Discussions with representatives to initiate collaboration arrangements have already taken place with the following universities of teacher education: PH Schwyz: Collaboration will be officially confirmed in the course of 2025 and participation in the project will begin. PH Bern: The start of the collaboration and subsequent participation in the project has been set for 2026. PH Zug: There is still strong interest in collaborating here, but internal restructuring means that the concrete resources available to enable participation in/from 2026 have to be defined. PH Thurgau: After an initial exploratory discussion, there is a strong interest in collaboration. The effective start date has yet to be set, probably from 2027.

Thanks to the well-established project management by PH Lucerne and IngCH, the project and its activities can already be scaled up in the 2025/2026 financial year. Scaling includes the following aspects, among others: A continuous increase in the number of Robot Days carried out annually. For the 2025/2026 financial year, up to 30 Robot Days are planned (15 in the canton of Lucerne, 10 in the cantons of Uri and Schwyz, five in the cantons of Bern and Zug). The development of other German-speaking cantons in addition to Lucerne, Schwyz and Uri as locations for Robot Days. The acquisition of additional universities of teacher education as project partners. In addition to the partnership already in place with PH Schwyz, the following partnerships are arranged and planned to be established in the 2025/2026 financial year, if possible: PH Bern PH Zug PH St. Gallen PH FHNW PH Thurgau Conducting one or two ‘Educational robotics and robotics in the real world’ workshops: workshops in which university personnel and teaching staff engage in dialogue with business partners. Conducting at least one ‘Roberta plus’ training course for university personnel and teaching staff (two-day continuing education programme).

Talent development

«Roberta plus» – robot days for school classes in cycles 2 and 3

The «Roberta plus» project aims to make gender-sensitive computer science teaching in robotics in Cycles 2 and 3 accessible throughout German-speaking Switzerland.

The project comprises the following elements: ‘Roberta workshops’ held at schools by pedagogically trained staff, ‘Roberta training courses’ for teachers, discussions with business partners on relevant real-life teaching examples, and careful evaluation and further development of what is offered. The project is based on many years of empirical experience in the gender-sensitive teaching of robotics as a subject.

Its aim is to develop a teaching programme that can be used throughout Switzerland, conducted by trained staff and evaluated for effectiveness. The content is based on Curriculum 21 and focuses on skills that are important in the age of digitalisation.

IngCH is taking over the project management including organisational responsibility, with the University of Teacher Education (PH) Lucerne as the project partner in charge of the content.

Scaling to central Switzerland and subsequently to German-speaking Switzerland, with at least six universities for teacher education as cooperation partners, will take place in stages over a project period of five years (2025 to 2029).

The aim is to directly reach

AROUND

pupils

OVER

teachers in cycles 2 and 3

AROUND

lecturers and business partners

from various regions of German-speaking Switzerland

The project also aims to indirectly reach

AT LEAST

students

AND

prospective or current teachers

In the past financial year, funding for the first phase of the project was secured through funding applications and pledges from various foundations (Dätwyler Foundation, Ernst Göhner Foundation, and the Bärbel and Paul Geissbühler Foundation), enabling the project to be launched in January 2025.

Robot Days

Almost all available places were already filled shortly after opening the registration form at the beginning of March. Currently, there is only one place left for a school in the canton of Lucerne for 2025.

‘Roberta plus’ Robot Days already held in 2025:

2 June 2025 Class 6a 23 SuS Primarschule Wartegg, 6005 Lucerne
3 June 2025 Class 6d 19 SuS Primarschule Wartegg, 6005 Lucerne
5 June 2025 Class 6c 20 SuS Primarschule Wartegg, 6005 Lucerne
6 June 2025 Class 6b 19 SuS Primarschule Wartegg, 6005 Lucerne

‘Roberta plus’ Robot Days already scheduled for 2025 (dates/order still to be clarified):

Class 6b 20 SuS Primary School Höfli, 6030 Ebikon
Class 6a 20 SuS Primary School Höfli, 6030 Ebikon
Class 6c 20 SuS Primary School Höfli, 6030 Ebikon
Class 6a 16 SuS Primarschule Berghof, 6110 Wolhusen
Class 6b 19 SuS Primarschule Berghof, 6110 Wolhusen
Classes 5–6 19 SuS Primarschule Markt, 6110 Wolhusen
Class 2c 15 SuS Kreisschule Seedorf, 6461 Seedorf
Class 2b 15 SuS Kreisschule Seedorf, 6461 Seedorf
Class 2a 15 SuS Kreisschule Seedorf, 6461 Seedorf
Class 5a 19 SuS Hagenschulhaus, 6460 Altdorf

Collaborations

Discussions with representatives to initiate collaboration arrangements have already taken place with the following universities of teacher education:

PH Schwyz: Collaboration will be officially confirmed in the course of 2025 and participation in the project will begin.
PH Bern: The start of the collaboration and subsequent participation in the project has been set for 2026.
PH Zug: There is still strong interest in collaborating here, but internal restructuring means that the concrete resources available to enable participation in/from 2026 have to be defined.
PH Thurgau: After an initial exploratory discussion, there is a strong interest in collaboration. The effective start date has yet to be set, probably from 2027.

Outlook 2025/2026

Thanks to the well-established project management by PH Lucerne and IngCH, the project and its activities can already be scaled up in the 2025/2026 financial year. Scaling includes the following aspects, among others:

A continuous increase in the number of Robot Days carried out annually. For the 2025/2026 financial year, up to 30 Robot Days are planned (15 in the canton of Lucerne, 10 in the cantons of Uri and Schwyz, five in the cantons of Bern and Zug).
The development of other German-speaking cantons in addition to Lucerne, Schwyz and Uri as locations for Robot Days.
The acquisition of additional universities of teacher education as project partners. In addition to the partnership already in place with PH Schwyz, the following partnerships are arranged and planned to be established in the 2025/2026 financial year, if possible:
- PH Bern
- PH Zug
- PH St. Gallen
- PH FHNW
- PH Thurgau
Conducting one or two ‘Educational robotics and robotics in the real world’ workshops: workshops in which university personnel and teaching staff engage in dialogue with business partners.
Conducting at least one ‘Roberta plus’ training course for university personnel and teaching staff (two-day continuing education programme).

«Roberta plus» – a very successful project!

«I think it’s fundamentally important that computer education is given a proper place in primary school. I like the full Robot Day because you have the whole day to really explore the topics in detail over a longer period of time. Schools often don’t have the material and equipment available, so it’s great that you can get it externally. What’s more, the programme is always run by outstanding specialists. I think it’s a very successful project on all counts. What would be good is if we had access to the material afterwards so that we can cover the topic again ourselves in the classroom. The cost of the material is rather high, so schools are limited in what they can afford. It would definitely help to be able to borrow material.»

Daniel Bucher

class teacher (year 6 at Schulhaus Wartegg school)

Cooperation and project partners