The Future of Education

In 2024, only 16% of employees in the fields of mathematics, computer science, natural sciences and technology (STEM) in Germany were women. [1] The Girls' Day program offers pupils in fifth grade and above (girls in the age of 10 to 17 years) practical insights into career fields in which women are still significantly underrepresented. During the program, they can visit companies and institutions and learn about the relevant career fields. [2] Since 2001, the German Federal Government has also been specifically supporting this initiative, which has so far offered more than 2.38 million places. [3] Aachen University of Applied Sciences is also happy to participate in this program for girls. The students should not only be informed about the possibilities of studying engineering, for example, but should also become active themselves. In order to make complex topics in the field of building technology more tangible and fun to experience, teachers and staff of the Smart Building Engineering program have developed a game similar to an “escape room”, in which the students have to solve tasks on the topic of “energy consumption and energy savings in buildings” in small groups at various stations. Each task then leads to the next. Only if all tasks are solved correctly within the allotted time the overall problem can be successfully solved. The participating students had a lot of fun with the format and solved the game well. Their interest in complex issues such as energy consumption, savings opportunities in buildings, and thus climate protection was awakened in a playful way and should be continued in future.