Extracurricular Science Labs for STEM Talent Support

Abstract

In the past decade, a growing lack of engineers, natural scientists, information technology experts, and mathematicians has been noted, especially in Europe. Corresponding to the need to attract young people to science and technology, numerous extracurricular science labs (“out-of-school labs”) have been established, especially in Germany. One of these initiatives is the DLR_School_Lab Oberpfaffenhofen, operated by Germany’s national research center for aeronautics and space, DLR, and a typical example of such an out-of-school lab. It offers hands-on experiments for secondary-school classes, advanced teacher training, and, as a special feature, enrichment courses for gifted students. In this article the concept behind the DLR_School_Lab is described, as well as the suitability of this lab to offer enrichment projects for talented school students. Other aspects discussed are its teacher education concept and the effectiveness of the concept of extracurricular science labs.