Concept
At the interface between research, teaching and school
Interdisciplinary teaching and research network
Since its foundation in 2009, the M!ND Centre - as a cross-faculty institution - links the teacher education departments of biology, chemistry, geography, computer science, mathematics and physics at the University of Würzburg. The interdisciplinary research at the MIND-Centre focusses on topics relating to student teacher competencies, teaching methods and educational research.
Innovative types of teaching
We are opening up our teaching formats to schools as cooperation partners, thus creating a supervised framework for students to test and reflect on various practice-relevant teaching forms and methods ("Core Practices").
The central format is the Teaching and Learning Lab (TLL). Within the TLL students design and revise learning environments, thoroughly analysed in terms of subject content, for pupils on curriculum-relevant topics. On several days, they finally supervise pupils conducting experiments at the stations developed. This part of the TLL offers students a theory-guided reflection on practical experiences as a basis to transfer their professional knowledge into professional teaching routines.
Exchange of expertise with schools
In addition, the M!ND Centre promotes knowledge exchange between the various phases of teacher training, for example by involving on-service teachers and teacher mentors (second phase of teacher education programme) in the courses at M!ND Centre (first phase of teacher education programme). This leads to a valuable transfer of expertise from the university to the schools and from the schools to the working groups at the M!ND Centre.
Extracurricular learning centre
In addition to the research and teaching perspectives, the M!ND Centre offers pupils an appealing range of extracurricular learning opportunities. They are invited to explore mathematical and scientific content in the hands-on exhibition Touch Science, to conduct content specific in-depth experiments (under the supervision of student teachers) in the teaching-learning laboratory, and to realize their own research projects in the students' research centre.
