Better integration of STEM education in and out of school

Non-formal STEM offerings from museums, science centres or school labs are often not systematically embedded in school subject lessons. The potential of extracurricular STEM programmes is wasted as a result.

In the ReBiS project, extracurricular STEM programmes are interlinked and explicitly integrated into the teaching of various subjects. The visits to the learning locations are prepared from the subject lessons, whereby the extracurricular learning location with its specific possibilities goes further than the subject lessons. After the visit to the extracurricular STEM learning centre and with the experience gained there, work is continued and deepened in the subject lessons.

Each school class is involved in the project for two school years and chooses a complex topic that the participating subjects explore together. Topics such as changes in coastal areas; the curse and blessing of plastic; the use of resources; or the challenge of living with climate change are the focus. Each school subject is visited by a suitable extracurricular STEM programme on the chosen topic; in other words, the subject colleagues pass the baton on to each other. In the background, they work together as a team; they also support the students in realising a longer-term task over the entire school year, e.g. developing a podcast series on plastics. These approaches support the pupils in developing coherent knowledge and a multi-perspective approach.

Eight school classes from four schools (Oberschule, Integrierte Gesamtschule, Gymnasium) and six extracurricular learning centres in the Wilhelmshaven/Friesland/Oldenburg region are involved. The theoretical basis is the concept of complementary networking (Sajons & Komorek, 2020; Sajons, Richter & Komorek, 2020). It describes how extracurricular learning opportunities can complement or contrast with each other. All processes are scientifically monitored.