Work-Based Experiences for School Pupils in Universities

Because of many scientific issues, that are pervading our everyday lives while being open research fields and, therefore, rarely touched in secondary schools, education systems worldwide are challenged to a closer and synergic connection with scientific research, which however is still remarkably lacking. While researchers’ involvement in education and public outreach is still largely insufficient, misconceptions and oversimplification in science education and communication are a major issue. This work examines how experiences of work-based learning for secondary school pupils in universities can establish more structural connections, that might help in building mutual trust and in making science education more responsive to current scientific and technological challenges