Conferences & Events
The conference and/or networking events serve as a platform to exchange and share knowledge and experiences in the field of academic writing.
It targets teaching staff from universities, universities of applied sciences and institutions who instruct students in academic writing as well as independent writing trainers, advisors and everyone interested in the art of teaching academic writing.
Network Meeting 2023
“Analog vs. digital? Schreiblehre neu denken!“ (in German)
Date: 13.10.2023, 09:00 – 16:00
Location: FHWien der WKW, Währinger Gürtel 97, 1180 Vienna
How can students’ reading and writing skills be promoted with the help of analogue and digital teaching? We wanted to discuss these questions also under the impression of current developments on AI-supported writing in the expert community. The event was intended to provide a framework in which we could encourage an exchange of experiences and invite colleagues to help shape the meeting with presentations and workshops. Together we wanted to rethink the teaching of writing!
The kick-off was a presentation by our hosts from the Writing Centre at FHWien der WKW on the project “Writing Lab @FHWien der WKW“, which is funded by the City of Vienna and will run until the end of 2025. In addition to contextualising and embedding the project at the university, a specially produced self-learning course was also presented, which offered an insight into the production of Open Educational Resources (OER). Wolfgang B. Ruge then gave an outline of the media history of writing and spoke about the importance of analogue writing: from handwriting to the typewriter and to the computer keyboard. The other panels by Dominik E. Fröhlich as well as Karin Langer and Stefanie Lietze from the Writing Workshop at FH Technikum Wien dealt with counselling and coaching in the digital context as well as in specific environments, such as at technical universities. The afternoon was focusing on current developments: Simone Zwickl reported on her use of ChatGPT in teaching, and Melanie Dejnega allowed participants to become active themselves in her workshop, in which constructed writing exercises were used to test how writing tasks can be set to enable students to deal critically with AI-generated texts.
Event 2021
Project Closing Event 2021
„Schreiben(d) lernen und lehren an Hochschulen – Das Schreibzentrum 3.0 der FHWien der WKW“ (2017-2021), funded by the City of Vienna.
Date: November 25, 2021, 09:30 am – 1 pm
Location: Zoom
The Writing Center at FHWien der WKW is a project funded by the City of Vienna until the end of 2021 and is part of the Teaching & Learning Center as an interdisciplinary institution.
Since its foundation in 2012, the Writing Center has supported students in developing their writing skills – especially in writing scientific (final) papers. With the expansion of the Writing Center (Project “Schreiben(d) lernen und lehren an Hochschulen – Das Schreibzentrum 3.0 der FHWien der WKW”, duration: 2017-2021), not only the offers for students were expanded (workshops, individual consultations), but above all further training opportunities for lecturers were created. The teaching of writing skills is based on three pillars: 1) academic writing, 2) professional writing and 3) writing for personal development. Students are supported and teachers are trained on these three levels. What is important here is the holistic approach: writing and the teaching of writing skills by instructors is seen as a key qualification that is central not only in academic studies, but also in academic or professional contexts. Students are guided in writing their academic papers and are also encouraged in their professional and personal development.
During the virtual project closing event, project results and selected practical examples were presented and an outlook on further developments was given.
Conference 2019
„Variety and diversity in writing. Accompanying writing processes individually“
Conference organized by the Writing Center at FHWien der WKW
November 7, 2019, 09:00-18:00
Our varied methods for assisting students with their academic writing are based on a range of target groups, who all have different needs. These groups are usually characterized by a cultural, linguistic and social variety and diversity. Writers with heterogeneous educational backgrounds and writing biographies, from different disciplines or those who do not have German as their first language, as well as international or part-time students: all these call for individual support and guidance during their writing process.
The focus of this year’s conference was on the question: How can teaching be designed to meet the needs and requirements of this heterogeneous target group(s)
The conference targeted teaching staff from universities and universities of applied sciences who instruct students in academic writing as well as independent writing trainers and advisors and everyone interested in the art of teaching academic writing.
The conference was opened with a keynote speech by Gerd Bräuer (founder and director of the Writing Centre of the Pädagogische Hochschule Freiburg) on the topic: ” Vielfalt und Diversität bei wissenschaftlich Schreibenden als Herausforderung für das Design von schreibdidaktischen Angeboten”. The opening speech was followed by talks in the morning and – after a joint lunch – workshops in the afternoon. It was the Writing Center’s first conference with selected talks in English language too.