Übungsstunden und Übungen sind meist nützlich, weil sie die behandelten Themen der Vorlesungen in Aufgaben aufgreifen und somit für mehr Verständnis sorgen. Besser wäre es, wenn die Studenten zusammen mit ihrem Übungsassistenten auch eigene Aufgaben verfassen würden. Im Dialog werden verschiedene den Studenten wichtige Themen identifiziert. Es wird viel in der Gruppe diskutiert neue Ideen für Übungsaufgaben entstehen. Dies bietet nicht nur eine neue Herausforderung für Studenten eines unteren Semesters, die später tatsächlich auch solche von anderen Lernenden erdachten Aufgaben bearbeiten. Nein, darüber hinaus hilft es den Übungsteilnehmern sich mehr mit dem vermittelten Stoff auseinanderzusetzen und Verbindungen zu knüpfen. Diese Verständnis hilft später bei Semesterendprüfungen, der Basisprüfung, und sogar in den Vorlesungen, in denen die Studenten dann eher auf Fragen reagieren können oder Fragen stellen können. So profitieren Studenten und Dozenten gleichermaßen und die Vorlesungen gewinnen an Gehalt!

Umsetzungsplan_von_Niels_Sievertsen.pdf

The teaching process is as far as I see it not a one-side process, but a rather a mutual one. On one side there is a direct connection via "lectures" from lecturer to the students, which is practised extensively on the ETH, but I believe there is also strong connection in the opposite direction; from students to lecturer. Therefore my suggestion is to strengthen or combine learning process for both. I propose creating a "study group" either as a specific subject, or an addition hour in the subject. In this study group there would be professor(s) and students mixed up and they would have to work on a presentation of a specific topic or pour through the recent views of a topic presented on the lectures. I believe that from this kind of work MSc and PhD students would benefit greatly; see the logic of the professors, creative thinking, and approach to a problem... Another interesting aspect would be for professors/assistants who would see the logic and learning process of their students, also they could be shown how they younger followers deal with technology, new programs etc.

Teamwork: For every lecture course I would recommend to create groups of students (3-5 students for each group, one  may be the leader) for group discussion of the material given in the previous lecture. This not only makes the learning process more fun and efficient, but also it makes students to get used to team work. Of course, joining these groups should be optional and much more students will participate if it will be a part of the ETH study organization, like exercise classes, not just organized by volunteer students. Even more efficient, each student can have his/her part of the material to explain during the discussion. The registration for the groups can be done online according to convenient time for each student.
Teaching enthusiasm: At the beginning of every lecture class I think, if the lecturer starts the lecture with a short story concerning him/her, the material to be thought, about the inventor, scientist, interesting news…, it will enlighten the mood, create a state of mind, when information flow afterwards is more efficient; during lecture add more enthusiasm, instead of monotonic presentation of the material mostly.