COURSE TYPES
All of our faculty’s courses are published in PAUL – our online campus management system. The course program for the upcoming semester is published about two months before the start of the lecture period (ca. mid-February for the summer semester and mid-July for the winter semester).
By searching for the courses in our course catalogue within PAUL, you will find courses called "Vorlesung", "Seminar", "Hauptseminar", "Proseminar", "Einführungsseminar" and "Blockseminar". All these terms describe different types of courses. Here is what they mean:
Course type glossary
"Vorlesung" means "lecture" in English. Usually "Vorlesungen" are courses with a greater number of students and are being taught in an ex-cathedra lecturing style. It is less interactive than other course types.
"Einführungsseminar" is an introductory course that gives an overview of relevant topics, concepts and/or theories on either a Bachelor or Masters degree level – depending on the study in which they are listed.
"Proseminar" is a typical Bachelor-level-course with fewer students than a typical lecture (“Vorlesung”) and it is usually taught in a more interactive way. That means that you are encouraged and sometimes required to debate and actively discuss the course contents.
"Seminar" and "Hauptseminar" are typical courses on Master-level with fewer students than a typical lecture (“Vorlesung”) and it is usually taught in a more interactive way. That means that you are encouraged and sometimes required to debate and actively discuss the course contents.
"Übung" is a practical training class and usually an add-on course to a "Vorlesung". You cannot receive ECTS (credit points) for taking part in an Übung.
A Tutorium/tutorial is an additional offer that sometimes accompanies main classes like Einführungsseminare, Vorlesungen oder Seminar-type classes which offer extra help and instruction regarding the content of the main class. You cannot receive ECTS (credit points) for taking part in a Tutorium.
"Blockseminar" is a compact course that takes place over a duration of multiple days for several hours. They are mostly dated to take place on one or more weekends. Block classes e.g. may take place from Thursday until Sunday or on separate weekends from Friday until Saturday. The duration and dating is up to the lecturer.
Our course catalogue changes every semester and only parts of our courses are offered repetitively every semester. This is due to the research activities of our lecturers. They always seek to integrate recent research in their courses and to let students participate in new findings and theories. Thus, students can choose from a broad and permanently updated course catalogue.
