Children’s University on Tour approaches especially children from families with no academic background and/or with a migratory background. With this in mind it is a complementary project to the Vienna Children's University. Children's University on Tour addresses children from the periphery and underperforming groups that haven’t had any contact with science yet and without a concrete idea of universities. Kids come face to face with science and research often for the very first time and in their accustomed environment. By means of a mobile lecture room and do it yourself research boxes with hands-on-experiments Children's University on Tour comes to the places where they usually spend a large part of their holiday - in playgrounds, parks and youth centres.
Organization |
|
| Organization name | Vienna University Children's Office (Kinderbüro Universität Wien GmbH) |
| Organization type | Non Profit Company - Owned by the University of Vienna |
| City | Vienna |
| Country | Austria |
Activities & Offers |
|
| Since | Aug 2007 |
| Scheduling | Regular: every summer |
| Kinds of activities | LECTURE, Science Boxes with hands on activities |
| Activities per year | 10 |
Participants & Target Groups (Part 1) |
|
| Age of main target group | For all types of activities from 7 to 12 years (Comment: variable) |
| Activities for other target groups | -none- |
Participants & Target Groups (Part 2) |
|
| Effect on the participants | Children experience an entertaining afternoon with science. They get in contact with scientists who come into their familiar quarter to talk and answer their questions. Children get impressions of various scientific fields through lectures and experiments (comic-strips as explanation) and discover their own possibilities to test and experiment even with limited resources. They experience that science is omnipresent in daily life. Children learn about the term “university” and “children’s university” and can inform themselves about universities and higher education (info booth, personal talks with the tutors). They participate often for the first time at a science activity and are invited to join other projects like the Children’s University. By means of comic-strip collectors cards with experiments they can bring science at home and can recap their experimentations with friends and family. |
| Reliable data concerning the children's social background available | yes: Evalution with questionnaires after the activities. |
| Subjective estimation: Tendencies concerning social background | -unknown- |
| Specific efforts to include children of every social background / of every social and educational level | yes: cooperation with youth centres; low-threshold concept on public places mostly at the periphery; free of charge;Voluntariness; easy access: Coming and going; Do-it-yourself; Tutors for support (experiments, language skills) and as role models; Low cost / low tech materials (everyday products); Comic strips for explanation; easy to understand; Take-away experiments; Support in target group languages; Youth workers as contact persons; etc. |
| Documentation available | yes |
Lecturers |
|
| Lecturers | Academic staff of several universities, |
| Universities/Explanation | - |
Lecturers Support |
|
| Lecturers support | Other support/assistance: Infrastructure, Advice: Briefing for the special park situation |
| Lecturers support is mandatory | No, it is optional |
| Effect of the Children's University on lecturers | Academic staff that is able to communicate their complex fields of research towards children and young people in a way which gets them thrilled by science at an early age, can do this for almost everyone. (Courtesy of Chris Gary ; )) Lectures have to be more precise and concise because of a short attention span of the audience. In comparison to other children’s universities projects scientists have more room for personal contact because of the limited number of participants and because the children spend more time together with the scientists. Scientist experience the excitement of children that very often would not have the chance to get in contact with science (mostly with migration/deprived background). |
| Written material available | No |
Administration & Cooperation |
|
| Organizationally located within a university/institution of higher education | No, but there is a cooperation with Universität Wien |
| Venue is a university/institution of higher education | No: Die Kinderuni on Tour findet in Parks und an öffentlichen Plätzen in Wien statt, insbesondere in den Außenbezirken bzw. in jenen Bezirken mit hohem MigrantInnenanteil |
| Cooperation between institution and external partners concerning Children's University activities | Yes..., with: Jugendzentren, Parkbetreuung, Wiener Bezirke |
| Cooperation between institution and other organizers of Children's University activities | Yes, on a regular basis, with: EUCU.NET |
| In contact with an organization which is intending to start a Children's University | Yes: yes |
| Cooperation between the Children's University and schools/single teachers | No cooperation with schools/teachers |
Concept & Documentation |
|
| A policy paper / code of practice / manual is available | No |
| Evaluation results are available | Yes |
| Publications about or from this Children's University | Yes: Infokarten für die Kinder, Werbekarten, Web. |
Planning/Organization & Implementation |
|
| Thematic Priorities | No thematic priorities |
| Coming up with subjects/topics of activities | Advising/consultation: Youth Centers, etc., By chance, |
| Imitation of „academic life” | |
| Number of people involved in the planning/organization | 3 (8 women) |
| Number of people involved in the implementation | 11 (8 women) |
| Comments on the number of involved people | Changing from year to year and day to day. |
Participation |
|
| Conditions for participation | none |
| How is the Children's University advertised? | Cooperation Partners (Youth Centers,...); Website; Flyer; Poster; Newsletter; Press releases; Press Conference (together with Vienna Children's University) |
| Actively inviting certain groups | no |
| Offering incentives to promote regular participation | no |
| Charges participation fee | No |
Gender Aspects |
|
| Percentage of female participants | 50% |
| Percentage of female lecturers | 50% |
| Subjects/topics are chosen considering gender aspects | Yes: Selection of lecturers and the tutors; focus on special topics |
| The Children's University is considering gender aspects concerning the target group | Yes: as above |
| Documentation concerning the consideration of gender aspects available | Yes |