Research Project "Understanding Complex STEM Topics: Promoting 21st Century Competencies with Simulations" (siMINT)
German title: Forschungsprojekt „Komplexe MINT-Themen verstehen: Mit Simulationen Kompetenzen für das 21. Jahrhundert fördern“ (siMINT)

The siMINT project investigates from the perspectives of biology, mathematics, and computer science education how 21st century skills for understanding complex STEM topics can be promoted using computer simulations. At the core of this initiative is interdisciplinary STEM research on modeling competence, risk competence, and dealing with uncertainty through computer simulations. Evidence-based teaching and learning concepts and standards for competency development are being developed in collaboration with stakeholders from school practice, academia, and industry.

Duration: August 1, 2022 – July 31, 2025
Funding Amount: EUR 1.1 million
Funded by: The Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)
Grant Number: 16MF1070A

Project Structure

The collaborative project siMINT is led by Prof. Dr. Benedikt Heuckmann at the University of Münster and comprises the following sub-projects:

Sub-project siMINT-MK:
Promoting Modeling Competence as a 21st Century Competency through Simulations
Responsible: Prof. Dr. Dirk Krüger, Prof. Dr. Ralf Romeike (Freie Universität Berlin)

Sub-project siMINT-RK:
Promoting Risk Competence as a 21st Century Competency through Simulations
Responsible: Prof. Dr. Andreas Eichler (University of Kassel), Prof. Dr. Karin Binder (LMU Munich)

Sub-project siMINT-UU:
Promoting Competence in Dealing with Uncertainty as a 21st Century Competency through Simulations
Responsible: Prof. Dr. Benedikt Heuckmann (WWU Münster), Prof. Dr. Kerstin Kremer (JLU Gießen)

Project Coordinator: Dr. Carolin Christmann (WWU Münster)

For any inquiries, please contact us at projektsiMINT@uni-muenster.de.

Project Activities (ProjectLog)

• Project Activities May - August 2024

  Data Collection

  Delphi Survey Second Round

  The sub-project "Dealing with Uncertainty" (siMINT-UU) initiated the second round of the Delphi survey. This round included not only the national panel (first round) but also an international panel of STEM education specialists and researchers.

  Data Collection in Schools

  Data collection is being carried out in schools across several federal states within the siMINT sub-projects. siMINT staff collaborate with stakeholders from teaching practice and educational administration for this purpose. The data collected is used to formulate evidence-based conclusions for tasks in STEM education.

  Digitalization-Related Coaching on Block-Based Simulations, June 11, 2024

  On June 11, 2024, the siMINT collaborative project hosted an online workshop as part of the "Digitalization-Related Coaching" work package. The workshop focused on developing simulations using the "Snap!" programming environment, which allows real-world phenomena to be represented through a block-based simulation environment. The workshop was led by project staff member Anna Opaska (Computer Education Group, FU Berlin). Participants included siMINT project members and other interested parties from various universities who joined via WebEx.

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• Project Activities January - April 2024

  Project Meeting in Kassel

  On January 15, 2024, the teams from the sub-projects "Risk Competence & Dealing with Uncertainty" and "Risk Competence & Modeling Competence" met at the University of Kassel. The meeting focused on coordination and preparation for the upcoming stakeholder conference, as well as the interdisciplinary and cross-sub-project conceptualization of teaching materials.

  2nd Stakeholder Conference in Munich

  The second stakeholder conference of the siMINT project took place at the Catholic Academy in Munich from January 19 to 20, 2024. During the conference, stakeholders involved in the project collaboratively developed and refined teaching materials. Scientific tools for measuring the competencies investigated in the project were also presented and discussed. Additionally, Dr. Jacqueline Anthes (Deputy Instructor in the Teaching and Research Area of Computer Science 9 – Learning Technologies at RWTH Aachen University and Head of Computer Science at ZfsL Engelskirchen) provided insights into her work on the computer simulation "Algae Farm" in a workshop, which served as a catalyst for interdisciplinary discussions.

  

• Project Activities November - December 2023

  Engagement with Stakeholders in the Sub-Project "Dealing with Uncertainty"

  In November 2023, numerous meetings took place between stakeholders from school practice and members of the sub-project "Dealing with Uncertainty." These discussions aimed at mutual exchange and substantive preparation for the second stakeholder conference, scheduled for January 2024 in Munich. Together with the stakeholders, tasks are being developed to promote the competency of dealing with uncertainty.

  Meeting of the Sub-Projects "Modeling Competence" and "Dealing with Uncertainty"

  In November, the sub-projects "Modeling Competence" and "Dealing with Uncertainty" gathered for a joint exchange at the Freie Universität Berlin. The meetings focused on developing joint approaches for cross-sub-project competency promotion and discussing the current project status.

  Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

  siMINT wishes everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

   

• Project Activities June - October 2023

  Conducting a Delphi Study

  In June 2023, the siMINT project began conducting a Delphi study to clarify modeling competence, risk competence, and dealing with uncertainty. Experts in STEM didactics and disciplines were surveyed to create an interdisciplinary understanding of these competencies. In the second round, the qualitative results from the first round will be quantitatively evaluated to achieve consensus.

  Conference Participation by the siMINT Project Team

  Throughout the summer, siMINT project members represented the project at numerous conferences:

  During the "International Conference of the Biology Education Section (FDdB) in VBIO" from September 18-21, 2023, at the University of Education Ludwigsburg, the following contributions were presented:

  Presentation by Simon Blauza, Prof. Kerstin Kremer, and Prof. Benedikt Heuckmann: "Using Computer Simulations on Medical Topics to Diagnose and Promote Understanding of Uncertainty and Risk" within the symposium "Medicine and Science".

  Poster by Dr. Carolin Christmann and the siMINT Project Team: "Promoting 21st Century Competencies with Simulations: Interdisciplinary Understanding of Modeling and Modeling Competence, Risk and Risk Competence, and Dealing with Uncertainty".

  At the 20th GI Conference "Informatics and School" (INFOS) from September 20-22, 2023, at the University of Würzburg, the project was also represented:

  Poster by Aljoscha Peters and Prof. Ralf Romeike: "(Computer) Modeling and Simulation as a Method in STEM Education: Promoting 21st Century Competencies with Simulations: Interdisciplinary Understanding of Modeling and Modeling Competence, Risk and Risk Competence, and Dealing with Uncertainty".

  During the 18th IMST Annual Conference from September 26-27, 2023, at the University of Innsbruck, Prof. Benedikt Heuckmann presented insights into the project work with his lecture titled "Future Skill: Dealing with Uncertainty. What We Should Consider in Biology Education".

  Publications

• siMINT at the MNU National Congress (April 28 - May 1, 2023)

  During the MNU National Congress 2023 at the University of Koblenz, Karin Binder and Benedikt Heuckmann presented insights from the siMINT project on promoting risk competence from the perspectives of mathematics and biology education. In their presentation titled "On Risks and Side Effects – Promoting Risk Competence Interdisciplinarily in Biology and Mathematics Education," they explored various perspectives on topics such as infection protection for corona viruses (e.g., infection probability and risk factors for infection) using different visualization tools and simulations.

  In the second part of the presentation, infections with HIV, HPV, chlamydia, and syphilis were exemplified for the topic of sexually transmitted infections. The interplay between mathematics and biology was demonstrated, for instance, through HIV antibody tests: from a mathematical perspective, the interesting question is the probability that a person is actually infected with HIV after receiving a positive antibody test result, while biology education aims to promote a scientifically adequate understanding of how antibody tests work, explaining invalid, false-negative, or false-positive test results.

  The slides for the presentation can be requested from the authors.

  

• 1st Stakeholder Conference in Berlin (March 17-18, 2023)

  STEM Education with Simulations: First Stakeholder Conference in Berlin

  How can the understanding of complex STEM phenomena be promoted through computer simulations? What perspectives arise for STEM education in schools? These questions were addressed during the first stakeholder conference of the BMBF-funded collaborative project "Understanding Complex STEM Topics: Promoting 21st Century Competencies with Simulations" (siMINT), held on March 17-18, 2023, at the Freie Universität Berlin. The conference brought together researchers in STEM education and multipliers from school education.

  The conference began with a keynote speech by Prof. Dr. Dirk Brockmann (Complex Biological Systems Group at the Institute for Theoretical Biology, Humboldt University of Berlin). Prof. Brockmann provided insights into his work with computer simulations and complexity, which he utilized in his research on epidemiological modeling of infectious diseases at the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) during the COVID-19 pandemic. In his presentation, Prof. Brockmann showcased "Complexity Explorables," dynamic simulations of complex natural phenomena such as flocking behavior in fish and birds. From the perspective of complexity research, he impressively illustrated that complex phenomena follow common principles regardless of the specific field (e.g., mathematical fractals and the structure of lichens).

  In four workshops, stakeholders then collaborated with siMINT project participants on topics including computer simulations, modeling competence, risk competence, and dealing with uncertainty. In addition to fundamental questions about theoretical distinctions and approaches, the practical implementation in teaching was also a focus. The siMINT project aims to co-construct formats for interdisciplinary promotion of future competencies with computer simulations in collaboration with multipliers from school education (e.g., subject seminar leaders for trainee teachers) and implement them in STEM education.

  Following the successful inaugural meeting in Berlin, researchers are now working together with multipliers on the design of tasks to promote modeling competence, risk competence, and dealing with uncertainty using simulations.

  Contact: Carolin.Christmann@uni-muenster.de

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• Workshop on the Delphi Method with Dr. Irene Neumann, IPN Kiel (December 21, 2022)

  On December 21, 2022, the siMINT collaborative project hosted a digital workshop on the Delphi method. We were pleased to have Dr. Irene Neumann, head of the research group "Teaching and Learning at the Interface of Physics and Mathematics" at the IPN - Leibniz Institute for Science and Mathematics Education in Kiel, as our speaker. Dr. Neumann, who led the Delphi studies "MaLeMINT" and "MaLeMINT-E," provided us with many fascinating methodological insights into the Delphi method. In addition to the participants from the siMINT project, other interested individuals from various universities joined the workshop via Zoom.

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• Projekttreffen an der Universität Münster (04.11.2022)

  Am 04.11.2022 veranstaltete das siMINT-Konsortium im Alexander-von-Humboldt-Haus an der Universität Münster eine projektinterne Auftakttagung zum fachgruppenübergreifenden Austausch über Simulationen, Modellier- und Risikokompetenz sowie dem Umgang mit Unsicherheit.

   

• Round Table at the University of Vienna (August 31, 2022)

  On August 31, 2022, the siMINT project hosted a round table during the joint conference of the Gesellschaft für Fachdidaktik (GFD) and the Österreichische Gesellschaft für Fachdidaktik (ÖGFD) at the University of Vienna, Austria. The round table focused on "Promoting STEM Competencies with Simulations – A Positioning of Theoretical Approaches and Concepts." The siMINT project team, together with representatives from various subject didactics, discussed concepts, theoretical approaches, and the understanding of terms related to simulations, modeling competence, risk competence, and dealing with uncertainty.

  

  

  

• Pressemitteilung der WWU Münster: "Forscher nehmen Simulationen in der MINT-Bildung unter die Lupe"

  Forscher nehmen Simulationen in der MINT-Bildung unter die Lupe. BMBF fördert Forschungsverbund mit 1,1 Millionen Euro / Koordination an der Universität Münster. Pressemitteilung der WWU Münster