. (Recognition is then carried out in a separate step by the examination office responsible for the respective student).