First Aachen School-University Symposium

On 06.01.2021 the first Aachen School-University Symposium took place. We, the teaching and research area i9 as well as the InfoSphere - Schülerlabor Informatik, organized a workshop on the topic "Mandatory subject computer science in grade 5/6 - what, why and how?". The aim of this workshop was to give the participants an insight into already existing working materials as well as into the application possibilities of different hard- and software, which can be used for the computer science lessons in the lower school. Furthermore, an exchange between them regarding their previous experiences in the field of computer science should be made possible.

First, the topics that the participants considered relevant to introduce computer science in grades 5 and 6 online using a Wordcloud were collected. This revealed that a fundamental question must first be answered: How should the subject of computer science be differentiated from the subject of ITG in the lower grades? In order to be able to answer this question, the participants were given an insight into the modules developed by InfoSphere for the lower school as well as the opportunity to explore further working materials and tools that appear suitable for the lower school. The experiences made were finally discussed among each other with regard to different factors such as present vs. digital materials or the prerequisites that schools and students have to bring along.