Our partners in the heart of the Alps-Adriatic-region
Studying at the AAU
Alpen-Adria-University Klagenfurt (AAU) is a young, innovative university located in the Austrian state of Carinthia, a meeting point of three cultures. Since its foundation in 1970, the university has established itself as Carinthia‘s leading academic institution and a hub for the whole of the Alps-Adriatic region in terms of knowledge acquisition, exchange and transfer. AAU’s research achievements and course offerings are well-recognized both nationally and internationally. Around 10,000 students study and research at AAU, approximately 1800 of whom come from overseas. Around 1500 staff work in the university’s four faculties, university centers and central administration.
Students gathering around a table. Photo: AAU Klagenfurt
Students leaving a building at AAU. Photo: AAU Klagenfurt
School education in different facets
The Institute for Instructional and School Development (German abbreviation: IUS), is an organisational unit of the Faculty for Interdisciplinary Studies at the Alpen-Adria-University Klagenfurt. Since 2004, the IUS has been one of six Austrian Educational Competence Centres (AECC). The IUS focuses its activities on those who learn and those who teach, on learning arrangements, organisations, and the educational system. It operates in the action fields of research and development, as well as those of teaching and counselling in the educational sphere, and it actively participates in national and international projects. Another of the IUS’ main areas of interest lies in teacher education and in-service training of teachers and also encompasses aspects pertaining to teacher professionalism. So the IUS has a long tradition between teacher education and professional development in STEM education. For example, the Pedagogy and Subject Instruction (PFL) Programme: The central element of these courses in STEM is action research. International STEM projects are also carried out – have a look f.e. at LINKS, KeyCoMath, or Artist.
Cooperation with Freiburg and ICSE
IUS has a long-standing cooperation with ICSE at the Freiburg University of Education. While officially involved since 2016 (in the European Network of STEM Professional Development Centres and the Project STEM PD Net), personal contact between Katja Maaß (Freiburg) and Stefan Zehetmeier (Klagenfurt) is going back even further: they came to know each other in the course of the Austrian nation-wide project IMST (Innovations Make Schools Top, led by Konrad Krainer, University of Klagenfurt): this project aims to support teachers in the development of STEM teaching. By participating in the IMST project, teachers are supported in the implementation and dissemination of innovations in teaching.
Stefan Zehetmeier
Representative of the IUS in the ICSE Consortium
Stefan Zehetmeier is AAU’s key partner in the ICSE consortium. He is an Associate Professor and his research interests include mathematics and science teacher education, school development, action research, evaluation and impact analysis of teacher professional development programmes. Contact Stefan at stefan.zehetmeier@aau.at.
