Green STEM voices contribute positively to young people's interest in HTX

The project “HTX - Green STEM voices for a sustainable future” bridges primary schools and HTX through teaching courses and bridging activities that show the application of STEM subjects and career opportunities in interaction with the primary school's other subjects. Already after the first project year, an evaluation shows that students are influenced in a positive direction when they are presented with exciting teaching courses that involve visits to the local HTX. The project has collected both quantitative and qualitative data.

Almost 190 students have participated in a quantitative questionnaire across the participating municipalities, Billund, Haderslev, Kolding, and Vejle. The results show that the project has already had a clear effect in its first phase: More young people in the upper levels of primary school have gained greater knowledge of the youth education HTX and have developed an increased interest in the natural science subjects.

In addition, 14 students have been interviewed about their experiences participating in the project. The interviews clearly point to three central themes that resonate strongly with the young people:

• Practical and hands-on learning – where you “have it in your hands yourself” – is experienced as motivating and fun
• It is exciting and inspiring to get out of the house and visit HTX and their facilities
• A combination of freedom, experiments, and structure in natural science courses increases the young people's learning outcomes

Overall, the results show that the project contributes positively to the young people's motivation, learning, and interest in natural science and the technical education path, HTX.