The Children’s university at the University of Žilina endeavors to conduce to solving an extra important public problem – the increase of the education level of the nation with emphasis especially on young generation to show research and development importance for the future public improvement. It is necessary to teach young people to think and not only to absorb presented knowledge. It is necessary to reduce the quantity of encyclopedic knowledge and to underline the requirement of the knowledge depth and creative mind, too. The basic aim of the Children’s university is to bring technical science to the attention of the school age children, to eliminate their respect of such subjects as mathematics and physics, and to near them the meaning of research and the application of its results in everyday life.
Organization |
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| Organization name | Faculty of Electrical Engineering, University of Zilina, Slovakia (Elektrotechnická fakulta, Žilinská univerzita, Slovensko) |
| Organization type | Academic |
| City | Žilina, Liptovský Mikuláš |
| Country | Slovakia |
Activities & Offers |
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| Since | Jul 2005 |
| Scheduling | Regular: once a year, series about 13 lectures during one week of summer (Comment: during 5 workdays from 8 a.m. till 4 p.m. evety yaer (generally 2nd week of July in Zilina, 3rd week of July in Liptovsky Mikulas)) |
| Kinds of activities | DEMONSTRATION, EXCURSION, LECTURE, WORKSHOP |
| Activities per year | 22 |
Participants & Target Groups (Part 1) |
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| Age of main target group | Depending on each single activity ranging from 8 to 12 years (Comment: "little bachelors" - age 8-9, "little engineers" - age 10-11) |
| Activities for other target groups | Not yet, but intended: schoolage children (older than 12 years) |
Participants & Target Groups (Part 2) |
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| Effect on the participants | motivation to study and investigation, inspiration, new knowledge |
| Reliable data concerning the children's social background available | no |
| Subjective estimation: Tendencies concerning social background | children from social family has free fee |
| Specific efforts to include children of every social background / of every social and educational level | no |
| Documentation available | -unknown- |
Lecturers |
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| Lecturers | Academic staff of several universities, |
| Universities/Explanation | University of Zilina, Comenius University of Bratislava (Faculty of Medicine in Martin) |
Lecturers Support |
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| Lecturers support | |
| Lecturers support is mandatory | -no information available yet- |
| Effect of the Children's University on lecturers | challenge, inspiration, |
| Written material available | No |
Administration & Cooperation |
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| Organizationally located within a university/institution of higher education | No |
| Venue is a university/institution of higher education | Yes, for all activities: Univeristy of Zilina (Faculty of Electrical, Mechanical, Civil, Special Engineering, Faculty of Operation and Ecomonics of Transport and Communications, Workplace of Faculty of Electrical Engineering in Liptovsky Mikulas) |
| Cooperation between institution and external partners concerning Children's University activities | No |
| Cooperation between institution and other organizers of Children's University activities | Yes, occasionally, with: changing information in conferences |
| In contact with an organization which is intending to start a Children's University | No |
| Cooperation between the Children's University and schools/single teachers | Yes, with one/several single teachers: teachers from basic schools, grammar schools |
Concept & Documentation |
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| A policy paper / code of practice / manual is available | Yes (Comment: Our Children’s university is based on popularization of science and technology results through lectures and practical exercises.) |
| Evaluation results are available | Yes (Comment: http://duef.uniza.sk/index.php?go=anketa08_ing, http://duef.uniza.sk/index.php?go=anketa08_bc (but only in Slovak)) |
| Publications about or from this Children's University | Yes: P. Hockicko , G. Tarjányiová, J. Müllerová.: How to attract the interest of school-age children in science, Proceedings of the 16th Conference of Czech and Slovak Physicists, Hradec Králové (September 2008) (will be published) |
Planning/Organization & Implementation |
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| Thematic Priorities | Always the same main emphasis: The basic aim is to bring technical science to the attention of the school age children, to eliminate their respect of such subjects as mathematics and physics, and to near them the meaning of research and the application of its results in everyday life. |
| Coming up with subjects/topics of activities | By chance, |
| Imitation of „academic life” | |
| Number of people involved in the planning/organization | 14 (8 women) |
| Number of people involved in the implementation | 14 (8 women) |
Participation |
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| Conditions for participation | none |
| How is the Children's University advertised? | using web, advertise in local newspaper, information for school in poster |
| Actively inviting certain groups | no |
| Offering incentives to promote regular participation | no |
| Charges participation fee | Flat fee per period of activities (about 24 EUR) |
Gender Aspects |
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| Percentage of female participants | 37% |
| Percentage of female lecturers | 39% |
| Subjects/topics are chosen considering gender aspects | No |
| The Children's University is considering gender aspects concerning the target group | No |
| Documentation concerning the consideration of gender aspects available | -no information available yet- |