Teaching children the adventure of wood research in a playful and exciting way
Wood be better is a 2-year research project in which more than 120 children and young people from the Tulln area (Lower Austria), together with scientists and technicians were able to learn about various issues in the field of wood research and wood technology in a playful and age-appropriate way, in order not only to understand and use wood as a material, but also to gain impulses for future training and career paths in the wood research and industry.
Regional
Austria
Lower Austria/Tulln
It addresses urban-rural linkages
It refers to other types of transformations (soft investment)
No
No
Yes
As a representative of an organization, in partnership with other organisations
Name of the organisation(s): Wood K plus - Competence Center for Wood Composites & Wood Chemistry, Kompetenzzentrum Holz GmbH, Type of organisation: University or another research institution First name of representative: Cornelia Last name of representative: Rieder-Gradinger Gender: Female Nationality: Austria Function: Teamleader Address (country of permanent residence for individuals or address of the organisation)<br/>Street and number: Getreidemarkt 9 Town: Vienna Postal code: 1060 Country: Austria Direct Tel:+43 664 5245768 E-mail:c.rieder-gradinger@wood-kplus.at Website:http://www.wood-kplus.at
Getting to know the research field of materials science with a focus on wood and its value chain in a playful and age-appropriate way is the content of the project “Wood be better!” The project wants to provide children and young people a contemporary, gender-sensitive and motivating access to applied research, exciting technologies and innovative processes, as well as to the numerous interesting occupational profiles related to wood as a renewable raw material Children shall be familiarized with its properties, its numerous processing options and its diverse applications through research-based learning, experimentation and hands-on excursions to the industrial sites of project partners. Also, children with a migration background are to be specifically addressed. Through close contact with scientists and technicians, some of whom have migrant backgrounds themselves, the children experience how positively the diversity of cultural backgrounds and languages is viewed in the research world. The project aims to create situation- and age-appropriate, low-threshold opportunities for experimentation on innovative issues along the wood value chain with the intensive involvement of various educational institutions. The project wants to provide the young generation as well as their parents and educators with impulses for various training and career paths in applied research in the wood sector, and to offer children and young people exciting hands-on and minds-on activities on innovative topics (intelligent wood-based materials, fungi as wood adhesives, wood and climate change...) with the support of experts from research and industry. Children and young people are thus encouraged to work scientifically with wood, and their awareness of wood as a raw material and material is to be raised in a playful and age-appropriate way. In addition, they are made aware that wood, as a renewable, natural material, will become increasingly important in the future.
exploratory learning
wood research
hands- on and minds-on acitivities
Sustainable raw material wood
Low-impact science to go concepts
Objectives:
The project was intended to create sustainable incentives for children and young people to work scientifically with wood, to raise awareness of the promising raw material wood in a playful and age-appropriate way, to recognise and use talents and individual strengths and to provide a solid basis for future educational decisions in the wood sector.
Initiatives:
Through the project, inhibitions towards RTI in the wood sector could be reduced among the children and young people and scientific technical research content could be experienced as sustainable and thus relevant to the climate.
By getting to know female researchers and technicians with and without a migration background during visits to the participating companies and universities, the children were able to benefit from the experience of role models in promising occupational fields.
Through gender-sensitive experimental courses and exploratory learning, it was possible to arouse interest in and curiosity about research, technology in the field of wood research and wood technology both in girls and boys, regardless of their social, cultural or geographical origin.
Multilingual teaching materials that can be used in the long term were generated in the project together with the children and young people, thus anchoring the topic of wood with all its facets in the classroom (peer tutoring, science-to-go-school concept).
Through the project, new partnerships, contacts and networks for future projects and cooperation in the wood sector were created (cross-thematic cooperation between educational institutions (University of Education, Children's Museum, Technologykids Association), company partners (wood materials, bonding), and research institutions (University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences).
In the project, the children were able to experience research-based learning through exciting, playfully designed experimental units with different thematic focuses on wood research and technology.
Through the cooperative development of age-appropriate programs taking into account different cultural and social origins (non-German first language, educationally disadvantaged classes), all children and young people involved in the project could be reached equally.
One the one hand, children and young people were able to slip into the role of researchers and technicians themselves in both experimental units, and on the other hand were also able to get to know the perspective of knowledge transfer through peer tutoring (e.g. during the Long Night of Research or when they pass on their knowledge to other classes). Through exciting and age-appropriate hands-on and minds-on excursions, the important practical relevance could be conveyed to the children.
Through gender-sensitive experimentation courses, an attempt was made to strengthen the self-confidence of girls and children with a migration background in particular with regard to wood technologies/wood research, thereby laying the foundation for a later choice of training and career in the sector.
In the course of the project, the gender-sensitive design of the experimental courses/workshops made it possible to address children and young people equally, regardless of their social and geographical background. This was enabled additionally by concomitant evaluation of the educational level as well as the social, cultural and geographical background, which has been incorporated into the design of the hands-on and minds-on workshops. During the development of the programs by involvement of pedagogical gender expertise (association Technologykids, Educational School Vienna), the girls' interest in technology was considered in particular and contact with female employees as "role models" was established within the project.
Motivated parents are needed to interest children and young people in a career in applied research, regardless of their gender and their social, cultural or geographical background. In order to reach the "educationally disadvantaged" in particular, they were involved as much as possible in the early stages of the project (researcher's book, laboratory folder, online workshops).
Through online tools (experiment booklets, digital pinboards = padlets) that can be used in the long term, the knowledge gained could be sustainably anchored with parents, friends and the general public.
First and foremost, the 16 participating schools benefit from the project results. Through the digital pinboards that were created cooperatively and grew with the project, all parents and educators as well as the participating project partners regularly received insight into the project contents.
The project contents were communicated to the general public in the context of public appearances (e.g. Lange Nacht der Forschung - Research night) project ("Science-to-go!", learning through research, cooperative learning...) and there was an open exchange of knowledge on the topics developed.
The project contents were published in the sector-specific newsletters, relevant trade journals (Holzkurier, Chemical reports...), social media, video platforms, on the website of the project partners, in the local press and on the publicity platforms of the participating companies. This made it possible to reach other interested stakeholders from the education or research sector (with a focus on wood) supported by company networking as well as participation of the Professional Association of the Wood Industry and Proholz Austria, generating follow-up projects, new networks and additional educational assignments in the field of wood. Through the numerous exploitation activities, not only the scientific content of the research centres, but also their educational activities could be widely advertised, and thus civil society could be interested and picked up for future planned projects with a similar background. This was particularly evident in the great feedback during the Austrian “Research Night” and the Lower Austrian “Research Festival”, as well as in the great encouragement and explicit desire of the participating schools to be involved in further future projects here.
At the University and Research Centre in Tulln (UFT), the participating research groups (Wood K plus, University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences) were able to be involved in the initiative of raising awareness of wood as a raw material and material by jointly designing the experimental courses and workshops, thus increasing their own experience in knowledge transfer and intensifying contacts with educational institutions.
regional:
The educational institutions of the Tulln region as well as the regional company partners could be optimally networked within the framework of the project, opening doors to new project ideas, unbureaucratic visits and taster days for older children and young people for the purpose of vocational orientation.
By involving the business agency Ecoplus of the province of Lower Austria, which is located at the site, the project contents were made known at the Technopol Tulln, which enabled the region to position itself in the long term as an intercultural region with an affinity to science.
national:
Within the framework of the project, there was the possibility to award cooperation grants for the financial support of topic-related school projects to 10 other Austrian educational institutions.
The topic of wood and wood research, which is accessible from many sides across subjects (biology, handicrafts, physics, chemistry, geography, science education), made it very easy for these educators to develop and design class projects with suitable content. Not only could all grants be awarded, but there were also numerous requests for further project cooperation in follow-up projects.
European:
Through the political networks involved in the project (Professional Association of Wood Industry), as well as the internationally operating company partners involved in the project (Fritz Egger and, Metadynea companies), the project initiative (raising awareness of wood as a raw material for children and young people) coul
The consortium consists of 4 scientific institutions from the disciplines of natural sciences (Wood K plus, BOKU) and educational sciences (University of Education, Children's Museum). Wood K plus has expertise in the field of solid wood and wood composites. The University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences provides additional technical expertise and the necessary infrastructure to map the research activities in a professional manner. The didactic competence in the project was ensured by the University of Agricultural and Environmental Education and the Technologykids association due to numerous previous projects as well as experience in the field of teaching and knowledge transfer. The association Technologykids has great experience in planning and implementing new content for science education, gender competence and intercultural competences.The ZOOM Children's Museum was able to contribute the necessary infrastructure and experience for the delivery through the wood hands-on exhibition.
The science partners benefit from more future interested parties for the offered studies or apprenticeships and from the elimination of fear of research among young people and their parents. The social competence and gender awareness in the research centre was sustainably developed through the project. The schools and educational partners were able to use the network of pedagogical contacts and make the project results accessible to a broad mass through the possibility of publication in the planned information materials. The company partners strengthened their image as attractive and innovative employers in the region. Through company networking and with the participation of the professional association and Proholz Austria, it was also possible to reach other interested stakeholders from the education or research sector (focus on wood), generating follow-up projects, new networks and additional educational assignments in the field of wood.
In contrast to other formats that specifically address parents, the innovative character of the project was to reach children and young people of all social and cultural backgrounds equally through direct cooperation with the educational institutions.
The project was planned with a very open concept, so that the individual workshop topics and the way they were implemented could be individually adapted to the respective class/kindergarten situation in close cooperation with the teachers. On the one hand, this was an attempt to optimally strengthen the self-confidence of girls and children with a migration background in particular with regard to wood technologies/wood research and thus lay the foundation for a later choice of training and career in the sector; on the other hand, it also made it possible to react quickly and appropriately to new situations (e.g. the pandemic situation) and to offer suitable low-threshold opportunities for experimentation on innovative issues along the wood value chain in workshops on site, in the garden or also online.
The core of the project was the various concepts of "Science-to-go!" developed together with the educators and pupils over the course of the two school years: Science to grab and go - for long-term use at school ("Science-to-go!" school) and at home ("Science-to-go!" home). This gives the children the opportunity to repeat experiments they have experienced in the course in class or at home. On the one hand, this made it easier to reach parents and siblings, and on the other hand, it gave the children the opportunity to experience themselves as competent researchers, to share their joy in experimenting and to continue experimenting beyond the duration of the project.
The application of inquiry-based learning, hands-on and minds-on excursions, and experimentation courses or low-threshold science workshops can also be transferred to other research areas.
The creation of a digital padlet as an easy-to-use, interactive and exciting educational tool can also be transferred to other research topics or other contexts. The design of multilingual flip books/experiment booklets can be applied in other educational formats with children and young people.
The method was composed of 2 main elements:
1) Science&Context workshops (=guided experiments + exploratory learning, which put the topic under discussion into a broader framework) and
2) hands-on/minds-on excursions framed by "science-to-go" (low-threshold experimentation opportunities, videos, instructions etc. on the digital pinboard) and community building.
According to the theory of "Conceptual Reconstruction" (by Vosniadou & Brewer 1992, Krüger 2007), existing ideas are gradually adapted to new concepts during learning, so that the result is not a radical change of understanding, but rather a gradual further development of a concept. With this in mind, learning situations were designed based on the children's ideas (pre-concept), which provide space for their own discoveries/experiments (hands-on) and thinking (minds-on) as well as for the children's exchange with each other and with the educators or the implementation team. This brought the children's ideas closer to scientific concepts.
In inquiry-based learning, the children and young people could, within a given framework
- develop, as independently as possible, a question or hypothesis relevant to them
- search for answers using various methods
- design and reflect on the research process themselves
- and present their results
Krüger, D. (2007). Die Conceptual Change-Theorie. In D. Krüger & H. Vogt (Hrsg.), Theorien in der
biologiedidaktischen Forschung. Ein Handbuch für Lehramtsstudenten und Doktoranden (S. 81-92). Springer Berlin & Heidelberg.
The wood industry, with its construction, furniture, sawmill, ski and panel industries, represents a very important and strong sector, which is one of the largest and most important employers, especially in rural areas.
Nevertheless, the raw material wood is often still underestimated by the public with regard to its potential, seen as an old-fashioned niche material or fights with many prejudices (cost-intensive, difficult availability and value retention, non-competitive technological properties of the material...).
Especially in rural, structurally weak areas, the value chain wood with its small and medium-sized enterprises has the potential to secure jobs and income. Unfortunately, the search for qualified employees and successors is often difficult.
Although the training tracks offered in the wood industry are diverse, surveys still classify work in the wood industry as physically demanding and the industry is also classified as a typical "male industry". Not only are women still underrepresented in the wood industry, there is a general lack of well-trained female and male junior staff.
The project was designed to encourage children and young people to work scientifically with wood, to raise awareness of wood as a raw material and material with a promising future in a playful and age-appropriate manner, to identify and utilize talents and individual strengths, and to provide a solid basis for future educational decisions, especially since the foundation for the choice of training and career is often laid in kindergarten and elementary school. In this respect, the "Wood be better!" project starts by raising awareness among children and young people as well as their educators and parents.
The 2-years project (2020-2022) has been completed, and a follow-up project on the topic of innovative production technologies based on lignocellulose in the light of the circular economy (ReThinkWood) was initiated based on this and submitted to the Austrian Research Promotion Agency.
The project was recognised as a success project by the Austrian Research Promotion Agency and awarded the Wissenschaf[f]t Zukunft Prize 2020 (Preise - Gesellschaft für Forschungsförderung NÖ (gff-noe.at)) in the "Call for Concepts" category by the Lower Austrian Research and Education Agency.
