Ministerial visit to BTECH: On grain cleaners and Flipped Classroom

A highly committed and positive Minister for Higher Education and Science Esben Lunde Larsen (V) visited the Department of Business Development and Technology (BTECH), Aarhus BSS, in Herning on 22 February 2016. Here he had a talk with both management and students.

Minister for Higher Education and Science Esben Lunde Larsen. Photo: Tine Bagger

The Minister for Higher Education and Science is currently visiting a number of institutions of higher education all over the country. This time he paid a visit to the Department of Business Development and Technology, Aarhus BSS. The minister expressed a great interest in having a dialogue with students, lecturers and management to get a sense of what is going on and what the different institutions are focusing on. The visit to Herning thus offered the Minister an insight into the specific focus areas and challenges of BTECH.

“We want quality and a heavy exposure of the Danish degree programmes. This is particularly important in relation to educational institutions that are regionally anchored. We need to reach out to upper secondary schools and the like. This is already one of the focus areas in Herning, but it is important that it continues,” said the Minister for Higher Education and Science Esben Lunde Larsen.

Talking to students and management
During the guided tour of BTECH, Esben Lunde Larsen visited a group of BDE students who have developed an extraordinary grain cleaner for the agricultural sector. Here, the minister made use of his background as the son of a farmer by asking a series of detailed questions about the product and how it may benefit agriculture - a sector with which he is obviously very familiar. Afterwards, he was introduced to a new online teaching-setup: Flipped Classroom, and he was here presented with specific examples of assignments solved by the students. Here, the minister also expressed a great interest and asked about the pros and cons of the system.

The Head of Department Anders Frederiksen is delighted with the positive attitude expressed by the minister towards BTECH: “He came here to see what we are doing and how we are doing it - both in relation to our degree programmes and our cooperation with the business community. We’re very happy that the minister confirms that we are on the right track.”

Dean Thomas Pallesen also attended the meeting with Esben Lunde Larsen and says: “It is very important to the minister that Aarhus BSS gives high priority to the activities at BTECH. I am sure that we convinced him that this is already very much the case.