The scheduled degree program is intended to qualify graduates who can serve as multipliers, communicating an understanding of scientific principles throughout society. These might include, on the one hand, teachers who gear up pupils to distinguish between clinical data, dependable details from numerous sources, and simply purported truths. On the other hand, they might include people operating in science management– for instance in policy, public administration, or research study funding– who engage with scientific findings, consisting of how those findings are produced and where their uncertainties lie. Imparting such proficiencies is becoming increasingly essential, as much information is no longer editorially evaluated by journalistic outlets, but instead spreads straight through a wide variety of channels on digital platforms– often alongside deliberate disinformation. To guarantee that well-founded, democratic opinion formation stays possible, the critical judgement of media users is for that reason to be systematically reinforced through a series of multipliers.
The project develops 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 funding duration provided by the Foundation, the curriculum will be established to meet the particular needs of the appropriate primary target groups: (potential) teaching and leadership personnel in schools and continuing education, along with individuals looking for to advance their qualifications for professions in science management or science policy.
The program can also be completed as a part-time certificate program
The planned program thereby closes a space in the educational landscape: no German higher education institution currently offers a program that integrates scientific, data, AI, and media literacy within an integrative design of “info assessment skills.” Moreover, the program is developed to serve as a model in another regard: the curriculum will be offered not only as a full master’s degree, however also in excerpted type as a part-time certificate program. To this end, TU Dortmund University plans to utilize a prepared amendment to the College Law in North Rhine-Westphalia that will promote matching “micro-credentials,” consequently strengthening the university’s role as a website of long-lasting learning.
The task is led by Professor Holger Wormer of the Chair of Science Journalism, together with Professor Bernadette Gold for the location of teacher education, and Professor Uwe Wilkesmann and Professor Cornelius Schubert, who contribute their know-how in continuing education, science management, and the sociology of science and innovation. Additional academic partners consist of the Center for Advanced Internet Studies (CAIS) and the Rhine-Ruhr Center for Science Communication Research. From the professional side, cooperations are planned with, among others, Wissenschaft im Dialog (Science in Dialog), the Science Media Center Germany, and the Wissenschaftspressekonferenz (Science Press Conference).
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