Transforming knowledge, shaping education

© Dorit Grunewald

© Julja Koch

On 15 April, the 6th TRANSPLANT DAY took place at the University of Cologne under the motto: “Sowing knowledge: transforming excellent research into future-proof education – the dialogue between researchers, educators and innovators”.

It was an inspiring event that explored how innovations and the latest research findings can be translated into forward-looking educational formats.

The event was opened by Prof. Dr. Stanislav Kopriva, Vice Dean of Research at the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences at the University of Cologne. Christina Kothes, Innovation Manager for Plant Sciences at the University of Cologne, guided the audience through the programme.

The event kicked off with a keynote speech by Prof. Dr. André Bresges, Executive Director of the Institute for Physics Education at the University of Cologne. Under the title “Design Thinking in Physics Education: Future-proof teaching and effective knowledge transfer between research and society”, Bresges presented the design thinking methods. The principles of magnetohydrodynamics were brought to life for the audience in a short play performed by members of the Bresges Research Group.

This was followed by a presentation by Dr. Daniel Kramp, Managing Director of the Centre for Teacher Education (ZfL) at the University of Cologne, on the topic “Unfolding Science Fiction – Teacher Education as a Driver of Innovation”. Dr Kramp emphasised the importance of teacher training as a driver of innovation and highlighted that one of the most pressing challenges is the shortage of teachers in STEM subjects. He also outlined how forward-looking concepts can enhance the quality of teacher training.

After a short break, experts from the fields of didactics, schools, teacher education and research took to the podium to discuss how excellent findings from basic research can be effectively transferred into teaching methodologies and thus into school practice. 

Participants included Prof. Dr. Kirsten Schlüter, Director of the Institute for Biology Didactics, University of Cologne, Prof. Dr. André Bresges, Director of the Institute for Physics Education, University of Cologne, Dr. Daniel Kramp, Managing Director of the Centre for Teacher Education (ZfL), University of Cologne, Harald Sturm, secondary school teacher of Biology, Chemistry and Mathematics, Friedrich-Wilhelm-Gymnasium, Cologne and Dr. Divykriti Chopra-Ufer, Coordinator of the Bachelor’s programme in „Quantitative Biology“, Heinrich-Heine-University, Düsseldorf and University of Cologne.

The event also emphasised the central role and need for communication formats and close, coordinated collaboration between researchers, teacher training, educational methodology and schools.

TRANSPLANT is a joint research project involving researchers from Heinrich-Heine-University in Düsseldorf, Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences in Kleve and the University of Cologne, which promotes knowledge transfer between science, society and industry in order to maximise the impact of basic research in the plant sciences. TRANSPLANT is based at CEPLAS and is supported by the Ministry of Culture and Science of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia.