Views and perspectives of the didactics of higher education

The didactics of higher education remain controversial; measures taken by t he state in order to "improve" university teaching have produced both suppo rt and renewed criticism. The author summarizes and discusses the major arg uments for and against this field of work by enquiring into the following q uestions: to what extent is the didactics of higher education recognized as a part of pedagogics; on what grounds may the university, the place of sci ence, be considered a subject of pedagogics; is the didactics of higher edu cation - as has often been claimed - actually guilty of the deplored reglem entation and school-like regulation of the university or does it, rather, t rie to work against this development (keywords: didactics of science, probl ems of mediation, socialization in universities). Sketching the prospects o f the didactics of higher education,the author deems it likely that its tas ks i.e. the mediation between the idea of academic studies and the qualific ations of students and university teachers as well as the reflection of the learning situation, will continue to increase, but at the same time he fea rs that the trend towards state programs of intervention and evaluation may have an ambivalent effect on this development.