Our teaching philosophy

In general, it is important in teaching to establish, beyond the mere factual knowledge, also a significant part of knowledge related to application and action. Addressing all three levels of knowledge in teaching should be a characteristic of a good university education and is in our opinion the decisive difference between universities and universities of applied sciences.

The citation of Confucius: "I hear and forget, I see and I remember, I do and I understand" serves as a guiding principle in this context. Following this principle as university lecturers, we will try to provide a comprehensive and sustainable learning environment through explanations, examples, discussions, role games and the provision of suitable exercises. The interactive way of working with students and the combination of theoretical and practical parts in the courses should have a motivating effect and illustrate the uncertainties and the challenges in the practical application of theoretical concepts.

Innovative teaching concepts

Teaching is of high importance for all HyWa members and we try to establish an innovative and research-oriented approach. The lecturers at HyWa try to come up with a synthesis of process understanding, measuring methods and modeling. In accordance with the learning objectives, different didactic concepts are implemented and in some cases, innovative concepts are also developed.

There is a great deal of interest in the development of hydrological experiments, which can also be used in the lecture hall for a better understanding.

Selected publications and projects:

Schulz, K; Burgholzer, R; Klotz, D; Wesemann, J; Herrnegger, M (2018): Demonstrating the "unit hydrograph" and flow routing processes involving active student participation - a university lecture experiment H

BOKU teaching award

INTENSE - Integrated Doctoral Program for Environmental Policy, Management and Technology

Teaching in the field

Following our teaching philosophy, lecturers at HyWa  link practical and theoretical elements within their teaching. The field courses are an important element in this context. Here, theoretical aspects of previous courses are taken up and deepened by means of practical experiments. Thus, a deeper understanding of processes should be created.