We, the project team ‘Increasing student success’, asked students at the University of Apllied Science Kaiserslautern how studying in corona times works. We wanted to know what positive and negative effects this time has had on their studies. We also asked what solutions they had come up with and what tips they could give other students.

The survey consisted of four open questions. ‘Open-ended questions are those where there are no predefined answers: The respondent can answer in their own words, in the way they are used to writing or speaking. Answer categories are not predefined.’ (Züll & Menold, 2019, p. 855). Only the three questions on gender, age and semester were asked as single choice questions. The purpose of the open questions was to use them as a means of obtaining information. The possibility of using an open response field means that participants are not limited in their answers in advance and new aspects can be captured. Furthermore, it avoids steering students in one direction when formulating their answers and thus opinions are specifically asked openly.