Digital mentoring

Digital Mentoring is a project of the Institute for Higher Education Didactics at Dortmund University of Applied Sciences and Arts. In the Institute for Higher Education Didactics, we address various issues to improve teaching and studying. One result is a range of study-related services that are tailored as precisely as possible to the needs of students.

As a first step, digital mentoring aims to offer students a digital helping hand right from the start. Surveys and evaluations at Fachhochschule Dortmund have shown that the first three semesters are crucial for a successful course of study. Developments during the corona-related restrictions have also shown how important meaningful digital support is, as personal contact, for example for advice, is not always possible. We therefore want to pick up students digitally right at the start of their studies. Our goal is a web-based, AI-supported dashboard on which students can manage their exam dates and registration deadlines, see their exam results in a structured way and get an overview of the ECTS and bonus points they have collected. With the help of artificial intelligence (AI) and learning analytics (LA), we are also using the potential of digitalization to develop a system for recording, reflecting on and supporting learning processes. To this end, an AI is being developed that can be used to make predictions about the course of study. Functions such as an anonymized peer-to-peer comparison or a competence spider will provide students with individual information on learning progress (also in comparison to their fellow students), but also point out learning gaps and individually appropriate offers of help.

Another important component of the dashboard is the intuitive presentation of results from the bonus point system. The bonus point system is an offer for mathematics examinations; students can check their knowledge here by taking mini exams and online tests before the actual exam. For each mini-exam and each online test, they earn bonus points (depending on the grade of the tests), which can be credited as points towards the result of the main exam. Initial evaluations suggest that this offer helps students to prepare better for the math exam and is more likely to pass the exam.

Together with existing study-related offers, we are thus digitally supporting students in achieving their learning goals and creating an attractive and intuitive, digitally supported mentoring system.

Digital mentoring should not only support students, but also point out to mentors, teachers and employees of service facilities such as the Student Advisory Service where there is a need for action. Further goals are:

• Improving (digital) teaching as a result of interpreting the data
• New form of teaching/learning support as part of quality assurance and development
• Closer, individual support for the teaching/learning process

The project is being carried out by Dortmund University of Applied Sciences and Arts in cooperation with Bochum University of Applied Sciences(Opens in a new tab) and the Westphalian University of Applied Sciences(Opens in a new tab) .

In order to develop our dashboard as closely as possible to the needs and wishes of the target group, we need the help of the students. With their input, we can implement functions, structure, content and design according to their requirements and thus create a product that delivers real benefits. The end product should go beyond simply displaying exam results and accumulated points and, for example, also provide content on learning methods such as the Pomodoro technique, an overview of individual time management by tracking your own learning times, links to all study-related offers and regular interactions (reminders, push notifications, pop-ups) to motivate students to stay on the ball and get help if necessary.

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