Howard Gardner and professor of science learning Svein Sjøberg are two of the Board members of the Universe Foundation - a new Foundation which will turn Danfoss Universe into more than an experience park. The Foundation will focus on creating better teaching for pupils, for instance by envisaging the classroom of the future.
Since its inauguration in 2005, the Danfoss Universe experience park in northern Als has been visited by more than 25,000 pupils who have experienced a different, fun and experimental approach to technology and science
This has given Danfoss Universe the opportunity to prevent other dimensions of teaching and learning than that found in a traditional classroom. These efforts are now intensifying with the establishment of the Universe Foundation whose purpose is to work with learning and educational processes to shape the teaching methods and facilities of the future. The Foundation operates independently from the park and is therefore free to perform research into learning in a broader perspective.
Established by Danfoss Universe A/S, the Foundation will have a competent Board comprising experts from Denmark and abroad. For instance, one board member is Professor Howard Gardner of Harvard University, USA, who devised the theory of multiple intelligences and enjoys great international respect for his work in the field. The other members are Svein Sjøberg, professor of science learning and education at Oslo University, Norway, who is special adviser to the EU, OECD and a number of European countries in issues of learning and natural sciences; and Charlotte Rønhof, Research Director for the Confederation of Danish Industries. The board is chaired by Anette Clausen, who is also chairperson of the board for Danfoss Universe A/S.
The first task of the Universe Foundation is to work on a project entitled Teaching Facilities of the Future, which, as the name implies, will submit proposals for teaching and classrooms of the future. Research has already been done in this field, but very little has been converted into practical applications - and this is what the project aims to do in close collaboration with the Danfoss Universe and its many science exhibits and attractions.
The project will be managed by the Foundation but the actual work will be performed jointly with a vast number of experts from Denmark and abroad. The knowledge gathered and practical examples produced by the Foundation will subsequently be made available to the general public.