Die Dozentin prüft zuerst die Anwesenheit und bittet danach um eine kurze Wortmeldung.

The ending -in is a common way to make a noun specifically feminine in German.

• der Dozent = male lecturer
• die Dozentin = female lecturer

So Dozentin tells you the lecturer is a woman.

Also, the article die here is the nominative singular feminine article, because die Dozentin is the subject of the sentence.

Because the subject is die Dozentin, which is third person singular: she.

The verb prüfen is the infinitive. In the present tense, it changes like this:

• ich prüfe
• du prüfst
• er/sie/es prüft
• wir prüfen
• ihr prüft
• sie/Sie prüfen

So Die Dozentin prüft means the subject is doing the action now, and the verb must match that subject.

They are both feminine singular nouns, but they are in different grammatical roles:

• die Dozentin = nominative, because it is the subject
• die Anwesenheit = accusative, because it is the direct object of prüft

For feminine singular nouns, the article die stays the same in both nominative and accusative. That is why you see die twice, even though the functions are different.

It is in the accusative case because it is the direct object of prüfen.

In this sentence:

• Die Dozentin = who is doing the action
• prüft = the action
• die Anwesenheit = what is being checked

So the verb prüfen takes a direct object, and that object is accusative.

Both are time adverbs, but they show sequence from different points:

• zuerst = first, first of all
• danach = after that, afterwards

So the sentence gives two actions in order:

1. she checks attendance
2. after that, she asks for a short contribution

A useful way to think of them:

• zuerst starts the sequence
• danach continues it

Because the verb bitten often uses the structure:

• jemanden um etwas bitten = to ask someone for something

Here, the sentence leaves out the person being asked, but keeps the um + accusative part:

• um eine kurze Wortmeldung

So:

• bittet um eine kurze Wortmeldung = asks for a short verbal contribution

Without um, the meaning would not be the normal structure for ask for in German.

Um takes the accusative case.

That is why you get:

• eine kurze Wortmeldung

You can see the accusative in the article eine here, though for feminine singular, nominative and accusative often look the same:

• nominative: eine kurze Wortmeldung
• accusative: eine kurze Wortmeldung

So the form does not change visibly here, but grammatically it is accusative because it follows um.

Wortmeldung is a compound noun:

• Wort = word
• Meldung = report, notification, contribution

In classroom or meeting contexts, eine Wortmeldung usually means a brief spoken contribution, comment, or response when someone is invited to speak.

So it does not usually mean just one word. It means something more like:

• a short comment
• a brief contribution
• a quick response from a student or participant

Because this is a coordination of two main clauses with und.

You can think of it as:

• Die Dozentin prüft zuerst die Anwesenheit
• (die Dozentin) bittet danach um eine kurze Wortmeldung

In the second part, the subject die Dozentin is omitted because it is understood, but the finite verb still comes in the normal main-clause position.

German main clauses normally follow the verb-second rule. In coordinated clauses, that structure is usually kept.

Because in a normal German main clause, the finite verb usually comes in second position.

Here the structure is:

• Die Dozentin = position 1
• bittet = position 2
• danach = later in the clause

So Die Dozentin bittet danach ... is a standard word order.

You could also say:

• Danach bittet die Dozentin um eine kurze Wortmeldung.

That is also correct, but then danach takes the first position, and the verb bittet still stays in second position.

Because the adjective kurz is describing a feminine singular noun with the article eine.

The noun is:

• die Wortmeldung = feminine singular

After eine with a feminine singular noun in the accusative, the adjective takes -e:

• eine kurze Wortmeldung

This is part of German adjective endings. In this sentence, the important point is that the adjective agrees with the noun it describes.

Yes. Anwesenheit literally relates to being present and is commonly used for attendance or presence.

In a classroom context:

• die Anwesenheit prüfen = to check attendance

This is a very natural expression in German.

So even though Anwesenheit can also mean presence in a broader sense, in this kind of sentence it clearly refers to attendance.

Usually not in the same way.

• zuerst means first / first of all
• erst often means only, not until, or sometimes first in a different sense

So in this sentence, zuerst is the better choice because it clearly marks the first step in a sequence.

Compare:

• zuerst = first, as the first action
• erst = only / only then / not until

They are related, but not interchangeable in many contexts.