Chair of Materials and Surface Engineering
Materials and Surface Engineering
Chair of Materials and Surface Engineering 

Successful combined teaching and learning concept of the WOT professorship celebrates its 5th anniversary


As part of the „Metallic Materials“ course for students on the primary school teaching degree programme, a work placement for primary school classes has been taking place for five years now. The speciality here is that the student teachers plan and carry out the practical course themselves. This creates a completely new space for initial practical experience in the fields of materials and mechanical engineering - for both the students and the primary school pupils.

In the last unit of the course „Metallic Materials“, students on the primary school teaching degree programme specialising in economics, technology, home economics and social studies pass on their specialist knowledge to pupils in a primary school class for the first time. The prospective teachers independently plan and organise a practical course, which usually consists of five experimental stations, each of which is supervised by two student teachers and only supported by staff from the WOT professorship. The 25 or so pupils taking part learn, for example, that metals can be as liquid as water if they are made hot enough, and can apply this knowledge when casting pewter figurines. They explore the structure of metals using an optical microscope and also learn why metals often rust and therefore need to be protected against corrosion. The most impressive thing every year is the tensile test, in which the pupils can tear aluminium and steel samples apart with combined force. Other stations deal, for example, with the relationship between hardness and wear resistance, the use of different main material groups in simple technical applications or the production of pig iron in the thermite test.

The dual nature of the combined teaching and learning concept has worked every time so far. On the one hand, the participating pupils learn about materials science work at a research facility while still at primary school age. On the other hand, the primary school teaching students gain early experience in teaching scientific and technical content to children. The format also offers students a further benefit: by preparing the station content, the prospective teachers consolidate the knowledge acquired in the course in an almost playful way.

Pictures: Impressions of the student internship of the course „Metallic Materials“ from 30 January 2024 (Photos: WOT)

5.2.2024 – Teaching at the professorship ( )

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