D4MINT
“Didactic Double-Decker” for Digital Education in STEM Fields
Key Info
Basic Information
- Duration:
- 01.04.2023 to 30.09.2025
- Research Area:
- Education, Training and Apprenticeship Concepts for Technical Domains in Craft and Industry | Digital Media in Vocational Education and Training | Professionalization of Vocational Education and Training Staff
- Status:
- Running
Further Information
Contact
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Synopsis
The center of competence focuses on the qualification of teachers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, in short STEM. The target group is to be supported in exploring and using the opportunities offered by new digital forms of teaching and in mastering the associated challenges. According to the current state of research, this also requires new formats of further training with which the majority of teachers can be accompanied on the path of digital education. In this context, RWTH Aachen University and the universities of Giessen, Oldenburg and Potsdam develop suitable training programs for the STEM sector.
The joint project focuses on teacher training formats that combine subject-specific and didactic content with professional competence development in the style of a “didactic double-decker”, as called for by the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs. Such formats will be implemented in various forms within the project and their effectiveness will be developed, evaluated and improved in a design-based-research approach. In this way, the potential of a simultaneously fast and broad implementation and a sustainable anchoring of the training offers in the educational landscape is ensured.
Challenges
Current studies show that in the context of digital teaching, it is now less the availability of digital technology that is the limiting factor in the implementation of digital teaching concepts, but rather the ability of teachers to use digital media. In order for teachers to be able to recognize and use the opportunities offered by new digital forms of teaching and to overcome the associated challenges, the collaborative project focuses on the qualification of this target group. According to the current state of research, this also requires new training formats that can support the majority of teachers on the path to digital education.
Goals
If one of the main goals of in-service training is to enable teachers to teach digitally supported lessons in a way that is effective for learning, then digital tools should also play an important role in the context of such training. For effective teacher training courses, the concept of the “didactic” or “pedagogical double-decker” was chosen, among others, which provides for a regular change between the level of action and the level of reflection for the learners who in the case of training courses are precisely the teachers. A comparison of theoretical statements with the experienced effects can enable a linking of science-oriented theoretical knowledge and practical experiences. It is expected that this will promote transferability to one's own pedagogical work as a teacher.
Methodology
In the project D4MINT RWTH-representatives of STEM education and media didactics collaborate with scientist from the universities of Gießen, Potsdam and Oldenburg. The research program developed is based on extensive preliminary work by the universities and brings together expertise from the areas of elementary school, high schools and comprehensive schools as well as vocational colleges.
The Institute of Industrial Engineering and Ergonomics focuses on the special requirements and institutional conditions of teachers at vocational schools. To this end, the departments “Technical Vocational Education and Training” and “Technical Didactics of Structural Engineering” at RWTH Aachen University create and test individualized, digitally supported learning environments, which teachers can not only learn about in theory but also experience in training events.
Such formats will be implemented in various forms within the framework of the project and the effectiveness of each will be studied using a design-based research approach. In this way, the potential of a fast and broad implementation and a sustainable anchoring of the training offers in the educational landscape is considered from the beginning.
Funding
This project is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) under the funding measure “Centers of competence for Digital and Digitally Supported Teaching in Schools and Continuing Education” (funding code: 01JA23M01A) and supervised by the DLR – Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V. (German Aerospace Center).
Project Partners