

Project BInQ-Bio launched on 01.09.2023
Expanding Digital Teaching and Learning in Higher Education
Even before the Corona pandemic, digital teaching formats were a part of everyday university life but have gained further importance for studies and teaching due to the restrictions imposed by the pandemic and because of technological developments. To promote digital teaching and learning, the Ministry of Culture and Science in North Rhine-Westphalia has created a funding line for freely accessible online materials (so-called Open Educational Resources, or OER) through "OERContent.nrw". Three projects involving the University of Münster have been selected for funding. In the Centre of Biology Education, the working group led by Prof. Dr. Benedikt Heuckmann is dedicating itself to one of these projects, developing accessible learning modules for biology teacher training. The focus is on the topics of inclusion and equity.
Project: BInQ-Bio - Inclusion and Equity as a Cross-sectional Tasks in Biology Teacher Training
Designing inclusive subject teaching has become a task for all teachers over the years. They face the challenge of addressing the increased heterogeneity in schools and particularly considering marginalized groups in lesson planning. In this regard, questions of educational justice and resource-oriented handling of heterogeneity in biology teaching are coming into focus. The goal of the "BInQ-Bio" project is to develop OER materials to anchor the topics cross-sectionally in biology teacher training. In BInQ-Bio, six accessible, digitally supported learning modules are being developed that can be used flexibly in the sense of a modular construction system at different locations. Through easy and broad accessibility, the teaching and learning offers should also serve teachers in service or lateral and career changers as training material. By having the learning modules feature online self-assessments (feedback), they are ideally suited to be used as self-study units in teacher training and further education.
The BInQ-Bio initiative is a joint project of the University of Cologne (consortium leadership Prof. Dr. Silvia Fränkel), the University of Bielefeld, and the University of Münster. In Münster, the working group led by Prof. Dr. Benedikt Heuckmann at the Center for Biology Education focuses on the main topics "Inclusion and specific topics of biology teaching" (e.g., addiction prevention, mental health, sexual education, nutrition, diseases) as well as "Digital media in the inclusive learning setting" (Diklusion). In this process, the biology educators identify inclusion-relevant characteristics and describe consequences for teaching these topics and explain the potential of subject-specific digital media for designing diversity-sensitive teaching-learning scenarios in biology teaching.
To the project page: https://www.uni-muenster.de/Biologie.Didaktik/forschung/BInQ-Bio.html
To the press release of MKW NRW: https://www.mkw.nrw/system/files/media/document/file/mkw_02.06.2023.pdf