This is according to Wulf-Toke Franke. He teaches in Electronics and regards students not only as young people but also as potential candidates for master's study programmes, future collaboration partners or perhaps future colleagues."Teaching is no longer about one-way communication. On the contrary. So it's an excellent chance to give valuable input when you include your own research in the teaching. It's incredibly inspiring to see and hear what the students have to contribute."
Wulf-Toke Franke can remember when he was a first semester student. At the time, he was shy and everything was new for him so he was not as active as he should have been.
"These days, we have countless apps and digital solutions, which means that we have direct interaction in relation to teaching. Naturally, it goes hand in hand with a close dialogue with the students."
The real world with real problems
The involvement of industry is an important part of Wulf-Toke Franke's teaching. In fact, it is crucial to his approach to communicating."I connect ALL of my teaching to real problems. From the very first semester we involve people from industry in projects where they give lectures. That way, the students can see the point of what they're studying. It's an enormous advantage for the students to have contact with industry from an early stage, so they don't just get a student job or an internship, but also a future full-time job when they graduate. For me, it's extremely important to have direct contact with the business community so you don't sit in an academic ivory tower without being aware of your surroundings."