MINT-Lehramt PLUS: A Look Back at Nine Years of the Elite Study Programme

The final event took place at the University of Würzburg; the conference was held in cooperation with the autumn conference of the Professional School of Education. The participants presented the diverse findings and results from this innovative project.

Linking Science and Practice

Prof Dr Hans-Stefan Siller, holder of the Chair of Mathematics Education, opened the conference by welcoming the 350 guests, also on behalf of the two project leaders Professors Volker Ulm and Thomas Trefzger. In a presentation, he illustrated the opportunities that the more than 200 current and former students in the project utilised in parallel to their teacher training. In-depth participation in research projects, involvement in academic publications, research visits and the practical application of findings from educational research in schools are just a few examples.

In an interview, the two alumni Sandra Petry and Dr Marcel Emmert reported on the significance of the degree programme for them and their lives. Decisive aspects for both alumni were the opportunity to focus on specialised subjects according to their own interests. They also emphasised the close integration into an interdisciplinary community of committed students from various disciplines and universities. Particularly memorable events were the annual holiday academies, visits to extracurricular places of learning or learning trips, where they were able to get to know schools with alternative teaching concepts.

Today, both are professionally associated with both the university and the teaching profession, thus continuing the synergy between science and practice.

Poster Session and Workshops

The interdisciplinary programme continued with a keynote speech by Sabena Donath from the "Zentralrat der Juden" and a panel discussion on the topic of democracy education in schools. Then it was all about MINT again. During the lunch break, students and coordinators presented their scientific work on climate education, AI in teaching and the practical testing of the revolving door model in a poster session.

The highlight of the afternoon was the workshops organised by alumni and participants, in which experiences from the MINT Lehramt PLUS programme were passed on directly to teachers. The programme included topics such as supporting mathematically gifted students, energy technology, AI in maths lessons, modern dyes and interdisciplinary research into climate change.