State Technical Academy Alsfeld

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Logo of the State Technical Academy

The Staatliche Technikakademie Alsfeld (STA) is an independent technical school that specializes in structural engineering and is sponsored by the State of Hesse . The technical college at the Alsfeld location in Hesse has existed for over 125 years, and the catchment area extends across Germany. With around 100 students and 12 teachers, it is one of the smallest vocational schools in Hesse. The qualification as a state-certified construction technician takes place full-time over four semesters, coupled with the Hessian school holidays. According to the DQR, the educational qualification is equivalent to the Bachelor . It is based on the practical construction experience of the students who must have completed vocational training with one year of professional experience or at least five years of relevant professional experience. The STA sees itself as a teaching, promoting and demanding organization, the focus of which is on the students. Specialized knowledge and important interdisciplinary skills are imparted across all trades, which are in demand by construction companies, architecture and engineering offices and authorities or for self-employed activities.

Working on the laptop in the STA
School building of the State Technical Academy Alsfeld

Technical focus

Focus on building construction

Building engineers are generalists for planning and realizing new buildings and increasingly also for the renovation of existing properties. At the STA, students learn to plan their ideas ready for building permission and to convert them into plans that are ready for implementation with CAD , so that they are prepared for use in architecture and engineering offices or for independent work.

In order to be able to take responsibility for a smooth construction process in construction companies, the necessary technical basic qualifications for the employment as construction manager and in the work preparation are imparted at the STA . This includes u. a. Determine construction costs , calculate construction measures and plan an efficient construction process.

For work on behalf of public and private builders, the prospective construction technicians also learn important knowledge for construction supervision in order to be able to coordinate the course of construction measures and monitor their execution quality.

Focus on civil engineering

Civil engineers work as managers in construction companies, civil engineering engineering offices and building administrations. The design of traffic structures is just as much a part of the STA's educational content as the planning of systems for water supply and wastewater disposal . Great importance is attached to an understanding of the risks and special features of civil engineering construction projects.

A comprehensive know-how in surveying technology enables the students to perform professional mapping and staking out work. Working with geographic information systems (GIS) is also part of the scope of the training.

As in building construction, basic knowledge for construction management is imparted in civil engineering . The lessons are geared towards the mostly linear character of civil engineering work, which has a smaller number of construction trades.

Other focal points

If there is sufficient demand, the STA can also offer the focus on construction management , concrete construction and interior construction / construction technology.

In the focus on construction management , the management skills taught in the focus on civil engineering are deepened. The future site managers and project managers acquire important basic knowledge for efficient construction site planning and processing.

The focus on concrete construction refers to what is probably the most important building material, which requires complex knowledge for new construction, but increasingly also for the repair of structures. Experienced specialists at the STA impart the necessary knowledge about formwork construction, reinforcement planning and concrete repairs . In addition, exercises are carried out in the building materials laboratory.

The tasks of interior design are becoming more and more complex in modern building projects. For this purpose, important basic skills can be imparted at the STA in the focus on interior construction / construction technology so that the construction technician working in planning and construction management is able to safely deal with the large number of trades and interfaces involved.

Additional qualifications

After attending the two-year technical college for structural engineering and graduating as a state-certified structural engineer , the following additional qualifications can be acquired:

  • Middle school leaving certificate
  • Master class (part III)
  • Trainer aptitude test (Part IV of the master craftsman examination)
  • Course to become a specialist in the craft industry
  • University entrance qualification
  • University entrance qualification

Transferable skills

Language as an important means of communication

Language is just as important a means of communication as the planning documents for the construction engineer in management positions. That is why the subjects German and English play an important role at the STA. At the STA, students improve their written and oral communication skills and practice this with practical examples, e.g. B. E-mail traffic, minutes, presentations, application training.

Business know-how

At the STA, basic business knowledge is imparted, which is an important basis for professional success for employees in management positions and for the path to independence.

Project work in teamwork

The students work in a team at an early stage and learn important skills such as the ability to argue and assert themselves, but also to learn from one another and distribute tasks in a meaningful way. Our teachers are on hand to provide advice.

Excursions and trade fair visits

Extracurricular events have a high priority at the STA. This includes visits to construction sites, study trips to Germany and abroad and visits to relevant construction fairs.

personal engagement

In addition to the school content, our students can get involved in various ways, e.g. B. by giving remedial lessons or working in the working groups “concrete canoe race” and “model making”. The city of Alsfeld also offers a wide range of activities for extracurricular activities with the THW, fire brigade and numerous associations.

Goals of school work

Requirements for further training

Learning and teaching at the State Academy of Technology in Alsfeld is geared towards the interests of the students and the demands placed on construction technicians in the construction industry. The range of courses enables students to meet current and future professional and social requirements. The social and economic changes require a holistic approach to learning. The advancing globalization of all areas of life, the increasing complexity and networking in the course of worldwide communication have a decisive effect on the future role as an employee or entrepreneur.

The further training to become a state-certified construction technician is based on the legal requirements of the State of Hesse and takes place according to curricula that are further developed in accordance with technical and social changes. In the interest of the students, the course offer is constantly updated and optimized.

At the STA, special emphasis is placed on:

  • practical further training taking into account previous professional knowledge
  • a broad basic education in construction
  • a future-oriented specialization
  • the connection of construction technology, building law, ecology and economy
  • the incorporation of the most modern information and communication technologies

Competence profile

Through further training at the STA, students should be able to:

  • To develop willingness to perform,
  • to think and act independently and responsibly as well as future-oriented,
  • Solve problems rationally, analytically and in a structured way,
  • Obtaining and processing information in a problem-oriented and critical manner,
  • to work independently and in a team,
  • To assume responsibility and leadership tasks,
  • to be able to express oneself orally and in writing confidently and skillfully,
  • to recognize political, economic, legal, ecological and social structures, to assess and observe them,
  • to accompany social change consciously and critically.

Pedagogical and didactic principles

In accordance with the qualification requirements, global, holistic learning comprises four learning dimensions:

  1. Content-related learning ( professional competence )
  2. Methodical problem-solving learning ( methodological competence )
  3. Social-communicative learning ( social skills )
  4. Affective-ethical learning ( individual or personality competence )

Final project

In a project to be developed independently in the fourth semester, the students have to apply and develop the skills they have acquired. The ordinance on training and examinations at one- and two-year technical schools of July 5, 2011 provides for project work as an independent performance area in all key areas. The following objectives and tasks are named:

  • The aim of the project work is to acquire skills in order to be able to independently analyze, structure and solve tasks from the subject or focus area independently.
  • Practice and process-oriented tasks should be dealt with in the project work. The task is based on the operational areas of the graduates. In particular, practical projects should be carried out in cooperation with companies.
  • The assessments that take place in the course of processing the project work, the final assessment of the project work and the grade of the colloquium are included in the grade for the project work.
  • The overall assessment and the topic of the project task are shown in the certificate.

The duration of the project work for each student in the project group is 120 hours of teaching (45 min) in all key areas of structural engineering. For an average of 20 weeks semester, this corresponds to about 6 teaching hours per week.

College and equipment

Teaching staff

The teaching staff at the STA consists of qualified engineers from various construction fields with several years of professional experience and the additional qualification for teaching at vocational schools or for teaching at special technical schools as well as a teacher with the teaching degree for vocational schools and concrete engineer VDB and a graduate engineer in the field of surveying, the qualification for teaching at special technical schools and the qualification to teach computer science. The STA also employs a qualified commercial teacher and teaching staff for grammar schools for language teaching.

Exercises with a surveying device

Learning environment and equipment

Exercises with the thermal imaging camera

There is a pleasant learning environment at the State Technical Academy. The school building from the 1970s offers large classrooms that are used by small study groups:

  • Class sizes from 15 to 25 students in large rooms
  • free and fast WiFi throughout the school building
  • numerous laboratories and workshops
  • Building materials laboratories and wood workshop
  • practical exercises with modern measuring devices

Classrooms and seminar rooms

In addition to a blackboard or whiteboard, the basic equipment in every classroom includes a projector, usually with wireless access. Interactive whiteboards are installed in some rooms. Overhead projectors are being replaced by document cameras (ELMO), with which content from books, notes or drawings can be projected onto the wall.

library

The student library at the STA is extensively equipped with the latest specialist literature and various reference works. A sufficient number of important books for teaching work are available. The students use the free loan of books for research and preparation of presentations and project work.

Admission requirements

Completed apprenticeship or work experience

The following admission requirements exist for admission to the State Academy of Technology Alsfeld:

  1. Degree in a construction-related apprenticeship
  2. Employment of at least one year

An individual decision will be made if evidence of at least five years of relevant professional activity and other training qualifications is provided.

Lateral entry for masters

For masters we offer lateral entry i. d. Usually in the 3rd semester, which can shorten the training period by one year. The advantage for masters in further training to become a construction technician is, on the one hand, the expansion of their specialist knowledge to other trades and, on the other hand, the deepening of what they have learned.

Admission of dropouts

For dropouts who have completed their vocational training, we usually offer lateral entry in the 2nd semester. Experience has shown that students who drop out of their studies get along well with the school-based advanced training concept and graduate as a state-certified construction technician in 1.5 years.

Funding opportunities

The two-year full-time training enables you to concentrate fully on the qualification measure. There are a number of financial support options for this:

  1. BAföG and advancement BAföG
  2. Vocational rehabilitation
  3. Soldiers Supply Act
  4. KfW educational loan

The further training to become a state-certified construction technician is well suited as a vocational rehabilitation measure, e.g. B. after accidents at work. Building on practical knowledge, technical content is conveyed at the STA and competencies are deepened, which enables later, less physically intensive work, e.g. B. in a coordinating role as a site manager or as a planner in architecture and engineering offices. The advantage here is that both technically and pedagogically trained staff work at the STA.

history

As a nationally recognized training center, the STA looks back on 125 years of tradition. It was founded in 1891 as a crafts school and has established itself over many decades as the “State Technical School Alsfeld”. Since 2011, the name "Technical Academy" has clearly shown the offer of advanced structural engineering training for adults.

Founded in 1891

As the successor to an existing craftsman training school in Alsfeld as a Sunday drawing school and later also an evening school, our school was founded in 1891 as the "Extended Craftsman School in Alsfeld" with 12 students. Teaching takes place in the wedding house in Alsfeld. In 1902 it was given a new school building in Jahnstrasse as the “Alsfeld trade school”.

Cessation of teaching in World War II

Shortly before the end of the Second World War, teaching had to be stopped because almost all teachers were drafted for military service. The school building is confiscated for Wehrmacht purposes. In 1950 the school was re-established and officially recognized by the city of Alsfeld as the “Städtische Handwerkerfachschule Alsfeld”. The state of Hesse took over the sponsorship of the school in 1962, and two years later it was renamed "Staatliche Technikerschule Alsfeld, technical college for civil engineering and reinforced concrete".

Move into the new school building in 1979

While the training period was changed from three to four semesters from 1973, in the following years Africans were trained as construction technicians at the technical school through the Carl Duisberg Society as part of development aid. The technical school moves into its current school building in 1979.

IT is introduced in 1985

In 1985, the IT system found its way into the school with the establishment of an IT room. For the 100th anniversary in the 1991/1992 winter semester, the school reached its peak with 280 students. In 1997 the technical school went online. From 1998 to 2012 there is an additional offer “Further training to become a CAD assistant” as part of the higher vocational school for information processing. In 2005 the school has 100 workstations in six networked EDP and CAD rooms.

Room acoustic renovation of classrooms

In 2010 a classroom will be fundamentally redesigned as a model room for an exemplary acoustic and energetic renovation. Later on, further room acoustics renovations of classrooms follow as part of teaching projects by the students.

Alsfeld expansion day since 2011

Since 2011, the Alsfeld expansion days have been held in-house as a supra-regional advanced training event. STA teachers and external speakers report on current topics from the finishing trades, with drywall construction and building physics playing an important role. As of 2019, the name will be changed to Alsfelder Bautage in order to reflect the entire range of topics offered at the STA.

Renaming in 2011 and winning the energy saving competition

Since 2011 the school has had its current name "Staatliche Technikakademie Alsfeld". In the energy-saving competition of the “CO 2 -neutral state government” project, the State Academy of Technology in Alsfeld achieved 1st prize in the educational institutions group in the “Highest Savings” category in 2011.

125th anniversary in 2016

The STA celebrated its 125th anniversary in 2016 with a ceremony and numerous guests. This makes it one of the oldest technical schools in Germany.

Education and development association

The education and support association of the State Academy of Technology Alsfeld eV was founded in 1989 and pursues exclusively charitable purposes. He supports the work with and for the students at the STA through the financial support and organization of:

  • School projects
  • Training seminars
  • Lecture events on current topics in construction
  • Technical excursions
  • Trade fair visits

The members of the association are made up of former students and teachers as well as companies from the region. STA students can become members for a reduced fee.

Web links

  • Website of the State Technical Academy Alsfeld
  • Video on wood construction tests at the STA
  • Ordinance on the curricula at one- and two-year technical schools of July 5, 2011
  • Ordinance on training and examinations at one- and two-year technical schools

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