HSZG supports STEM-friendly schools.
Five schools from Saxony were recently recognized as "STEM-friendly schools" in an online event by the national initiative "MINT Zukunft schaffen".
What characterizes a STEM-friendly school? In addition to modern technical equipment at the schools, there are also pedagogical concepts that arouse interest in technical and scientific subjects and intensively impart knowledge about them. These concepts are supported and implemented by the entire teaching staff.
Helmholtzschule-Oberschule der Stadt Leipzig was awarded the "STEM-friendly school" label for the first time. Another four schools in Leipzig, Crimmitschau, Dresden and Heidenau were awarded the seal again after three years of successful STEM profile development. In addition, the Max-Klinger-Schule Leipzig was once again recognized as a "Digital School".
The Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences (HSZG) was represented with several entries in the 90-minute online award ceremony:
Sabine Scholz, who has been a STEM ambassador for many years, was able to congratulate the schools on their award via a live video link. In her role as ambassador, she strengthens the cooperation with the nationwide network MINT Zukunft schaffen and makes supra-regional ideas and formats usable for local work.
Robert Viertel contributed two show experiments via YouTube (see below) and highlighted the target group of the student generation "Z" in four 13-minute sessions in the break-out rooms of the online event: "This generation born after 2000 is used to thinking big about the world. Young people do not close their eyes to current problems and challenges. Fridays for Future is one of the many forms of expression of this generation."
Interestingly, many young people's willingness to perform does not diminish as a result of cell phones & Co. The Shell Youth Study from 2019 shows a continuous increase in interest in attending grammar school, especially among girls! The trend towards academic education continues to grow.
"In order for the transition between the educational institutions of school and university to work, we need good contacts between the institutions and interesting event formats," Scholz and Viertel agree.
With "Studieren probieren", the HSZG has a broad repertoire for pupils, including the MINT Trail. This STEM trail, which consists of individual stations, links different disciplines and encourages students to try things out and do it themselves. Individual stations can also be offered in schools. For schools further away, Viertel recommended combining school trips with an experiment day at the university: "My colleague Christiane Matthieu and I have a few tips up our sleeves for this."
The "STEM-friendly schools" in Saxony are honoured under the patronage of the Saxon State Ministry of Education and Sport and the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs (KMK), while the "digital schools" are honoured under the patronage of the Federal Government Commissioner for Digitalization.
