The planned degree program is planned to qualify graduates who can function as multipliers, interacting an understanding of clinical concepts throughout society. These might consist of, on the one hand, instructors who gear up students to compare scientific information, trusted details from different sources, and simply purported truths. On the other hand, they might include people operating in science management– for example in policy, public administration, or research study funding– who engage with clinical findings, consisting of how those findings are produced and where their uncertainties lie. Imparting such competencies is ending up being progressively important, as much info is no longer editorially evaluated by journalistic outlets, however rather spreads out directly through a multitude of channels on digital platforms– often along with purposeful disinformation. To guarantee that well-founded, democratic viewpoint formation stays possible, the important judgement of media users is for that reason to be methodically strengthened through a series of multipliers.
The task builds on TU Dortmund University’s more than twenty years of experience in the field of science journalism– and links this with the university’s locations of strength in instructor education and continuing professional development. Over the four-year financing period supplied by the Foundation, the curriculum will be developed to fulfill the particular requirements of the appropriate primary target groups: (prospective) teaching and leadership personnel in schools and continuing education, along with individuals looking for to advance their credentials for careers in science management or science policy.
The program can also be finished as a part-time certificate program
The planned program thereby closes a space in the instructional landscape: no German higher education institution presently uses a program that incorporates clinical, data, AI, and media literacy within an integrative design of “info assessment skills.” Moreover, the program is developed to serve as a design in another respect: the curriculum will be available not only as a full master’s degree, but also in excerpted type as a part-time certificate program. To this end, TU Dortmund University plans to utilize a planned amendment to the Higher Education Law in North Rhine-Westphalia that will promote corresponding “micro-credentials,” thereby enhancing the university’s role as a site of lifelong learning.
The task is led by Professor Holger Wormer of the Chair of Science Journalism, together with Teacher Bernadette Gold for the location of instructor education, and Professor Uwe Wilkesmann and Teacher Cornelius Schubert, who contribute their knowledge in continuing education, science management, and the sociology of science and technology. Extra scholastic partners consist of the Center for Advanced Internet Research Studies (CAIS) and the Rhine-Ruhr Center for Science Interaction Research Study. From the professional side, cooperations are prepared with, to name a few, Wissenschaft im Dialog (Science in Dialog), the Science Library Germany, and the Wissenschaftspressekonferenz (Science Press Conference).
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