Published on 19.07.2023 under News, General, Education, STEM education, about matrix
The zdi-BSO-MINT-Lab
Germany lacks hundreds of thousands of skilled workers in the MINT field. In doing so, we are already jeopardizing important social and economic goals, for example in the fields of digitization, the energy transition and climate protection. So it's high time to get more young people interested in STEM. That wants zdi.NOW with its diverse network structures and places of learning. And the zdi-BSO-MINT-Lab (ZBML for short), which started this year, wants to make an important contribution to a large group of young people, the so-called "easy-to-ignore" groups.
What is the zdi-BSO-MINT-Lab?
The ZBML is a project in which students become researchers in MINTplus topics by practically experiencing and testing the connection to the MINT area in courses with a high practical component. In a safe environment, they are given the opportunity to steer participatory course designs according to their ideas and wishes.
The ZBML deliberately addresses groups that are not addressed at all or not by existing course offerings. These are often classified under the generic term “hard-to-reach” groups. In order to avoid a "pigeonholing" - like the term that wrongly conveys the hard-to-reach group here - we speak explicitly of the "easy-to-ignore" groups.
So we don't look for the mistakes in the group, but in the offers. The reasons for the widespread mismatch can be very broad and very often lie in external frameworks such as a lack of organizational or logistical access, in personnel and infrastructural shortages, in language or content-related hurdles.
The approach
The participatory approach of learning from the "easy-to-ignore" groups themselves represents the central approach for the project. Meeting the dialogue group at eye level, teaching them manual skills and allowing the students to exchange what they have learned are key conditions for success. It is important to enter the courses without prejudices and assumptions about the way of thinking and motivations of the students. This is very demanding and also means for us a very high willingness to learn and openness.
We are therefore talking about real laboratory courses and young researchers. The common research interest consists precisely in working out under which conditions which content and formats are also attractive and feasible for these young people. With the help of the zdi-BSO-MINT-Lab, manual work can be combined with digital work thanks to the use of digital machines. Here, the students are shown in a very practical way the scope of STEM and which courses and professions deal with the corresponding subject areas.
The goal
At the end of the courses, conditions for success should be formulated together with the students, which reflect the successful course offer and thus the interest in STEM topics. This is backed by career and study orientation throughout the entire course. In this way, we want to get more young people interested in STEM and counteract the shortage of skilled workers. This knowledge is already being shared and discussed in the STEM community on an ongoing basis. The response to the ideas is great and growing steadily.
The ZBML is financed with funds from the Ministry of Culture and Science of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia and the Regional Directorate of North Rhine-Westphalia of the Federal Employment Agency. The project takes place in schools as well as in extracurricular learning locations such as the FabLab of the matrix group. The FabLab of the matrix, its team and its network are available to the ZBML for conducting courses and should offer the students a creative, manual and innovative space.
You can find out more about STEM here!
