For more than ten years, the Technical University of Applied Sciences Würzburg-Schweinfurt has cooperated with higher secondary schools (Gymnasien) from the region to support their P- and W-seminars with ideas, equipment, and know-how. But how does the cooperation work - and why does it exist at all?
Published on 10 October 2024
A digital get-together in November, project days in December, and a barcamp in the summer. In the P-Seminar "Digital Revolution", there is quite a programme for the eleventh-graders of the Würzburg Deutschhaus-Gymnasium. And as is usual in a P-seminar, the students are the ones who are responsible. The aim is to research information independently and prepare it in such a way that it can be presented to others. This is because the senior pupils conduct research not only for themselves, but above all for the younger year groups, to whom the "grown-ups" are supposed to introduce the content in various events. The P-seminar is supported by THWS. But why does the university help with a seminar at a Gymnasium?
First contact between pupils and THWS
"THWS wants to promote cooperation with schools and offer support in the areas it can cover that are required by the schools," explains Claudia Wegmann, who works at the Department of Public Affairs and Communications and is responsible for P- and W-seminars in school cooperations. "In the P- and W-seminars, we provide an insight into what is on offer at THWS." This promotes dialogue between the higher education institution and schools and also brings young people into contact with THWS. Pupils can choose the various seminars according to their interests or develop completely new interests and pursue them. In the best case, THWS could convince pupils to study at THWS that way. Wegmann adds: "The specific nature of the collaboration between the university and secondary school varies from seminar to seminar and develops within the framework of the respective project."
P-seminar "Revolution der Digitalität" ("Digital Revolution")
In cooperation with THWS, media scouts and P-seminars concerned with digital topics from other Lower Franconian Gymnasien participated in the so-called Digitaltreff (digital meet-up) in November. Here, participants were offered presentations and workshops on topics including fake news and ChatGPT - important content for the rest of the seminar. Because only a few weeks later, the project days "Augen auf im Internet" ("Be careful when online") were due at the Deutschhaus-Gymnasium. At the Deutschhaus-Gymnasium it has become a tradition for P-seminar pupils to inform sixth-graders about the different aspects of using the internet meaningfully and safely. For this, the seminar participants prepared their own teaching units and slipped into the teaching role. This year, everything revolved around the topics of cyberbullying, social networks, fake news, and ChatGPT as well as computer games, time management, and data protection. At the end of the event, the sixth-graders had to create a movie on an iPad.
The seminar participants organised a barcamp on the topic of "Meine digitale Welt" ("My digital world") for the eighth grade. In the morning, all barcamp participants discussed session topics they had chosen or even suggested themselves. This year focused on topics relating to artificial intelligence, e.g. medicine and AI, manipulation by AI, or autonomous driving.
One advantage of the P-seminar, that has been offered at the Deutschhaus-Gymnasium since 2011, is the annual thematic reorientation. "Ten years ago, Facebook was the focus of the seminar. Today, the network is no longer that interesting for pupils," Wegmann says. However, thanks to the commitment of teachers Brigitte Greiner and Margarete Klement and the cooperation with THWS, the programme is always up-to-date. And there is a lot of work behind the organisation: "That is why there is two of us," Brigitte Greiner explains.
But the seminar does not only serve to provide knowledge. By working out their own key topics and preparing and delivering lessons, the pupils take away even more. In this seminar, participants can try out and practise speaking freely in front of large groups, as well as performing and presenting.
Cooperation between THWS and Gymnasien
There are two different approaches how schools can cooperate with THWS for their W- and P-seminars. "Firstly, we have developed a catalogue with around ten project ideas from our faculties", Claudia Wegmann explains. The seminars are organised according to the subjects taught at school. The projects range from "Improving the acceptance of technical projects among the population" to "Social media behaviour - a code of conduct for pupils and students when using social networks" and "What do waste products have to do with photography and design". The catalogue was distributed at schools in the region. It is also available at the THWS homepage. Teachers can look for ideas and implement them together with the faculties. The commitment of the professors and teaching staff at THWS is voluntary in this case.
The other approach is that ideas are already developed at the schools and then brought to THWS. In this case, THWS acts as an external partner and provides support with equipment, devices, and expertise. "Since this year, we recommend interviews with external partners to get deeper insights into the project partners' work," Wegmann explains. The seminars are ideal to exchange informally with lecturers or students and ask questions directly to gain concrete insights into real student life.
The participants themselves decide how the cooperation with the University and the organisation of the seminars will actually take place in practice. "There is no fixed list that must be covered," Wegmann says. "The content and scope can be freely decided."
P-seminar: Practical for teens, schools, and THWS
The cooperation between THWS and various Gymnasien in the region benefits pupils, schools, and THWS in equal measure. The schools have a strong partner who can provide equipment and expertise and can also suggest or develop topics for seminars. The pupils also benefit from the collaboration. They also gain deeper insights into university life - over a longer period of time. Last but not least, THWS benefits from the cooperation: It can approach potential future students and familiarise them with what it has to offer - and in extremely high quality. "You could say that it is a win-win-win situation for everyone involved," Claudia Wegmann resumes.
What are W- and P-seminars?
In order to pass the Abitur, pupils at Gymnasien have to overcome a number of hurdles. In addition to exams, lectures, and oral tests, two seminars await the future Abitur pupils in year 11 - the W-seminar and the P-seminar. The "P-seminar" is a project-seminar, the "W-seminar" is an academic-propaedeutic seminar. Both seminars end at the end of the eleventh grade. In the W-seminar, an academic paper is created on a certain topic and presented afterwards. In the P-seminar, on the other hand, there is a roughly predefined project that the pupils can choose freely. The pupils organise and conduct the project themselves. In the project seminars, we often work together with external partners who provide support in the implementation - THWS is a partner for numerous seminars in the region.
