The School for Teacher Education of the University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland (Fachhochschule Nordwestschweiz, FHNW) ranks amongst Switzerland's leading teacher education institutions. Through its educational programme and its vocationally oriented research activities focused on teaching, education and systems, it maintains and develops the educational systems deployed in the north-west of Switzerland. With around 3000 students attending its regular courses of study and in excess of 30,000 people attending its continuing education programmes, the School is one of the largest of its kind in German-speaking Switzerland (www.fhnw.ch/ph).
The Centre for Science and Technology Education (Zentrum für Naturwissenschafts- und Technikdidaktik, ZNTD) is primarily engaged in educational research and development. In addition the Centre engages with basic and continuing education, providing services and conduct evaluations. Research and development projects in science and technology education include the EU-FP7-project PROFILES (Professional Reflection Oriented Focus on Inquiry-based Learning and Education through Science), the development and validation of the Swiss standards in science education including the development and accomplishment of paper&pencil-tests and of performance tests, the evaluation and improvement of the use of hands-on-activities and lab-experiments in physics instruction, the organization and evaluation of a large in-service-training program called SWISE (Swiss Science Education). (www.fhnw.ch/ph/zntd/)
