Physics for everyone! New project inspires young people in NRW

Physics for everyone! New project inspires young people in NRW

In a new and future -oriented project to promote physics for young people, the University of Dortmund and the Institute for School Development Research (IFS) have announced their cooperation. The aim is to increase the interest in physics and related scientific subjects and to gain more offspring for these disciplines. Education researcher Nele Mcelvany heads this five -year research program, which will be received from 2026 funding from the federal and state governments as part of an "cluster of excellence". Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger reports that the focus of the project is particularly on educational justice, since girls and young people from educational households such as physics, chemistry and computer science are underrepresented.

In order to meet these challenges, an intervention study is carried out at selected schools. Here, students should be enthusiastic about the natural sciences, especially for physics. The project provides to research the basics of new technologies and to arouse sustainable interest in physics. As measures to support the pupils, positive role models from underrepresented groups and the emergence of the use of physics are planned in everyday life.

educational justice in focus

Current research shows that children from families with a low formal level of education are disadvantaged in Germany. An investigation reveals significant differences in the use of sports and music offers in early childhood, depending on the formation of parents. For example, under two-year-old children from university families, activities such as baby swimming or parent-child gymnastics from less educated households Iska-nuernberg.de .

Furthermore, the analysis shows that children with mothers without formal education are one year behind their peers, the mothers of which have a university degree. This imbalance continues even in later years, which means that 35% of children from low -educated parents' houses are classified as need for funding. Studies such as the IGLU study 2021 also show that there are significant differences in the reading skills of fourth graders.

interventions and their evaluation

The project, which started in Dortmund, aims to address these grievances by achieving positive results in the promotion of physics and related subjects. 45 schools in Berlin, Bavaria and Saxony-Anhalt are involved in the study, which will accompany the young people until school graduation. A follow -up survey after the conclusion is also part of the project to evaluate the effectiveness of the interventions. Specialist portal-paedagogik.de emphasizes that educational justice is the central concern of the federal government to ensure equal educational opportunities for everyone.

The project in Dortmund is another step towards a fairer educational landscape, which is not only focused on promoting natural sciences, but also aims to remove the existing inequalities in the education system. The approaches to arouse the sustainable interest in physics and to promote equal opportunities across all social classes are particularly important