Tracing what matters!
Notetaking as a learning skill in a flipped classroom setting How can information literacy and subject-specific content be meaningfully combined in teaching? In Fall Semester 2025, a small interdisciplinary pilot course with Master's and doctoral students from four departments (D-CHAB, D-EAPS, D-PHYS, and D-USYS) was conducted. Two lecturers from D-USYS collaborated with staff from the ETH Library to teach smart notetaking – a key life skill – in conjunction with the subject Radionuclides as Environmental Tracers.
Authors: Dr Caroline Welte1, Roman Schurter1, Dr Maxi Castrillejo2, Prof Dr Núria
Casacuberta3
1Team Information Literacy Hub, ETH Library
2Institute des Sciences de la Terre, Université de Lausanne
3 Physical Oceanography, D-USYS, ETH Zurich
Combining content and competence
The course explores the combination of project-based and competence-oriented learning at a moment when ETH Zurich is in the process of curriculum redesign (PAKETH). We deliberately chose a small setting to create a protected space for exploring new learning approaches. Scalability and peer-based teaching guide the interdisciplinary course design. The goals are (i) to test how teaching subject-specific content and information literacy can be combined in a project-based setting, (ii) to enable students to become the drivers of their learning while receiving high-level support from the three instructors, and (iii) to integrate peer-based learning.
The course follows a flipped classroom format, meaning that between bi-weekly in-person classes, students work independently on subject-specific online case studies. ETH Library instructors and the disciplinary lecturers share responsibility for in-person teaching where open questions are discussed, new topics are introduced, and learning processes are reflected. In addition, one-to-one meetings with instructors and discussions in a Moodle forum with fast responses from experts guide students’ learning.
Notetaking as a driver of learning
Notetaking as a real-world competence forms the heart of this course. In parallel with the self-learning part, students develop their own approaches to managing and structuring knowledge. They are encouraged to experiment with different notetaking methods and tools. This allows them to connect newly learned course content with existing knowledge, personal interests, and everyday life, supporting sustained learning. After completing every case study, students write a forum post in which they reflect on their learning and share any questions they may have. Peers are invited to respond to the posts, and instructors give answers either in the forum or in the next in-person class.
Grading and assessment
Assessment in this course is designed to support learning. Students are asked to document and reflect on their learning processes in regular forum posts, synthesize their notes by creating a final infographic in the form of group work, and submit a written reflection on what they learned and how they plan to apply these approaches in the future. Half of the grade is based on the completion of these tasks, while the other half is based on the final reflection, which is assessed using rubrics.
Reflections from the teaching team
This small, interdisciplinary prototype course illustrates how project-based and competence-oriented learning can be explored in a low-threshold setting. It highlights the potential of starting small to test new teaching approaches and emphasizes the importance of close collaboration between departments and the ETH Library. In this new, transdisciplinary course, future-oriented skills enrich the learning design. Peer-learning elements supported engagement and interactivity. The course received very positive feedback from students. They particularly valued the self-study components and the opportunity for self-directed learning.