ABSTRACT
This chapter urges educators to design curricula and assessments to serve the needs of 21st-century learners. In our information-based, digital and global economy, college graduates and their communities benefit when undergraduate programs provide students with ample opportunities to improve their creative and critical thinking; to develop problem-solving skills and to hone their ability to work effectively in diverse teams. Such a student-focused education occurs when instructors build their curricula on a framework of cognitive scaffolding, collaborative learning and fostering the recognition and creation of relevant personal meaning among learners. To help redefine German curricula accordingly, this contribution discusses three impactful and innovative instructional practices: teaching creative collaboration strategies through film production; introducing professional preparation and service learning into the curriculum and reimagining instruction to take advantage of the learning opportunities afforded by Flipped Learning 3.0. We also describe some outreach events that have helped us engage students and publicize our German program, thereby increasing possibilities for scholarship, activity funding, institutional support and student recruitment.
