Today, optics and photonics is widely regarded as one of the most important key technologies of this century. Optics and photonics touch almost all areas of our life and cover a wide range of applications in science and industry, e.g. in information and communication technology, medicine, life science or in energy and environmental technology.
For many years, the Vorarlberg University of Applied Sciences (FHV) has endeavored to arouse and strengthen children's interest, especially in the MINT areas (Mathematics, Informatics, Natural sciences, and Technology) already in primary and secondary schools. To this purpose, the FHV runs numerous cooperation projects with various schools in the region. Flexible in the time structure, workshops on different technical topics are organized and embedded in the school lessons. The technical level is adapted to the previous knowledge of the students, the goal of the workshop and their age. In this way, a direct practical relevance can be conveyed.
One of these projects is the QUANTUM education project. As part of this project, we have organized workshops directly in the teaching process at the secondary schools to get young people in particular interested in optics and photonics. We have prepared many practical activities, hands-on experiments with lasers, LEDs, lenses, optical fibers, and other high-tech components, and videos to explain how modern communication over novel optical networks works. We have met with a very positive response from both, the teachers and students. In our presentation we would like to share our teaching experiences from these workshops.

Authors:
Dana Seyringer, Vorarlberg University of Applied Sciences, Austria
Arno Grabher-Meyer, V-Research GmbH, Austria
Daniela Seyringer, University of Innsbruck, Austria

About the Presenter(s)
Professor Dana Seyringer is a University Associate Professor/Senior Lecturer at Vorarlberg University of Applied Sciences in Austria

See this presentation on the full schedule – Monday Schedule

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