Project description MINT-ProNeD
The joint project MINT-ProNeD is part of the MINT competence center of lernen:digital. MINT-ProNeD stands for Professional Networks for the Promotion of Adaptive, Process-Related, Digital-Supported Innovations in STEM Teacher Education.The professionalization of teachers of STEM subjects, both in general education and in vocational education, is addressed in three networks.
- Network 1: Further training
- Network 2: School development
- Network 3: Future Innovation Hub
MINT-ProNeD Kaiserslautern comprises all three networks, in which three working groups and the Center for Teacher Education (ZfL) at RPTU Kaiserslautern are involved. The development and implementation of adaptive further training courses for STEM teachers is carried out by the Biology Didactics (Prof. Dr. Christoph Thyssen) and Technology Didactics (Prof. Dr. Leo van Waveren) working groups. The School Development Network is part of the Pedagogy working group (Prof. Dr. Mandy Schiefner-Rohs). In cooperation with the DFKI, the Future Innovation Hub is part of the subject didactics in technology (Prof. Dr. Leo van Waveren). The coordination of the MINT-ProNeD sub-project Kaiserslautern is in the hands of the Center for Teacher Education (Dr. Claudia Gomez-Tutor).
Educational success in STEM subjects depends on students' individual learning requirements. Adaptive teaching, which explicitly takes individual requirements into account and offers personalized learning opportunities, is considered a promising didactic concept for dealing productively with heterogeneity. Digital technologies support teachers in effectively designing adaptive lessons as they provide them with innovative options for diagnostics and differentiation. Teachers must be qualified and well trained in order to implement digitally-supported adaptive teaching. Despite numerous lighthouse projects in the field of digital education, previous initiatives in teacher training are often characterized by low coverage, insufficient cross-phase cooperation and a lack of subject-specificity. The aim of the project is therefore to establish an integrative overall concept for STEM teacher training in the form of three interdisciplinary and cross-phase networks (further training, teaching development and advice, Future Innovation Hub) and a cross-cutting work area of translation and dissemination. The basis of the project is the systematic cooperation of nine teacher training universities in southern Germany in order to enable excellent and systematic coverage of the various STEM didactics across the different types of schools and subjects. The research basis and quality of the resulting courses will be ensured by the involvement of relevant stakeholders (IWM, DIE, DIPF, LMU, DFKI) and the participating state institutes. The RPTU (Kaiserslautern site) is integrally involved in all three networks (future teaching-learning technologies, structuring digital skills for science teaching/DiKoLAN and cross-phase teacher training) and is responsible for site-specific accompanying research and quality assurance.
Needs assessment
Based on a needs assessment, courses are planned for teachers that are geared towards the curricular focal points and needs of technical vocational education and training. Both synchronous and asynchronous elements are integrated into the course. Learning nuggets, small learning units, are made available via a learning management system. These include both media-didactic elements, e.g. for handling data, as well as subject-specific elements. The subject-independent learning nuggets originate both from the Kaiserslautern site and from the joint MINT-ProNeD project, while the subject-specific learning units were developed at the Kaiserslautern site.
The needs assessment, which is being carried out immediately, is aimed at teachers as well as school administrators and seminar leaders in the practical seminars of the State Pedagogical Institute. The aim of the survey is to gain an insight into the needs of the various stakeholders in the teaching profession. As a result, an innovative, digitally supported training concept with a thematic focus on "Sensors and Actuators" will be created based directly on the needs of teachers.
The needs analysis will be advertised via various channels (e.g. study seminars, schools). Accordingly, permission to conduct the survey at schools in RLP was applied for from the ADD, taking data protection into account. Participation in the survey is voluntary and data collection is anonymous.