Three questions for “People With An Agenda”
“Digital teaching can only succeed with digital exams.”
HTA Innovation Professor Dr Georg Braun, Eng.
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Georg Braun
What innovation in Education are you currently developing, and what motivates you?
Georg Braun: Digitalisation is advancing steadily, not only in the modern workplace and in our private lives, but also in research and teaching. Combined with the principles of competence-based learning and constructive alignment – that is, the alignment of learning objectives, teaching and learning methods, and assessment formats – this means, in my view, that examinations, in particular, must be conducted digitally.
My main motivation stems from the desire to be able to use any software tools from a wide variety of disciplines in a secure examination environment, whilst at the same time blocking unwanted programmes and access to the internet – including chatbots such as ChatGPT – for the duration of an examination.
As no suitable solution is available on the software market, we have developed and operate EXaHM, an ‘application-oriented digital examination system at Hochschule München’.
In what way does your innovation help students to become responsible designers of the future?
Georg Braun: EXaHM facilitates the transition from knowledge-based examination questions to competence-oriented creative tasks such as ‘Develop a programme with the following functionalities …’, ‘Construct a machine with …’ or ‘Design a building with …’.
As the format of the examination changes, so too do the practice exercises; this means that students learn right from the start how to use the material covered in the course to design and improve things.
How can other lecturers benefit from your innovation?
Georg Braun: My work is part of the Digital Assessment Competence Centre (www.hm.edu/kdp ). This is where new versions of EXaHM are developed, tested, made available university-wide and supported. We also provide EXaHM to the universities in Hof, Regensburg and Landshut, so that competence-oriented digital assessments can be carried out there using EXaHM as well.
Her teaching agenda at the HM in three words
Georg Braun: Competence-oriented, digital, EXaHM.
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Georg Braun studied Electrical Engineering and Microelectronics at the university of applied sciences in Regensburg and obtained his doctorate at the Technical University of Berlin. After 14 years’ professional experience in hardware and software development, he was appointed as a professor at HM in 2010. Braun teaches in the fields of computer science, microprocessor technology and the Internet of Things. He is also a systems architect and scientific director of the EXaHM development project.