The present and the future

Andrea Bréard is the new Vice President Education In our interview, she explains how she would like to combat discrimination at FAU, what is meant by educational integrity and what role AI can play in teaching.

Prof. Bréard, like your predecessor, you would like to put an end to discrimination in education. But do not all students have the same opportunities for accessing courses, libraries and teaching materials?

In theory yes, but they often do not have the opportunity to actually access them.

Could you explain what you mean?

One form of discrimination is physical. For example, if I am blind it is not so easy for me to make use of everything that is on offer. I cannot read a book if it is not written in braille or available as an audiobook. Another form of discrimination involves a student’s personal background. For example, if you grew up without books, sitting in the library and wading through books while studying at university will not come easily to you. You need a family background where someone is encouraged to read literature for educational purposes.

What has FAU achieved in recent years to stop this kind of discrimination?

For example one thing that has just been finalized, but was predominantly pushed through by my predecessor Bärbel Kopp, the fourth attempt. Students should have an extra attempt if they fail a written examination. This removes a psychological barrier for those students who suffer from examination anxiety and lifts pressure off them if they are not automatically de-registered from the university after failing three examinations.

Where is there a need for further change and improvement?

One topic we are currently pursuing in the team is making examinations anonymous. There are very many empirical studies that prove that examinations are marked differently if the name doesn’t sound German and that there is a correlation between an oral presentation and a subsequent written examination. Studies have shown that this is due to unconscious bias that affects the evaluation of the examination.

Counteracting disadvantages for students from non-academic families is also important to me, also because this reflects my own family background. Children from such families often lack the ability to argue their case or give constructive criticism. Anyone lacking these skills is at a major disadvantage in the academic world. I would like to improve the services offered at FAU to iron out these deficits.

Another time you mentioned that you pursue the concept of “educational integrity”. What does that mean and which role should this concept play in teaching at FAU in future?

Someone who acts with academic integrity does not plagiarize and does not fake their research data. It is similar in teaching: A student who acts with integrity does not use any tools in their assignments that they have not explicitly declared or that are not allowed. However, it also covers how I treat fellow students with a disability, or whether I pay heed to diversity, both as a student or as a member of teaching staff. And if I am a lecturer, do I treat all students equally? As you can see, it affects students and teaching staff equally.

Why should the university encourage students’ personal development? Is this not the responsibility of the parents or schools?

Indirectly, it is also the university’s responsibility. We want to encourage talent and raise the researchers of the future. We educate people. And education covers more than imparting subject knowledge, education also entails personal development. Students leave the university and will then play a role in shaping the new generation of students in companies and schools. But we are not the parents, that is true. If they have been negligent, we cannot make up for all that the children may have missed out on. However, I do believe that studying should also be a period of personal development for students.

“AI can accompany students on their learning journey. However, it can also be tempting to delegate too much to AI and to stop actively practicing your own language skills in the process. I think that is extremely dangerous.”

Prof. Dr. Andrea Bréard

Artificial intelligence is playing an ever more important role in many academic areas. As Vice President Education, how do you view the significance of AI for teaching?

I see opportunities and risks. One example for the major opportunities it brings can be seen with our computer scientists. They have developed an AI system to accompany students on their learning journey. Using weekly evaluations, students can determine where they have deficits, pinpoint what they have not understood and why they were unable to solve a specific task. AI can tell each student where they need extra support and what they need to look over again. The AI also looks for “study buddies” who are good in the areas where you may be struggling. You can then get in touch with each other. Teaching staff cannot afford to provide such tailored, individual support, especially not in degree programs such as computer science with large numbers of students. There are of course subjects where AI is being used to a lesser extent to date. For example in the humanities, where the emphasis is less on logic and precise modeling and more on discussion.

And what risks do you see?

If students rely too heavily on machines doing everything quicker and better, for example translating and summarizing a text. It is very tempting, as it works really well with translation machines like DeepL or ChatGPT. But the temptation is that you let the machines do too much of the work for you, you end up only reading summaries and don’t bother looking at the whole text any more. Or you stop training your language skills, as you just let the machine translate everything without checking it. I think that is extremely dangerous.

What is FAU’s approach to AI in teaching?

FAU is taking a proactive approach. We are asking people to think about how they can actively use AI effectively in teaching or how they can develop innovative formats, with or without AI. One way we can encourage an innovative approach is with our Prize for Innovative Teaching. It is financed with the Innovation Fund for Teaching, to which FAU contributes 185,000 euros every year.

Prof. Dr. Andrea Bréard holds the Chair of Chinese Studies at FAU, focusing on the philosophical and cultural history of China. She conducts research at the intersection of mathematics and Chinese studies and investigates the history of science in China from Antiquity until the present. Before coming to FAU as a Humboldt Professor, she was a researcher and professor in cities including Paris, Peking, Heidelberg and New York. She studied mathematics, computer science and Chinese studies in Munich and Shanghai. As well as German, she speaks seven languages, plays two instruments and is a triathlete.

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Author: Boris Mijat

This article is part of the FAU magazine

Innovation, diversity and passion: Those are the three guiding principles of our FAU, as stated in our mission statement. At FAU, we live these guiding principles every day in all that we do – in research, in teaching and when it comes to sharing the knowledge created at our university with society.

This, the second issue of our FAU magazine, underlines all of the above: It shows researchers who tirelessly keep pushing the boundaries of what has been believed to be possible. It introduces students who work together to achieve outstanding results for their FAU, talks about teaching staff who pass on their knowledge with infectious enthusiasm and creativity. And it reports back on members of staff with foresight and a talent for getting to the crux of the matter who are dedicated to improving the (research) infrastructure at FAU as well as people in key positions who are there for their university and are committed to its research location.