Overview
Overview
Dear teachers,
On this page you will find an overview of our current training programmes. If you are interested in one of these programmes at your school outside of these dates, please feel free to contact us.
The ChemOL school laboratory as an extracurricular learning venue for chemistry - from testing to organising excursions
The ChemOL school laboratory as an extracurricular learning venue for chemistry – from trial sessions to organising field trips
Visiting a real laboratory, getting a taste of university life and working with new topics, equipment or chemicals – a visit to the university’s student laboratory offers great potential for making chemistry lessons more varied or adding a special touch. If integrated successfully, this can help to boost motivation and interest. But when and for which topic is a visit to a school laboratory really appropriate, how should it be prepared and followed up, and what organisational tasks will I, as a teacher, need to undertake? In our training course ‘The ChemOL student laboratory as an extracurricular learning venue for chemistry’, you will not only gain insights into the process and planning of a visit to our student laboratory, but you will also have the opportunity to try out our range of experiments for yourself in the laboratory. You’ll have the opportunity to explore a series of experiments and accompanying materials on the following topics:
- Climate crisis (carbon dioxide, ocean acidification and the greenhouse effect; Years 8–10)
- Medicines (organic chemistry, Years 10–13)
- Circulatory and respiratory systems (contextual integration, carbon dioxide and carbonic acid, Years 9–10)
- Bone health (contextual integration, ion detection, Years 9–10)
- Nanomaterials in photocatalysis and green hydrogen synthesis (nanochemistry, Years 12–13)
- Nanomedicine (nanochemistry and polymers, Years 12–13)
- Wound care (context-based integration of polymers, Years 12–13)
- Titration (Years 11–13)
In addition, we present the latest research findings on the effectiveness and conditions for the success of such a visit, and we would be happy to advise you personally afterwards on the specific organisation of such a student laboratory excursion with your class.
The professional development course ‘Medicine as a Context for Chemistry Teaching’ is offered as part of the LFBZ Nord-West programme.
Medicine as a context for chemistry lessons
Teacher Training: Medicine as a Context for Chemistry Lessons
Have you ever cut yourself and then had to stop the bleeding? Have you perhaps ever broken something and had to wear a plaster, or even had to undergo surgery and have stitches? Numerous medical aspects affect our everyday lives or very specific events and are full of chemistry, without us even realising it. For pupils in particular, using these topics in the classroom highlights the significance of chemistry and its relevance to their everyday lives. Medical topics are one of the relatively rare areas where there is an overlap between subjects that various studies have identified as being of interest to both genders. Interest and the perceived appeal of a subject are key factors influencing future learning success. Medical topics therefore play a key role in our projects, both in terms of career guidance and the interdisciplinary integration of the natural sciences, as well as in the authentic and real-life teaching of traditional curriculum content.
This professional development session presents various aspects of ‘medicine’ in chemistry lessons, which are linked to the key curricular topics of ‘carbon dioxide and carbonic acid’ and ‘polymers’. The associated experiments are tested in the laboratory. An overview is provided of the conceptual and psychological foundations of context-based learning processes, and the role of authenticity in learning materials is discussed. Challenges and ways of providing support when implementing our contexts as series of lessons are addressed.
Our collection of materials for ‘Medicine in Chemistry Lessons’ comprises accompanying booklets with supporting learning materials, experiment instructions and tasks for pupils, tiered guidance, as well as a version containing solutions and teaching tips for teachers.
The professional development course ‘Medicine as a Context for Chemistry Lessons’ is offered as part of the LFBZ North-West programme.
AI in Chemistry Lessons – Potential, Limitations and Practical Applications
AI in Chemistry Lessons – Potential, Limitations and Practical Applications
Artificial intelligence has long since become part of everyday school life. Whether in lesson preparation, the creation of learning materials or the marking of homework – AI-based tools open up numerous new possibilities, but also present teachers with new challenges. How do these systems actually work? What potential do they offer specifically for chemistry lessons? And how can AI be used in such a way that it supports learning processes rather than replacing independent thinking and learning?
In this professional development session, we would like to give you an insight into the fundamentals and current developments in artificial intelligence and discuss together the opportunities and limitations of its use in chemistry lessons. We will also draw on the latest scientific findings regarding the learning effectiveness of AI-supported applications. Particular emphasis will be placed on the question of how AI can be meaningfully integrated into teaching and learning processes from both a subject-specific and a didactic perspective. Using concrete examples, we will address both productive applications and typical problems such as subject-specific errors, inaccurate visualisations or the uncritical adoption of AI-generated content.
In the practical session, you will have the opportunity to try out various AI tools for yourself and explore their potential applications in chemistry lessons. This includes, amongst other things, the creation and adaptation of teaching materials, the development of AI-supported learning aids, and methods for diagnosing and assessing pupils’ responses. You will then develop your own teaching ideas and explore how AI can be integrated into existing or new teaching concepts in a pedagogically sound manner.
The aim of the course is to provide you with a fundamental understanding of current AI technologies, to enable you to critically assess their potential and limitations, and to offer concrete ideas for your teaching practice. The focus is not on the technology itself, but on the question of how AI can contribute to designing effective chemistry lessons and specifically supporting subject-specific learning.
The training course is offered on request as part of the LFBZ Nord-West programme – simply contact:
Hydrogen through light - the potential of nanomaterials as photocatalysts
Teacher training: Hydrogen through light – The potential of nanomaterials as photocatalysts
Photocatalysis utilises light energy to drive chemical processes. This opens up an exciting new perspective on chemical reactions and allows new insights into chemistry to be conveyed. In particular, the use of nanomaterials opens up new possibilities, as these materials possess unique physical and chemical properties characterised by their small particle size and large surface area.
In this training course, we aim to provide you with an overview of the fundamentals of photocatalysis and the use of nanomaterials as photocatalysts. Following a theoretical introduction, we will, in the practical session, produce our own photocatalyst, which we will then use in the subsequent experiments. The focus will be on photocatalytic hydrogen production, which can be carried out within 30 minutes during a school lesson. Hydrogen is detected using a newly developed detection film, which turns blue specifically upon contact with hydrogen, enabling easy monitoring.
The aim of the event is to provide an introduction to this interdisciplinary topic and to offer you practical ideas for lesson planning. To this end, you will be provided with a set of apparatus, various experiments and materials, which you can flexibly incorporate into your lessons.
The ‘Hydrogen through Light’ training course is offered as part of the LFBZ Nord-West programme.
Experiments for Christmas
Teacher training: Christmas experiments
Magic experiments impress audiences with striking phenomena and require no prior knowledge; their primary aim is simply to amaze. Such experiments are particularly popular (with both teachers and pupils) for special events or during the run-up to Christmas, and often give the audience a real boost in motivation. The ‘Christmas Experiments’ training session aims to present a number of experiments that can be carried out by teachers and/or pupils in keeping with the pre-Christmas season. Experimental techniques will be demonstrated and tested to help avoid some of the pitfalls associated with demonstration experiments. The session will also address how such experiments can be integrated into lessons without pupils developing unrealistic expectations of chemical experimentation.
The training course is offered as part of the LFBZ North-West programme.