1 Towards a New Model of Teaching and Learning

In 2016, the Faculty of Information and Communication at Stuttgart Media University made fundamental changes to the curricula of its bachelor programs. The starting point of the change process was the shared insight that current curricula did not prepare students well enough for a dynamic future. Faculty and external stakeholders identified two central questions:

  • What do students need in order to be well prepared for a dynamic present and future?

  • How should teaching & learning at university level look like in the twenty-first century?

Three fundamental challenges for the higher education sector were addressed in the change process:

  • Study skills: What competences do students need to successfully complete their studies and master complex learning arrangements throughout the course of their studies (cf. eg., van den Berk et al., 2016)?

  • 21st Century Skills: Which competences are gaining importance in an economy and society shaped by digitization and other future trends? How can these competences be appropriately addressed in higher education (cf. eg., AG Curriculum 4.0, 2018)?

  • Didactic issues: Which teaching and learning scenarios are suitable for supporting students’ competency development in the mentioned areas (cf. e.g., the EDUCAUSE Horizon Reports)?

The result of the change process was a new standardized study model/curriculum for all bachelor’s degree programs within the department (cf. also Burmeister & Seidl, 2020; Mildenberger & Vonhof, 2020). One aspect of the new model was the implementation of three mandatory 21st Century Skills modules (5 ECTSFootnote 1 each) for all BA students. The modules focus on the development and improvement of metacognitive strategies (especially reflective skills) and the acquisition of important 21st Century Skills. About 450 students attend the modules each semester which are taught by one quarter of the departmental staff.

The term 21st Century Skills indicates that the skills “are more related to the needs of the emerging models of economic and social development than with those of the past century, which were suited to an industrial mode of production” (Ananiadoui & Claro, 2009, p. 5). In 2014–16, when our change process took place, the term 21st Century Skills was much more prominent in the political and scientific debate than the term Future Skills. Therefore, the term continues to be used in in the presented good practice example.

An operationalization of the term 21st Century Skills—using the KSAVEFootnote 2 framework (Binkley et al., 2012)—is presented in Sect. 24.2. Section 24.3 explains how teaching and learning of (some) of these skills is organized at Stuttgart Media University. In this context, the main focus is on the assessment of 21st Century Skills. The paper concludes with learnings and recommendations.Footnote 3

2 How to Identify the Relevant Competences

However, the decision to introduce the new 21st Century Skills modules was only the first step. It then became necessary to determine which learning objectives should be achieved in the modules. According to Schaper (2012), two different approaches in academic program development can be distinguished. On the one hand, needs- or standard-oriented approaches, which are primarily oriented toward professional contexts and students’ later labor market. On the other hand, perspective- or progression-oriented approaches, which focus on the competence requirements during study (cf. Schaper, 2012, p. 54). Key competences are highly relevant in both variants of academic program development. Therefore, both approaches were combined and translated into three guiding perspectives and related questions (Seidl, 2017):

  1. 1.

    Today: what key competences do students need to succeed in their studies?

  2. 2.

    Tomorrow: what key competences do students need to succeed in the current society and world of work?

  3. 3.

    In the future: what key competences do students need to succeed in a future society and world of work?

The relevant competences from perspective 1 and 2 were identified through surveys of stakeholders (such as students, university teachers, employers and graduates). In addition, job-related qualification frameworks were evaluated. Such frameworks are developed jointly by universities, industries and professional associations. They describe competence profiles for graduates, which can serve as orientation for academic program development. Suitable frameworks are also available for the third perspective. There are different ‘21st Century Skills’ frameworks, which can be used as important orientation points in academic program development.

Since the 1970s, there has been intensive discussion within German universities about the integration of generic competences into the curriculum. Initially under the label of ‘key competencies,’ for the past five years the term ‘21st Century Skills’ or ‘Future Skills’ have been increasingly used. Pioneering work in this area has been done by the Curriculum 4.0 working group of the Hochschulforum DigitalisierungFootnote 4 (Hochschulforum Digitalisierung, 2022). Nevertheless, no uniform definition nor prioritization has yet been established in the German higher education sector. For this reason, each university must find its own way of defining and prioritizing these skills.

In the example presented in this paper, the KSAVE (Knowledge, Skills, Attitudes, Values and Ethics—see Binkley et al., 2012) model was utilized in the academic program development process. The KSAVE model is a meta-model, which consolidates the contents of various other 21st Century Skills frameworks. In total, twelve frameworks from organizations and institutions, such as the EU, the OECD, the partnership for twenty-first century learning, and the Center for Research and Educational Testing Japan, were integrated into the model (for a complete list, see Binkley et al., 2012, p. 35). The resulting meta-model consists of ten skills that are organized into four groupings:

Ways of Thinking

  1. 1.

    Creativity and innovation.

  2. 2.

    Critical thinking, problem solving, decision making.

  3. 3.

    Learning to learn, metacognition.

Ways of Working

  1. 4.

    Communication.

  2. 5.

    Collaboration (teamwork).

Tools for Working

  1. 6.

    Information literacy.

  2. 7.

    ICT literacy.

Living in the World

  1. 8.

    Citizenship—local and global.

  2. 9.

    Life and career.

  3. 10.

    Personal and social responsibility—including cultural awareness and competence.

Each skill is described in three categories:

  • Knowledge (K): “This category includes all references to specific knowledge or understanding requirements for each of the ten skills” (Binkley et al., 2012, p. 37).

  • Skills (S): “This category includes the abilities, skills, and processes that curriculum frameworks are designed to develop in students and which are a focus for learning” (Binkley et al., 2012, p. 37).

  • Attitudes (A), Values (V) and Ethics (E): “This category refers to the behaviors and aptitudes that students [need to] exhibit in relation to each of the ten skills” (Binkley et al., 2012, p. 37).

The framework has not been updated since 2012. In 2014–16, when our change process took place, it represented the best-backed model available. Nevertheless, the empirical basis of 21st Century Skills/Future Skills frameworks was and is rather weak so far.

The KSAVE model has two advantages for program development and instructional planning:

  • On the one hand, the framework can be used as a valid source for deriving necessary future competences for work and everyday life;

  • On the other hand, the competences in the model are operationalized and formulated to such an extent that they can be easily transferred into learning objectives.

To illustrate this, Table 24.1 shows the operational definitions of creativity and innovation in the KSAVE model.

Table 24.1 Operational definitions of creativity and innovation in the KSAVE model (Binkley et al., 2012, p. 38)
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In addition, the model is highly compatible with the traditional understanding of key competences at German universities. In terms of integration into study programs and the organization, there is an important continuity between key competencies and 21st Century Skills at German universities (cf. Seidl, 2021b). If we consider Orth’s definition (which is often referred to in this context) according to which key competences are to be understood as “skills, attitudes and knowledge elements” (Orth, 1999, p. 107), the similarities to the KSAVE model become apparent. Due to its structure, its level of detail and its broad content focus, the KSAVE model is very well suited as a starting point and source for academic program development.

3 Teaching and Learning 21st Century Skills

The three key competence modules are integrated in all four bachelor’s degree programs within the information and communication department at Stuttgart media university (Information Design, Information Science, Online Media Management, Information Systems and Digital Media—duration of study, 7 semesters) in the second, third and fourth semesters. In each course, the students work in mixed groups in order to learn how to work with people from different professional backgrounds. Students equip themselves with important 21st Century Skills which help them both to master their study program as well as prepare for a dynamic future (Seidl, 2017). The three modules all follow the same structure:

  • Compulsory course of the module (2 ECTS),

  • Elective course within the competence area of the module (2 ECTS),

  • ePortfolioFootnote 5 and key competence colloquium (1 ECTS). For more details on both teaching & learning settings see subsection 24.3.2 and 24.3.3.

Table 24.2 shows the layout of the modules.

Table 24.2 Layout of the key competence modules
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The key competence modules focus on the development and improvement of metacognitive strategies.Footnote 6 In addition, students should acquire relevant skills, which could be used inside and outside of the university. To reach these learning goals, the teacher always links the content of the courses with current challenges in students' subject-specific courses (taking place at the same time) and their daily lives. This provides students with important chances for reflection and opens up opportunities to test new skills. The setting therefore enables situated and sustainable learning.Footnote 7

With the key competence modules, the department implements the goal of personality development for university studies, as defined by the German Accreditation Council (Akkreditierungsrat, 2013, p. 2013). On the one hand, by creating opportunities for reflection and setting individual development goals by the students. On the other hand, by integrating electives within the compulsory modules in which students are given the opportunity to (at least partially) achieve these goals and consciously shape their own learning path in the key competence domain.

3.1 Assessment

The focus on the promotion of metacognitive strategies also made it necessary to think about adequate assessment formats. In summative assessment, the focus is on assessing the learning outcome. Feedback is given as a differentiating grade. In formative assessment, the focus is on feedback on the learning process and progress. In this type of feedback, grades are not used. It is also referred to as assessment for learning. The quality levels presupposed for summative testing are generally not achieved in examination scenarios that focus on metacognitive strategies (Schaper & Hilkenmeier, 2013). The faculty also experienced that the use of formative assessment formats increased students’ motivation to engage in new and uncertain courses of action and supported self-reflection processes. This perception is consistent with findings from research in higher education didactics. For example, Wildt and Wildt point out that a “continuous orientation towards (final) grades damages rather than promotes learning in the sense of self-controlled learning and intrinsic motivation to work on the subject matter” (2011, p. 30). Moreover, in a formative setting, the teacher can assume the role of a learning guide far more authentically, as there is greater role clarity for all stakeholders involved. For these reasons, a purely formative assessment approach was chosen for the key competence modules (for the relationship between summative and formative assessment approaches, see Gaus, 2018).

The exam for each of the key competence modules consists of three individual components, all of which must be successfully completed in order to pass the module:

  • Transfer task in the compulsory course

  • Transfer task in the elective course

  • ePortfolio and colloquium (for specific tasks see Sects. 24.3.2 & 24.3.3)

The module is passed (ungraded) if all three examination parts (compulsory, elective course, portfolio/colloquium) have been worked out to a sufficient degree.

The transfer tasks support students in the development of practical skills and help them to be able to connect theory to practice. The tasks involve the transfer of theoretical aspects into one’s own daily practice. For example, in the course ‘Leadership & Teamwork’, students must analyze a situation from their everyday lives using a theoretical model. Based on their analysis, they develop and test suitable intervention options. In the course, students get formative feedback on their transfer tasks.

The core element of the formative assessment in the key competence modules is the ePortfolio, which supports students to reflect on the learning process during their course of study. The ePortfolio is used across all courses of the three modules. The results of the reflection are presented in a small group at the end of the semester in the colloquium. In the colloquium, students also receive feedback on their learning process and their portfolio. The colloquium and ePortfolio support the learning of the students in different ways:

  • It increases students’ ability to reflect

  • It helps students achieve a better understanding of their current skills and the skills they want to acquire

  • It encourages students to be more intentional about their choice of academic courses

  • It helps students to train in important media production skills (through the use of WordPress as the portfolio platform).

Study results show that the concept works. In the winter semester 2017/18, parts of the portfolio concept were comprehensively evaluated (N = 226, response rate = 90.4%). A standardized questionnaire with predominantly closed questions was used for the evaluation. The constructs measured consisted of reflective and formative indicators. Over the period of portfolio use, students showed a significant increase in their writing competence, media competence and their reflective ability (Schütz-Pitan et al., 2019).

3.2 Design and Use of the ePortfolio

The ePortfolio is primarily used to document and reflect on the learning and competence acquisition process. Students work with the ePortfolio in every course of the three modules. Through this continuous use, students are able to recognize and establish content-related connections between individual courses and can document and review their own development.

There are three mandatory task blocks for each compulsory and elective course in the ePortfolio (of course, more intensive use by students is possible and is encouraged accordingly by the lecturers):

  1. 1.

    Reflection at the beginning of the semester. With regard to the competency goals (knowledge, skills, attitudes, values & ethics) of the course (as stated in the module description), students answer the following questions:

    1. a.

      What specifically do I already know? What am I already able to do? Which relevant skills did I acquire in the past?

    2. b.

      What in particular interests me in this area? What do I really want to learn or be able to do?

  2. 2.

    Learning artifacts to document the learning process. During the semester, students have to collect at least three artifacts to document their learning process and skill development in the portfolio. Artifacts can be a wide variety of things, such as quotes, assignments, exercises, etc. In addition, students reflect on the artifact and explain why they think the artifact is particularly important to their learning process and why they chose it for their portfolio.

  3. 3.

    End-of-semester reflection. With regard to the competency goals of the course, students answer the following questions:

    1. a.

      What did I learn in the course? What skills did I acquire? Which routines or perspectives have changed?

    2. b.

      In which contexts (study, work, private, etc.) have I used my new skills? In which contexts can I use or train them in the future?

    3. c.

      How can I prove that I have these skills?

    4. d.

      Where do I want to develop further in this domain? What else am I interested in in this domain?

    5. e.

      What influence does the course content have on my further study planning?

    6. f.

      What impact does the course content have on my job aspirations/career planning?

Technically the ePortfolio is a WordPress blog. Each student gets their own WordPress blog in the first semester. The students are able to and should design and organize their blogs according to their own preferences. WordPress is a free content management system that enjoys great popularity worldwide and is used in many industries. By working with WordPress on a regular basis, students thus acquire important digital skills ‘along the way’. There is deliberately no introduction to WordPress, as there are sufficient freely accessible resources available online.

Reflective work with the ePortfolio is new and unfamiliar to most students. Therefore, it is important to give a comprehensive and profound introduction into the work with the ePortfolio. It has proven to be useful to explain goals, tasks and expectations with regard to ePortfolio and colloquium at the beginning of each course (regardless of the semester level). There is no general introduction course for the ePortfolio. In addition, the instructors regularly connect to the portfolio in the courses (keyword artifacts) and explain the aim of the ePortfolio (as an important instrument to support the learning and reflection processes). In the past, the four stages model of competence (Howell, 1982) has proven useful for clarifying and communicating the meaning and purpose of the portfolio to students. The idea is that the learning process consists of four stages:

  1. 1.

    Unconscious incompetence

  2. 2.

    Conscious incompetence

  3. 3.

    Conscious competence

  4. 4.

    Unconscious competence

To put it simply, learning processes start by getting a sense of what one already knows and is able to do on the one hand, and doesn’t know / is not able to do on the other hand, with regard to a new field (cf. task block 1 of the ePortfolio). This step leads from unconscious incompetence to conscious incompetence: the knowledge of one’s own learning needs. Within the course of the semester, the step from conscious incompetence to conscious competence can then usually be completed. This means new knowledge and skills are developed but not yet internalized nor transferred into ones’ own routines. The learning artifacts and the reflection at the end of the semester in the ePortfolio help to make visible what has been achieved (cf. task block 2 and 3 of the ePortfolio). However, what is achieved at this point is often not yet a genuine competence since the new skills are neither internalized nor part of ones’ routines. A genuine competence can only be achieved through further training and experience-based learning. The colloquium has an important linking function here. On the one hand, the students should become aware of in which domains and in which ways they want to continue working on their competences. On the other hand, the instructors provide assistance and feedback on the past and future learning processes at this point.

3.3 Implementation of the Colloquium

At the end of the semester, all students present their semester reflections of the key competence modules in a small group (3 students plus one instructor) in a colloquium. Each student has the opportunity to present their own ePortfolio and to discuss it with the other students and instructors. The colloquium is primarily about discussing one’s competence-related development path in the group and next steps in the learning process. For this reason, the instructor who accompanies the colloquium does not take on a classic examiner’s role (in which the students’ statements are evaluated as correct or incorrect), but rather the role of a coach or feedback provider. Feedback is usually given on the following levels:

  • Acknowledgment of the student’s competence development and their further learning path. The aim is to foster the self-efficacy of the students.

  • Practical hints and advice for the further learning process (e.g. which elective courses are suitable, which further input would be interesting, etc.).

  • Feedback on the quality of the reflection presented in the colloquium. This should help students to continually increase their depth of reflection as they continue their work with the ePortfolio in subsequent semesters.

It has proven useful to briefly explain the format, the role of the teacher as coach/feedback provider and the aim of the colloquium at the beginning of the colloquium.

Prior to the colloquium, students complete the following assignments:

  1. 1.

    Complete the reflection assignments and documentation of your competence development for the key competence courses in the ePortfolio.

  2. 2.

    Summarize your most important results/findings on an additional WordPress page. Use this page as a visualization for your presentation during the colloquium. You have complete liberty in designing the layout of the page. The following guiding questions will help you to create the content of the page:

    1. a.

      Which newly acquired competences/skills/knowledge from the key competence courses do you consider particularly important? Why?

    2. b.

      Which events/moments/elements (artifacts) were particularly important for your own learning? Why?

    3. c.

      To what extent were your learning expectations for the key competence courses met this semester?

    4. d.

      In which (sub-)areas of the courses do you want to develop your skills further? What else are you interested in? How have the events influenced your further study or career planning?

After the presentation, the instructor can use a variety of questions to provide students with assistance in self-reflection. For example, “If you imagine your learning journey as a mountain hike, what is the next section you need to tackle? If you had to give a fellow student exactly three tips that would be helpful for their personal development based on your experiences this semester, which tips would these be?” (Seidl, 2021a, pp. 11–12).

When providing feedback on the quality of students’ self-reflections, the instructor can use the model of self-reflection levels developed by Bräuer (2014) as a guide. Bräuer distinguishes three levels of reflection (Table 24.3).

Table 24.3 Levels of reflection according to Bräuer (2014, p. 17–71)
Full size table

The instructor should address which level of self-reflection was accomplished by the student. If necessary, the instructor should also provide hints and advice on how to reach a higher level of self-reflection. In addition to feedback from the instructor, students in the colloquium should also support each other through peer feedback. To encourage this, there are guiding questions/observation assignments for the students in the colloquium, which can help them to structure their feedback. For example, “Which important resources and competences do you think the fellow student has acquired in the module? What priorities should the fellow student set for their further development? What key qualities do you see in the fellow student?” (Seidl, 2021a, p. 13). The observation assignments significantly increase the quality of peer feedback. It has proven useful to print out the questions before the colloquium begins and place them on the wall or table for all students to see. The students who are not presenting are asked to pick out one or two of the questions and give the fellow student specific and appreciative feedback on this topic/aspect after the presentation.

3.4 Further Developments and Challenges in Assessment

Assessments have the purpose of verifying the results of the students’ learning process, but also support the learning process itself. It therefore makes sense to combine summative with formative assessment formats in the curriculum. At many universities, however, formative assessment formats are still sparsely developed and implemented. The assessment concept of the key competence modules has stimulated reflections on the examinations practice within the department. Two aspects in particular became apparent:

  • Reflection of instructors on their own roles: a qualitative survey showed that the specific style of teaching and assessment in the key competence modules enables a higher quality of communication between instructors and students and stimulates instructors’ reflections on their own roles and teaching habits (Buhl et al., 2019). These reflection processes will probably also have a positive impact on teaching and assessment activities in other courses.

  • Imitation and inspiration: due to the key competence modules, there is a functioning ePortfolio infrastructure within the department that is familiar to the students. In recent semesters, instructors have increasingly begun to integrate ePortfolios into other modules. For example, the documentation and reflection of the mandatory internship semester in the Information Science study program is also realized through the combination of ePortfolio and colloquium. As the example shows, good practice examples can therefore contribute to organizational development.

Assessment always takes place in a field of tension with (at least) three poles:

  • Didactics: how can I optimally support the learning process or verify the level of competence of the students?

  • Legal issues: which forms and modalities of assessment are compatible with legal frameworks and guidelines (e.g. accreditation and administrative law)? What legal risks am I/is the organization willing to take?

  • Economics: which assessment settings can be implemented in view of the available resources (e.g., working hours of staff)? Are there possibilities for shifting resources (e.g., within curricula or modules) and setting new or other priorities?

Dealing responsibly with this tension and finding a good middle ground between these poles is one of the central challenges with regard to assessment at universities. For the department, the assessment model in the key competence modules is such a middle ground. Of course, more regular feedback on the contents of the portfolio would be useful and desirable from a didactical point of view (cf. eg., Hansen & Rachbauer, 2018), but unfortunately this cannot be realized with regard to the available resources of teachers.

4 Learnings and Recommendations

The integration of 21st Century Skills into the curriculum is a challenge on several levels. First, it must be discussed whether and to what extent 21st Century Skills should be part of the competence goals of a study program. In addition, the relevant competences must be identified and operationalized. Here, one can utilize models like the KSAVE model. Furthermore, the necessary resources and timeslots in the curriculum must be provided. The next step is to develop a suitable didactic design at both the micro and macro levels. This also includes assessment formats. This list shows that the integration of 21st Century Skills into the curriculum is a complex organizational development challenge.

The presented concept of the key competence modules at the Faculty of Information and Communication at Stuttgart Media University shows that this challenge can be mastered. The concept followed an iterative development approach from the beginning. Continuous innovation based on accumulated experience and empirical data has helped to successfully develop the concept and has proven to be a successful strategy for implementing such a teaching and learning innovation. In this sense, the good-practice example described here should not be seen as finished, but as a successful work in progress. This agile approach was very helpful for the project presented.

An important prerequisite for the success of the concept is and was the support within the faculty and department. One of the most important success factors in the change process was comprehensive and early integration of the stakeholders involved, as well as transparent communication. When new content is added to the curriculum, existing content must be deleted. In our experience, this is one of the most critical points. Here it is worthwhile to develop a common vision of higher education in the future and to openly address the concerns of individual stakeholders. This usually requires a comprehensive strategy process. Furthermore, the scaling of the colloquia (and the associated integration of more instructors) has shown that regular structured exchange (in the form of workshops or information material) is important to reduce fears and to develop new skills and perspectives among the instructors.

The structured and transparent derivation of learning objectives for the modules (utilizing the KSAVE model and other sources) has several positive effects:

  • The courses and modules are well structured in terms of content and learning goals.

  • The concept can be well communicated and explained (both internally and externally).

  • Students recognize the relevance of the course content for their own lives and further development. This motivates them to engage in new ways of learning.

The fact that students do not receive grades does not have a negative impact on their engagement (this fear did exist beforehand). On the contrary, in the context of regularly used classroom assessment techniques and the colloquia, students stress that the grade-free environment makes it easier for them to engage in new, ‘risky’ ways of learning. Therefore, it is necessary to think about new examination formats when integrating 21st Century Skills in the curriculum.

Future Skills in Practice: Our Recommendations

Based on my experiences as a faculty developer, these five recommendations help you to get Future Skills into your curriculum successfully:

  • Understand the integration of Future Skills into the curriculum as a holistic change process.

  • Lobby for Future Skills and form a powerful coalition.

  • Agree on a common understanding of Future Skills and operationalize them accordingly

  • Take all aspects of constructive alignment into account (outcome, assessment, learning activities).

  • The integration of Future Skills needs (usually) organizational changes and sufficient resources.