A place that brings maths to life The Technical University of Braunschweig's maths learning workshop celebrates its 25th anniversary
Surrounded by colourful cubes and shimmering Archimedean solids, the maths learning workshop has spent the last 25 years tinkering with tricky problems, puzzling over them, and doing real maths. What once began as a small pilot project has become an integral part of Braunschweig’s educational landscape. To celebrate this milestone, the workshop is hosting a festive colloquium on 22 November 2025 at the North Campus. Guests and maths enthusiasts are invited to reflect on a quarter of a century of creative learning and discover the latest projects.
“Hardly any other subject evokes such contrasting feelings as mathematics. For some, it is a stumbling block; for others, it is the key to understanding the world,” says Frank Förster, director of the Mathematical Learning Workshop. “But without mathematics, the great challenges of our time cannot be overcome. It accompanies us everywhere, even where we least expect it.”
Mathematics comes to life in the Mathematical Learning Workshop, where children and young people experiment with numbers, shapes, and patterns; experience the fun of tinkering; and nurture their curiosity. From the outset, the aim has been to support those with a particular interest in mathematics as well as those with learning difficulties, with the overarching goal of conveying the joy of thinking and researching.
From school desk to university
The Mathematical Learning Workshop was founded in 2000 by Professor Friedhelm Käpnick, Dr Mandy Fuchs and the then Rector Rudolf Guder. The first sessions took place in a classroom at the Heinrichstraße Primary School in Braunschweig, before a room on the campus of Technical University of Braunschweig was soon made available. When the founders left Braunschweig a few years later, it seemed that the project was coming to an end. However, dedicated students were determined to carry on, and found active supporters in Frank Förster and Wolfgang Grohmann, who were both employed at the Institute for Didactics of Mathematics and Elementary Mathematics. Thanks to their efforts, the learning workshop was preserved and developed further. What originally began with programmes for primary school pupils was gradually extended to higher grades. Today, support is available up to the eighth grade. Thanks to additional programmes offered by the Institute of Mathematics, it is now possible to provide continuous support up to Abitur level (the German university entrance qualification).
A place of learning for children – and for future teachers
The Mathematical Learning Workshop is much more than an extracurricular support project: it is also a place for teacher training and research. Here, student teachers can observe mathematical learning processes first-hand and try out their own teaching sequences under the guidance of experienced mathematics educators. “The learning workshop offers opportunities for reflection and practical experience that would be difficult to replicate in traditional studies,” emphasises director Frank Förster.
Students and children work together on basic mathematical problems. In the process, participants acquire ways of thinking and acting that are indispensable for productive mathematical work, such as looking closely at things, trying them out in a structured way and independently justifying or refuting assumptions. Arguing and proving demonstrate how closely logic and creativity are linked in mathematics – or, as Förster puts it: “This is where rational creativity comes to life.”
As a teaching and learning laboratory, the Learning Workshop also makes an important contribution to mathematics education research. Teaching concepts can be tested, evaluated and further developed here in practice. The valuable ideas generated in this way are also incorporated into regular school lessons. Additionally, the thought processes of gifted and interested pupils, as well as those with poor numeracy skills, are examined scientifically to improve understanding of their learning paths.
Matr:iks teaching and learning laboratory
The Institute for Didactics of Mathematics and Elementary Mathematics, which includes the Matr:iks mathematics teaching and learning laboratory and the Mathematics Learning Workshop, now offers a wide range of programmes for children and young people of all ages and school types. Whether for children with poor numeracy skills, particularly gifted young people, or entire school classes, the team of mathematics educators and teacher training students develops formats that bring mathematics to life and make it accessible.
“We want pupils to approach mathematics with joy and curiosity, and to discover its diverse role in everyday life and in the future. In doing so, we particularly encourage independent learning – because that’s how mathematics becomes a real tool for life,” explains Professor Katrin Vorhölter, who initiated the further development of the learning workshop into Matr:iks.
Anniversary colloquium
The anniversary will be celebrated on Saturday, 22 November 2025, with a festive colloquium. From 14:00, guests are invited to Building BI 84 (Bienroder Weg 84) to exchange ideas and try out mathematical experiments from the last 25 years of the learning workshop. From 15:00, the official colloquium will begin with a welcome, insights into current projects and entertaining scientific lectures on the topic of “Mathematical talent and talent promotion”.
The event will conclude at around 17:00 with a champagne reception in the foyer of the lecture hall building, where there will undoubtedly be many conversations about the past 25 years and the next 25 years of passion for mathematics.
Further information about the anniversary: