Thanks to funding from the Carl Zeiss Foundation, a doctoral programme in computer science education – the only one of its kind in Germany – is being established across six university campuses in five federal states. The aim is to strengthen research, professional development and supra-regional networking in computer science education in the long term – and thereby address the shortage of teachers in schools over the long term and enhance computer science teaching nationwide.
Yesterday in Berlin saw the official launch of the CZS KID – Programme for Computer Science Education, which is funded by the Carl Zeiss Foundation with twelve million euros. It is the largest private initiative for computer science education in Germany to date. This interdisziplinäre doctoral programme will conduct research into the development of computing skills in school education. It is being carried out in collaboration with the Heidelberg University of Education, the University of Heidelberg, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg, the University of Koblenz, the Paderborn University, the University of Münster and the German Computer Science Society. The German Computer Science Society is responsible for the programme’s management. The aim of the programme is to establish and expand research into computer science education on a supra-regional basis. Together, the partners aim to inspire young researchers to pursue computer science education and to strengthen the discipline and its associated community throughout Germany.
Prof. Dr. Carsten Schulte from the Paderborn University is a co-applicant and one of the principal investigators in the project. The head of the Paderborn working group ‘Didactics of Computer Science’ at the Institute of Computer Science explains: ‘We are building on two areas in total: Firstly, the concept of different traditions in subject-specific didactics; and secondly, we are dividing up various facets of research in subject-specific didactics amongst ourselves. Together with my colleague Michael Rücker from the University of Jena, I am responsible for the area of theories and models, which deals with models of Computer Science education and the theoretical foundations of education.”
Dr Felix Streiter, Managing Director of the Carl Zeiss Foundation: “Computer Science education has never been as important as it is today: it plays a crucial role in Germany’s economic performance and is, at the same time, the key to social participation for everyone in our increasingly digitalised world. New approaches are needed to teach such complex and rapidly evolving subject matter in a way that is relevant to today’s world. With this new research group, we aim to help ensure that there are enough well-qualified computer science teachers in the future.”
Anna Sarah Lieckfeld, Managing Director of CZS KID: “Many federal states have now made Computer Science a compulsory subject. This is an important step, but there is a nationwide shortage of teachers to deliver the subject comprehensively and to an adequate standard. To train the computer science teachers of tomorrow, we also need a sufficient number of qualified researchers and lecturers. This is where our teacher training programme comes in, and we are deliberately working together across state borders and disciplines within computer science education.”
PhD students at the CZS KID receive training that encompasses both depth and breadth of subject knowledge. The programme enables them to engage in extensive exchange across different locations, whilst providing the necessary freedom to develop and pursue their own ideas and research approaches, and to build up individual expertise. To ensure that the results of their research are firmly embedded in society in the long term, there is a particular focus on science communication and transfer.
This text was translated automatically.
