Open Access

Seit über 160 Jahren ist die Hochschule Reutlingen ein Innovationsmtor in der Region. Die Webschule zur Förderung der Textilindustrie entwickelt sich in dieser Zeit zu einer der größten Hochschulen für angewandte Wissenschaften im Land. An fünf Fakultäten studieren mehr als 5500 Fach- und Führungskräfte von morgen - praxisnah und mit internationaler Ausrichtung.

This paper summarises the experiences with sustainability reporting in a very wide meaning at Universities of Applied Sciences (UoAS). It focuses on the communication of sustainability aspects and activities of universities. It provides a recommendation, a model for communicating the sustainability activities of universities and emphasises the values of this appraoch. This paper aims to find the most effective ways to convey education for sustainable development to a broad public and initiate communication about sustainability aspects with society. The paper is based on action research done at two universities about the ways in which academic institutions can communicate with their stakeholders in order to report about their own role as a responsible university and also to make an impact on the sustainable development on a local and global scale. Research is focussed on experiences at Universitites of Applied Sciences with their strong focus on applied research, education and transfer. However, these results can be helpful for each academic institution that wants to make a positive impact on society. The concept which we present focusses on the possible impact which universities can generate. Seen as the contribution to the research field of sustainabitliy reporting the paper points out that a continuous qualitative reporting process with a focus on education for SD is an adequate and efficient approach to sustainability reporting for universities and an effective way to reach a broad public. We show that there are several efficient methodss of communication ranging from the traditional sustainability report to publications which address the public and to more innovative methods using the web 2.0. We show and argue that for universities, alternative ways of sustainability communication may be more effective to achieve the sustainability mission. The concept which we present gives the universities a broader impact on society and helps them to support sustainable development in an efficient way.

Mehr denn je zeigt ein Blick auf die aktuellen gesellschaftlichen Debatten, wie wichtig angewandte Forschung ist, denn sie liefert fundierte Fakten und Erkenntnisse für den politischen Diskurs. So verstehen wir unseren Auftrag zur Forschung: Wir helfen Gesellschaft und Wirtschaft, Lösungen für die drängenden Fragen unserer Zeit zu entwickeln. Wie wir das machen? Auf den folgenden Seiten bekommen Sie einen kleinen Einblick in die aktuellen Forschungsprojekte an der Hochschule. Sie werden feststellen, dass diesmal ganz der Mensch im Mittelpunkt steht. Gute Forschung ist auch die Grundlage für die Ausbildung hochqualifizierter Absolventinnen und Absolventen, die die Unternehmen so dringend brauchen, um nachhaltig wettbewerbsfähig zu bleiben. Wir machen die Studierenden fit für die „Welt da draußen“ – mit besonderen Laborprojekten (Seite 26), mit spannenden Promotionsarbeiten (Seite 10) und Unterstützung von Ausgründungen (Seite 18).

Software engineering courses have to deliver theoretical and technical knowledge and skills while establishing links to practice. However, due to course goals or resource limitations, it is not always possible or even meaningful to set up complete projects and let students work on a real piece of software. For instance, if students shall understand the impact of group dynamics on productivity, a particular software to be developed is of less interest than an environment in which students can learn about team-related phenomena. To address this issue, we use experimentation as a teaching tool in software engineering courses. Experiments help to precisely characterize and study a problem in a systematic way, to observe phenomena, and to develop and evaluate solutions. Furthermore, experiments help establishing short feedback and learning cycles, and they also allow for experiencing risk and failure scenarios in a controlled environment. In this paper, we report on three courses in which we implemented different experiments and we share our experiences and lessons learned. Using these courses, we demonstrate how to use classroom experiments, and we provide a discussion on the feasibility based on formal and informal course evaluations. This experience report thus aims to help teachers integrating small- and medium sized experiments in their courses.