For more than fifteen years, the state government in North Rhine-Westphalia has been implementing various measures to promote MINT young talent via the zdi joint offensive. To ensure that zdi's work can be carried out successfully and at the same time be measurable in terms of quality, several basic elements of quality assurance have been developed. These have been developed over the years by the zdi networks and their partners as well as the Ministry of Science and the zdi state office. They serve to ensure that, despite all the differences in the regional networks, a uniform methodology for quality assurance is applied and a constant exchange between the regions is guaranteed
elements of quality assurance at zdi
The zdi actors use the following quality assurance tools:
- zdi seal of quality and the six sub-concepts of each zdi network
- Annual monitoring and status reports
of the zdi networks - Certification of the zdi regional office
according to AZAV as a prerequisite for the
Implementation of the BSO-MINT program - zdi Academy
- Thematic experience exchange rounds
- zdi regional districts
- zdi BarCamps
- zdi strategy group
Quality assurance at zdi.NRW
Interested parties can find details on these measures in the paper "Quality assurance at zdi.NRW’, which you can download here.
educational research
In the fall of 2015 Prof. Dr. Susan Buch and Prof. Dr. Sylvia Rahn from the Institute for Educational research at the University of Wuppertal the initiative zdi analyzed educationally. Due to the available budget, the study was limited to three zdi networks limited: Wuppertal, Ennepe-Ruhr district and Gütersloh. Against this background, the authors understand their analysis as a preliminary study that convincingly clarifies the question of the methodology of a valid investigation of the zdi networks and provides the first symptomatic findings.
The focus of the investigation was:
Network programmes, structures and actorsfactories
Effects of the zdi offers, particularly with regard to career and study orientation and with special consideration of gender-specific and social or migration policy aspects.
The essential Results are the following:
"The findings... testify to a high level of acceptance and a strong sense of success in the regional zdi networks."
The goals of zdi are "fully supported" by the partners despite different accents in the interests and expectations and are "in a meaningful supplementary relationship with other current state programs".
According to the participant survey, the zdi offers (including the offers at universities) are rated by their course participants as very effective in learning, were able to arouse interest in the course topics and convey knowledge of corresponding courses and professional fields as well as knowledge about the connections between technology and society .
In Participants: internal survey indicates differences in effect depending on the provider of the course. The participants in the university offers attest the offers to have a far greater effect on their professional ideas than those of the schools, but without completely achieving the effect of offers from companies. The combination of the offers with entrepreneurial, operational practice can (as is done at zdi) significantly increase the effects.
Universities can use zdi offers to reach secondary school students with a diverse cultural background in their region.
Among the participants of the courses of the zdi network of the University of Wuppertal who were interviewed for the study 40% of Realschule students, 32% of all students and 30% of high school students diverse cultural background (Percentage of people with international history in the population in Wuppertal: 35%).
The complete preliminary study and the results can be found here: