STEPS.
STEPS. STEM perspectives for primary and secondary schools
The STEPS. project aims to improve the cross-border orientation of young people towards digital-technical professions in the region of Southern Denmark and Schleswig-Holstein through innovative pilot projects in school education.
Project data
| Research lines | Research Line Domain-Specific Learning in Preschools and Schools, Research Line Professional Competence and Learning of Teachers | ||
| Departments | Research Group Computer Science Education, Mathematics Education | ||
| Period | 2/1/2025–1/31/2028 | ||
| Status | current | ||
| IPN researchers | Prof. Dr. Aiso Heinze (Project lead), Prof. Dr. Andreas Mühling (Project lead), Dr. Marc Wilken (Project coordinator), Thore Heinrich Lotzin, Dr. Mira H. Wulff | ||
| Members of the research alliance | IPN Leibniz-Institut für die Pädagogik der Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik (Lead), Europa-Universität Flensburg, Syddansk Universitet | ||
The economic development of the regions of Southern Denmark and Schleswig-Holstein is highly dependent on solutions to overcome the shortage of skilled workers, which is particularly affecting the labour market outside the metropolitan areas. The STEPS. project aims to contribute to this with solutions that give young people prospects for a future career while they are still at school.
The project partners at the University of Southern Denmark, Odense, the European University of Flensburg and the IPN Leibniz Institute in Kiel are focussing on digital-technical occupational fields in the development of innovative approaches for career guidance in school lessons.
The STEPS. project is developing concepts for teaching units in the STEM subjects that combine perspectives on the labour market with technical content and link directly to these. This enables integration into regular lessons and can increase acceptance by teachers.
The concepts are to be developed in consultation with teachers and companies in the region. To this end, the STEPS. project will provide various opportunities to participate in the development, such as workshops or a joint online platform, which will enable an exchange of ideas and contribute new impulses or ideas to the concept development.
During the project period, the various concepts will be trialled with school classes as part of a pilot phase and then modified if necessary so that the concepts can finally be implemented in the schools in a way that suits them perfectly. All concepts will be made available online to all teachers in Germany and Denmark via separate platforms.
In this way, the STEPS. project enables early career guidance from primary school through to graduation. The aim is to attract young people to the labour market in the region and thus actively counteract the shortage of skilled workers.
