Health Assisting Engineering

• Introduction to the different types of assistive devices and their classification:
  • Augmentative and alternative aids.
  • Classification according to ISO 9999
• Basics of communication
  • What is communication in general
  • What is communication with and for people with disabilities
  • Political correctness in communication about disabled people
• Disabilities and approaches for their improvement
  • Sensory organs
  • motor functions
  • language and intellect
  • age-related changes
• man-machine interfaces for disabled and elderly people
• Aids and communication for:
  • Visually impaired people
  • Blind people
  • Hard of hearing people
  • Deaf people
  • Movement impaired people
  • People with locked-in syndrome
  • Speech and language impaired people
• Accessible design
  • General principles
  • Requirements of ÖNORM B 1600
  • Application examples
  • Request to check the own environment for accessibility and to present the results to the group
• Technical aids for everyday life based on simple examples

• Students will be able to recall the basics of the disabilities presented and will be able to name assistive technologies.

• Students will be able to use knowledge of disabilities and existing assistive technologies to develop user-centred product concepts.

Lecture with ample opportunity for discussion.

Final exam: Final written examination

• Introduction: diversity, disability, accessibility, universal design, assistive technology.
• Relevant laws and guidelines: Human rights, BGstG, UN Convention on Human Rights; ÖNORM B1600, WCAG 2.1 with examples.
• Accessible environmental design: guidelines, examples
• Accessible internet/accessible documents: guidelines, tools, checktools, examples

• Students develop a basic understanding of disability and accessibility issues.

• Students can name and describe the requirements for accessibility in private and public spaces and participate in the planning/adaptation of accessible spaces according to need.

• Students can name and describe basic requirements for accessible web design and accessible electronic documents and apply them to the design of the same.

• Students will be able to reflect on the basic principles of diversity in a professional context, as well as recognise and name socio-political implications.

Lecture, practical exercises

Final exam: Final written examination

• Introduction to the research field of Health Assisting Engineering
• Introduction to the concept of quality of life, as well as to possibilities of supporting quality of life by means of technical aids
• Current developments in the research field and in the environment of the study program Health Assisting Engineering
• Overview of the current state of R&D in the field of health technologies
  • Focus on assistive robotics, categories, areas of application, possible benefits, challenges in R&D
  • Focus on wearable electronics for gait and movement analysis and for controlling physical activity levels; application areas, challenges and testing in practice;
• Current project and product examples

• The students can describe the terms quality of life, aids and "Active and Assisted Living" (AAL) in their own words. They can differentiate between various aids and assign them to categories.

• You will be able to describe the importance of a user-centred R&D approach to the sustainable development of products and services.

• They have become familiar with methods that serve the user-centered R&D of such products/services and can apply selected methods.

• The students have an overview of the state of the art of research in the field of assistive technologies (AT) and can name and describe typical hurdles and challenges in research, development and marketing of prototypes / products.

Lecture, group work

Final exam: Final written examination

• Number ranges incl. complex numbers
• Basics of mathematical functions, especially real functions
• Discussion of important elementary real functions, i.e., polynomials, rational functions, angle functions, exponential function, logarithm
• Limit of functions and continuity
• Differential calculus
• Applications of differential calculus - extreme values and Taylor polynomials
• Indefinite and definite integral
• Basics of differential equations

• Graduates will be able to describe definitions and concepts from the fundamentals of engineering mathematics.

• Graduates possess an overview of the central contents of engineering mathematics.

• Graduates are able to recognize, abstract and mathematically process discussed concepts in technical applications.

• Graduates will be able to explain the principle of mathematical modelling using differential equations.

• Graduates experience mathematical/analytical self-confidence, i.e. the ability to solve tasks in mathematics or technology in general with a positive attitude.

Lecture, joint development of illustrative examples, discussion.

Continuous assessment: Final exam, collaboration, term paper.

• Basics of knowledge management for practice and science
• Getting to know and applying methods and tools of knowledge management (e.g.: knowledge maps, best practice sharing, lessons learned)
• Applied knowledge management in interdisciplinary projects

• Graduates will be able to name and describe central concepts and models of knowledge management.

• Graduates can describe the possible applications of selected tools and methods of knowledge management for interdisciplinary knowledge transfer and apply them in their own professional context.

• Graduates are able to analyse, select and exemplarily apply concepts of knowledge management as well as their techniques, tools and methods in interdisciplinary projects as a problem-solving procedure.

Lecture, interdisciplinary exchange of students on the topics of the course in the form of group work. Development of a knowledge management strategy for the interdisciplinary student project.

Continuous assessment: Submission and preparation of an interdisciplinary case study in the form of a seminar paper (60% of the final grade)

• Introduction to basic concepts of epidemiology
• Milestones of the historical development
• Prevention and health promotion
• Demography
• Epidemiological measures of disease incidence
• Descriptive epidemiology
• Analytical epidemiology
• Evidence of causal relationships, bias, confounders
• Experimental epidemiology
• Early detection screening

• Students will be able to describe the importance of epidemiology in medicine and related subjects.

• Students will recognize the importance of relative numbers, odds, and rates in epidemiology.

• Students will be able to calculate relative numbers, ratios, and rates (by specification) and convert them into each other.

• Students will be able to define and calculate the terms incidence, prevalence, morbidity, mortality and lethality.

• Students will be able to define the demographic parameters and indicate them in terms of size for Austria.

• Students will be able to indicate the frequency of diseases of public health significance in Austria on a scale.

• Students will be able to name the most important contents and research methods (study types) of analytical epidemiology.

• Students will be able to name the importance of proving causal relationships and possible confounding factors and their significance for epidemiology. The students can name the most important contents and investigation methods (study types) of experimental epidemiology.

• The students recognize the importance of screening examinations for public health. The criteria and parameters can be calculated and assessed as meaningful or not meaningful on the basis of their level.

Lecture

Final exam

Classification and description possibilities of

• Functional impairment and functional capacity (e.g. WHO ICF)
• Medical diagnoses (e.g. WHO ICD)
• Medical and therapeutic interventions (e.g. WHO ICHI)
• Assistive devices (ISO 9999)
• Quality of life
• Care needs

• Graduates will be able to apply the WHO classifications ICD-10, ICF and ISO 9999 and classify clinical pictures, health conditions, relevant environmental factors and aids.

• Graduates will be able to evaluate assessments for the assessment of activities of daily living or care needs on the basis of quality criteria and apply this knowledge to other assessments in the future.

• Graduates are able to relate the individual contents of the course to each other in terms of content

Lecture, group work, case studies, discussions, final presentation

Continuous assessment: Immanent performance assessment through group work and presentations

• Assessment procedures and instruments in movement and action science
• Quality criteria of assessments and their calculation methods
• COSMIN checklist for the assessment of studies and reviews on quality criteria
• Possibilities of cross-cultural adaptation
• Discussion: Linking outcome parameters and ICF (function, activity, participation, environment).
• Reflection and exchange of the assessments used in practice and the outcome parameters collected.

• At the end of the course, students will be able to evaluate assessments according to quality criteria.

• At the end of the course, students will be able to critically evaluate studies on quality criteria using the COSMIN checklist.

• At the end of the course, students will be able to interpret the results of standardized tests.

• At the end of the course, students will be able to assign the parameters recorded in an assessment to the parts of the ICF (function, activity, participation, environment).

• At the end of the course, students will be able to describe the process of cross-cultural adaptation.

Lecture

Exchange in small groups

Presentations in small groups

Continuous assessment: Immanent performance review (description of an assessment by means of a given form and the COSMIN checklist; presentation and exchange in small groups)

• Motor control of human movement
• Processes controlling the preparation and regulation of movement
• Pathoanatomy of the musculoskeletal system
• Degrees of freedom problems and their theoretical solutions
• Principles of dynamic systems involved in movement coordination
• Movement constraints (active and passive)
• Factors influencing the processing of information and preparation for movement
• The role of sensory systems and vision in the perception and execution of a movement
• Rational considerations for scientific investigations, and the link between theory and experimentation

• Graduates of the course will be able to explain the organization and control of the human movement.

• Graduates of the course will be able to link biomechanical factors with neurophysiological ones and to decompose the different perspectives, concepts and tools of movement organisation and movement control into organisational hierarchies.

Group work in the sense of problem-oriented learning in interdisciplinary mixed groups.

Continuous assessment: Cooperation and presentation

Excursions to companies/organisations from the fields of therapy, diagnostics and technology

Reflection on product developments and (research) projects in the subject area

Participation in a congress in the field and linking theory and practice

• At the end of the course, students will be able to assess and classify their future professional field as graduates of the course.

• At the end of the course, students are able to describe the current state of the relevant product and research landscape in Austria and, in the case of participation in an international conference, also beyond, and to take this into account when developing new concepts.

• At the end of the course, students will be able to name relevant companies, research institutions and other institutions in the field of conception, design, development and evaluation of health technologies.

• At the end of the course, students are able to describe typical challenges of internationally active companies with regard to product development and (international) exploitation and can explain the international state of the art in science for selected research topics.

Excursion to companies, research facilities, other institutions or congresses related to the field of Health Assisting Engineering.

Final exam: Seminar paper

• Innovations
  • Definition, types, meaning, sources, obstacles
  • The innovation management process (phases and tools)
• Creativity in idea generation and problem solving
  • Creative techniques: Methods and tools
  • Importance of the team in creative processes
  • Conjoint analysis
  • design thinking
  • Quality Function Deployment

• At the end of the course, students will be able to use creativity techniques to develop innovations.

• At the end of the course, students are able to implement methods of innovation management in business practice.

Lecture with activating methods and group exercises.

Continuous assessment: 70 % Group work

30 % Collaboration/ Individual work

Overview

• Usability / user experience, user-centred design / co-design, differentiation and delimitation of concepts and terms
• Design of user interfaces and interactions with health technologies, interface design and principles of interaction design
• User interface patterns and standards
• Presentation and visualization of information
• Presentation and application of tools for designing mock-ups (wireframes, software mock-ups)

Planned program

Topic introduction and conceptual basics

• Why Humen Centred Design (HCD)
• Localization of the field
• Raising awareness
• Literature, Professional Organizations
• Conceptual delimitations, definitions, criteria, standards

Basics of human-centered design and development

• Phases of the HCD process
• Focus: "Design - Development of Design Solutions".
• Methods, role of UX in projects

Design basics

• Psychology of perception
• Paradigms, principles, patterns, standards

Prototyping

• Different approaches, types
• Tools

• Graduates will be able to describe the processes of user-centred design and co-design and to select, situate and use appropriate methods for product design in a problem-oriented manner.

• Graduates will be able to distinguish usability from user experience, describe the benefits of the respective concepts and holistically evaluate design concepts.

• Graduates can create concepts of user interfaces using common design tools (wireframes, paper mock-ups, software mock-ups).

• Graduates can develop prototypes (low-fi / hi-fi), which can subsequently be implemented by developers in products.

• Interactive lecture with exercises on design tasks in individual and group settings
• PowerPoint slides on content topics
• Videos
• Examples from practice
• Small (interactive) exercises durign the lecture
• Quiz games

Continuous assessment: Evaluation of individual and group submissions and final presentation

• Practical realisation of a sub-area of an electronic device and/or overall device concept.
• Getting to know the procedure for creating/fixing and maintaining functional and device requirements,
• Consideration of the requirements regarding interference immunity, magnetic compatibility and electrostatic charging (EMC, ESD),
• Consideration of the special requirements for devices in the medical sector
• In small groups, device concepts are developed and also partially realized - thus the students are taught the structured procedure by means of a practical exercise.

• Graduates can describe the necessary steps and phases of a development project for the realisation of new electronic devices.

• Graduates know the importance of the correct division of tasks in a project through experience with a practical example.

• Graduates can explain the theoretical basis for the realisation of a (medical) technical product.

• Graduates can apply the basic principles of project and product management

Lecture and practical group work

Continuous assessment: 50% specifications

30% presentations

20% Completeness of 2-week reports

Digital and analog inputs and outputs, ADC

Communication via bus systems (UART, SPI, I2C)

Interrupts and timers on the microcontroller

Memory systems on the microcontroller

Sensors and actuators for microcontrollers

Programming with Arduino and Processing

Creating software functions to read sensors and control actuators,

Using communication interfaces to exchange data with applications and apps.

• Graduates will be able to design, implement and commission microcontroller-based systems (hardware components and software modules) from reading in sensors to controlling actuators.

• Graduates can research hardware components such as peripheral devices, sensors and actuators, select suitable components for solving a problem and integrate them into programs using software libraries.

• Graduates can use microcontrollers to communicate data collected via communication interfaces to applications / apps and process it there.

Lecture with accompanying exercises in distance learning and a project assignment

Continuous assessment: Individual exercises,

group project,

Written final exam

The content is based on the current syllabus published by the International Requirements Engineering Board (IREB®):

• Introduction and Overview of Requirements Engineering
• Fundamental Principles of Requirements Engineering
• Work Products and Documentation Practices
• Practices for Requirements Elaboration
• Process and Working Structure
• Management Practice for Requirements 

• After completing the course students are familiar with the terminology of requirements engineering / business analysis and requirements management. After completing the course students know the basic methods of requirements elicitation and can apply them. After completing the course students know the basic methods of requirements documentation and can apply them. After completing the course students know the basic methods of requirements validation and can apply them. After completing the course students are familiar with the common notations for requirements documentation.

Lecture, practical exercise of the contents in groups

Final exam: Exercise examples

• Philosophy of science, research paradigms with regard to qualitative and quantitative research
• Qualitative and quantitative epistemology
• Developing a research question
• Differences and similarities of different qualitative methods
• Introduction to epistemology
• Qualitative data collection (interviews, focus groups, participant observation, etc.)
• Use of qualitative methods for eliciting needs, contexts of use and other framework conditions as well as for evaluation in the context of product development processes
• Qualitative data analysis methods
• Practical project with users for needs assessment

• Graduates are able to describe relevant scientific research methods and to select and apply them in a situation-related manner within the framework of scientific work.

• Graduates can describe the relative strengths and weaknesses of qualitative and quantitative research methods.

• Graduates will be able to apply selected measurement methods and models as well as qualitative survey and analysis methods in the context of interdisciplinary research in health and technology.

• Graduates are able to critically select and apply methods and to reflect on their application.

• Graduates will be able to identify and describe people's needs and current requirements (e.g. problems, risk factors) and link them to holistic solutions as well as identify the development potential of individuals and requirement groups using suitable assessment instruments.

• Graduates will be able to identify and describe the necessary framework conditions for the successful practical use of health technologies and take them into account in product design.

Interactive lecture with exercises, seminar work as group project

Continuous assessment: Handing in the individual exercises

Participation in the interactive elements

Evaluation of the seminar paper

• Descriptive statistics (concept of frequency, measures of location, measures of dispersion, graphical representation methods of discrete and continuous characteristics, properties of special distributions, in particular the normal distribution, (rank) correlation).
• Inductive statistics (parametric and non-parametric methods for independent and dependent samples, more complex variance-analytical methods such as two-factor analysis of variance or repeated measures on one factor (mixed anova))
• Multivariate methods (multiple regression analysis, logistic regression, reliability analysis)
• Use and practice of statistical and analysis software (SPSS)

• At the end of the course, students are able to conduct quantitative data collection and analysis independently.

• At the end of the course, students will be able to use the statistical software SPSS for analyses.

• At the end of the course, students will be able to identify which type of question or which hypothesis can be answered with which statistical method.

• At the end of the course, students will be able to identify important key figures and interpret them.

• At the end of the course, students will be able to approach statistics tasks with confidence and solve them with a positive attitude towards the subject.

Lecture, practical performance of analyses directly on the computer (with the help of SPSS), joint interpretation of the results. Special emphasis is placed on interactivity in class

Continuous assessment: Work assignments (independent analyses with SPSS including interpretation of the results)

• Introduction to Clinical Research
• Clinical Research Ethics
• Clinical Study Protocol (Study Objectives, Study Hypothesis, Structure/Content, Templates, Amendments, IRB/IEC Submission and Approval)
• Basics of Clinical Trial Design (Population, Intervention, Control, Outcome (PICO))
• Implementing PICO into the Study Protocol (Inc./Exc. Crit, Intervention, Types of Control Groups, Outcome parameters (prim./sec., hard/soft, clinical/surrogate, Time-to-Event Data) )
• Clinical Trial Statistics (Measures of Central Tendency/Spread, Risk/Risk Factor, RR, OR, Hazard Ratio, Hypothesis Testing, Confidence Interval + Interpretation, Sample Size Calculation)
• Clinical Study Designs I (Observational/interventional, prospective/retrospective, Legal Classification: drugs/devices, Hierarchy of Clinical Evidence, Problems: Bias, Confounding)
• Clinical Study Designs II (Observational Studies: Cross-Sectional, Case-Control, Cohort Study )
• Clinical Study Designs III (RCTS, Randomization, Blinding, RCT-Modifications (cross-over, add-on, group sequential design) )
• Missing Data & Drop-Outs (Problems, Causes of Missing Data, Dealing with Missing Data (LOCF, BOCF) )
• Critical Appraisal of Clinical Research Papers (Quality Assessment, STROBE/CONSORT Statement)
• Meta-Analysis (Efficacy/Effectiveness, weighted summary, Forest-, Funnel-, L'Abbe-plot, Mantel-Hanszel Procedure, PRISMA Statement)

• At the end of the course, students will be able to plan, conduct and analyse clinical studies.

• At the end of the course, students will be able to critically evaluate publications of clinical studies.

Lecture with exercises and group discussions

Final exam: Seminar paper

• Ethical aspects of technical action
• Ethical dilemmas
• Ethical questions regarding research on humans
• Legal framework, e.g. ethics committee
• International framework conditions, e.g. with regard to the publication of study results
• Model for the ethical evaluation of socio-technical arrangements (MEESTAR) Research ethics in connection with technical arrangements

• At the end of the course, students are able to identify ethical aspects of technical action and to reflect on the ethical implications of technologies.

• At the end of the course, students will be able to name ethical requirements of research and development in connection with technical arrangements.

• At the end of the course, students will be able to write ethics applications for submission to an ethics committee.

Scenario Method

Lecture

Discussions

Group work

Continuous assessment: Collaboration, presentations

• Formulation of a research question (operationalisation, formulation of objectives)
• Selection of a master thesis topic
• Analysis of research methodological approaches (instruments)
• Guidelines of the course of studies on master thesis topics and the procedure of submission, processing, supervision and assessment
• Preparation of an exposé
• Discussion of the topics proposed by the students for their Master's theses

• At the end of the course students are able to develop and describe a master thesis topic in a structured way.

Lecture, group discussions and individual consultation

Final exam: Submission of an exposé of the planned master thesis (seminar paper).

Attention - there is no final exam, but the course is completed with the submission of the exposé.

Reflection on basic communication theories

(Schulz von Thun, Hall, Watzlawick, Rogers, Berne)

Cooperative communication

Conversation techniques and situations:

Informational or clarifying conversation

Helping conversation

Conflict talk

Critical discussion

Feedback talks

Presentation and lecture

• Students can use cooperative communication in different discussion settings in a goal-oriented, respectful and powerful way.

Lecture, group work, role play with video analysis, presentation

Continuous assessment: Attendance, participation, work assignments and feedback of the presentations

Innovation management under consideration of technology management

Entrepreneurship/Intrapreneurship

Basics of product management, business model, product life cycle

Basics of Marketing

Health Economics

Basics of Business Plan

• Graduates are able to apply the contents and concepts of innovation, technology and product management to the professional environment.

• Graduates can explain the basics of a business plan and apply it in the project context. They can analyse national and international markets and target groups with regard to their relevance for the planned product.

• Graduates can analyse innovation processes. They can describe the interaction between innovations and people in their role as consumers.

• Graduates are able to implement the concept of a sales pitch (or a project presentation to investors/decision-makers). They are able to present the most relevant information of a business plan in front of an external jury and to lead a qualified discussion about it.

Lecture

Discussion

Problem-based learning

Group work

Peer feedback

Final exam: Immanent performance assessment consisting of:

> Presentation of a business plan

> Development and presentation of a pitch deck (module exam)

Realization of a health technology. In the form of group work, the students realise the product defined and analysed in a previousLVA (Conception of medical-technical devices, 2nd semester) as a prototype. The basic principles of project and product management are applied. The realization takes place mainly in the form of independent work via distance learning.

• Graduates are able to use methods of project and product management for the realization of a medical-technical product.

• Graduates are able to practically implement the development of a demand-oriented prototype in an interdisciplinary team.

Lecture, project work in groups

Final exam: the realized product as well as the accompanying documentation will be used for assessment in equal parts (module examination)

Funding environments and applications

• National and EU-wide funding environments (tenders and public contracts)
• Procedure for the evaluation of tenders and public contracts
• Basics of the award procedure
• Legal framework
• Awarding and monitoring of funding
• Building blocks and success factors for writing applications
• Practical exercises for writing applications

Project management as a basis for planning and implementing the project applied for

• Project management basics: project concept / project types / PM tasks / project phases
• Project start phase: project environment analysis / project definition / project organisation
• Project planning: planning variables / work breakdown structure / scheduling / resource planning
• Project execution phase: project planning / change management and project controlling
• Project completion phase
• Outlook Advanced topics: Planning methods and planning tools

• Graduates can name the institutions and organisations that offer relevant research programmes and funding.

• Graduates are able to assess national and EU calls for proposals with regard to their thematic orientation, the call modalities and their own opportunities to participate.

• Graduates are able to carry out the necessary preparatory work for participation in funding calls and can write applications.

• Graduates are able to differentiate between project terms and implement project management theory in practice. They are able to plan a project in the course of a funding application and to create the necessary project plans. They are able to apply PM planning methods and planning tools.

Teamwork, impulse lectures, practical exercises, reflection and feedback rounds

PM part: Lecture / Powerpoint presentation / Flipchart / PM Tools

Final exam: 50% Funding request

Graded are: Brief content, relevance of the project in relation to the focus of the call for proposals, presentation of the state of the art and problem definition as well as project objectives and innovative content

50% Project Manual

For the PM part, a project manual (PHB) including the necessary plans for the project applied for funding should be prepared. The assessment key will be announced in the lecture.

(Module exam)

Clarification of terms, development of a clinical question, scientific literature search in databases, critical reading and evaluation of scientific articles, basics of quantitative and qualitative research and clinical studies.

• Graduates can explain the term 'evidence-based practice' and 'critical appraisal'.

• Graduates can develop a clinical research question.

• Graduates will be able to conduct a systematic literature search.

• Graduates can read and critically evaluate scientific articles.

• Graduates can answer clinical questions with the help of scientific literature.

Lecture, group work, individual work, practical exercises

Final exam: Seminar paper

• Civil law regarding liability, product liability law
• Strategies for the protection of intellectual property
• ISO standards
• Labour law
• Medical Devices Act (MPG)
• Medical law, professional laws for health care professions

• Graduates can apply their knowledge of standards and legal framework conditions (Medical Devices Act, Product Liability Act, ISO standards, Employee Protection Act, etc.) in the context of product and model development.

• Graduates can translate the legal principles of product liability and consumer protection into organisational and technical requirements for products.

• Graduates are able to reflect the legal framework in the professional environment.

• Graduates can describe terms of jurisprudence.

Lecture and interactive discussion

Final exam

- Central concepts of consulting

- Counselling functions and roles

- Theories and models of counselling

- Selected counselling methods

- Counselling level I: Individual (communication, conflict, coaching)

- Consulting level II: Group (development phases, team processes, roles and positions, moderation)

- Consulting level III: Organization (organizational development and change management, organizational structures, organizational culture, organizational learning)

- Self-reflection as a basis for consulting activities (personality, career)

• Graduates are able to use counselling techniques to advise or coach individuals, groups or organisations.

• Graduates are able to differentiate between the three levels of counselling and their interaction, as well as to discuss intervention approaches.

- Lecture

- Group work

- case studies

- Simulation

Continuous assessment: written examination (60%)

presentations (40%)

• Current state of knowledge & research on e-counseling.
• Definition and scientific basis
• Electronic media (software variants) to support counselling communication, the counselling process, interventions, the transfer of information and knowledge, and the evaluation of counselling services.
• Methods of eCounseling and their applications
• Practical part - personal experience

• Graduates are able to reflect the current state of knowledge in the field of e-counseling.

• Graduates are able to use methods and media of e-counseling.

• Graduates can explain the role of e-counseling in the Austrian health care system.

• Graduates will be able to explain the data protection requirements in the field of e-counseling.

• Graduates know according to which parameters means of communication with clients/patients are chosen.

• Graduates will be able to describe the ethical considerations surrounding data collection and sharing in the medical field.

• Graduates can design e-counseling use cases and business models.

• Graduates will be able to make a rough cost estimate of e-counseling ideas.

Lecture, group discussion, teamwork, case studies

Continuous assessment: Immanent performance assessment consisting of the following four sub-performances:

1st test on block 1 "Benefits and challenges in health data exchange".

2nd test on block 2 "Use of e-counseling in different areas and regions".

3. test on block 3 "Technical and legal challenges of e-counseling and teletherapy".

4. submission of a group paper "Project documents for the planned financing of an e-counseling or teletherapy solution".

Independent preparation for the Master's examination, consisting of the examination parts:

• Presentation of the Master's thesis
• Justification of the thesis
• Examination discussion on cross connections of the topic of the Master's thesis to the relevant subjects of the curriculum

Examination discussion about other study-relevant contents

• Graduates are able to present and defend their Master's thesis.

Independent work on the topic with individual feedback within the framework of the Master's thesis supervision.

Final exam: Commissioned Master's examination

Writing the Master's thesis

• Graduates are able to independently work on a research question on a topic with novelty value and to independently write a scientific work.

Independent work on the topic with individual feedback within the framework of the Master's thesis supervision.

Final exam: Master exam

• Presentation of individual sections or the status of the Master's thesis
• Data collection and analysis
• Advice on further work
• Critical discussion and reflection of one's own work and that of others as well as defence of one's own research approach
• Scientific theoretical approaches

• At the end of the course, students are able to write their master's thesis in a scientifically sound and formally correct manner, to critically reflect on the work and to prepare for the master's examination.

Individual feedback, presentations, working on case studies, discussions in small groups and in plenary, reflection on own work

Continuous assessment: Active participation in tasks

• History of Technology Assessment
• Goals and role of technology assessment
• Terminology of technology assessment
• Methods of technology assessment
• Presentation of case studies in the context of the use of health technologies
• Specific challenges and potentials of health technologies from the perspective of technology assessment

• Graduates are able to apply specific methods of technology assessment.

• Graduates are able to methodically and correctly assess the opportunities and risks of product implementation for people and society.

• Graduates are able to deal with the effects of technologies on people and society.

Lecture, group work, presentation, practical exercises (individual, small group, plenary).

Final exam: Seminar paper