What impact does our work have
We are involved in technical education and the promotion of science and technology for youngsters because there lack of professionals in the area of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) is severe. A research conducted by German federations of employers like "BDA", "BDI", "Gesamtmetall" and "MINT Zukunft schaffen" has shown that in the beginning of 2019 there was a lack of over 300.900 skilled workers in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) area in Germany.*
Professional orientation starts in Kindergarten today and the non-profit HANDS on TECHNOLOGY e.V. and its educational programs help facilitate 21st century key skills at an early stage for children. We would like to encourage the participants to start a vocational training or studies in STEM.
Our programs strengthen digital competences and train social skills at the same time like teamwork, focussing on solutions and presentation skills. The teams learn to think and work like real engineers and scientists, which may give them orientation for their professional career. We know this from our own research and regular talks to experienced coaches guiding teams in our competition.
Each year we ask our coaches about the impacts our programs have on the participants. Here is a extract of the results after the FIRST LEGO League season 2018/19. The numbers show the answers "I fully agree" and "I agree":
- Participants have a higher interest in STEM topics 65.3%
- Participants have better Skills in the STEM area: 68.9%
- Participants engage in STEM topics outside of FIRST® LEGO® League : 69.4%
- Participants earn better grades in STEM subjects in school: 23.9%
- Participants learn the basics of scientific research: 62.2%
- Participants are able to develop solutions to problems in the STEM area: 75.1%
- Participants find it easer to present their ideas: 61.1%
- Participants learn to work together as a team: 86%
- Particpants have learned to structure their work and share tasks: 71%
- Participants have developed stamina and determination: 83.4%
90.7% of the coaches see FIRST LEGO League as a valuable educational programm, where children can learn many skills and 95.3% would recommend participation.
Former participants also confirm the impact, results of an survey can be found below and very personal testimonials can be seen in our Alumni-Videos.