Italian national working group
In the time following the national workshop (December 12th, 2013) and until the end of the reporting period (May 31st, 2014) our team had a series of exchanges with stakeholders and potential cooperation partners in Italy and other European partners.
One of our team members, Dr. Francesco Cuomo, started a steady cooperation with the German partner at the University of Halle-Wittenberg working on teacher education, research in science education and networking with other German and international partners. In particular, Dr. Cuomo has been involved in an ongoing cooperation with Turkish partners from various universities in the framework of the German-Turkish year of Research, Education and Innovation. This networking programme has involved a three-day workshop held in Antalya on March 20-22, 2014. Approximately 40 researchers from German and Turkish institutions participated in the workshop. Plans for joint research and dissemination programmes were developed during the workshop, including work on proposals for Horizon 2020 calls.
Moreover, we have started a collaboration with the Instem partner based at the University of Liverpool, in the framework of which we are collaborating to activities involved in the SiS Catalyist project which the University of Liverpool is coordinating (an MML action plan funded under the EU Seventh Framework Programme). These include in particular the project evaluation and policy seminars involving key players in the Italian educational system.
Three Italian researchers in science education were invited to participate in the second Instem conference, held in Halle on March 26th, 2014. Dr. Silvia Caravita (Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche), Prof. Enrica Giordano (Università di Milano Bicocca) and Dr. Michela Mayer (…) are experienced researchers who have been involved in many national and international research projects in biology, physics and environmental education as well as in teacher training, curriculum development and programme assessment.
Following up the interactions during the conference, we are carrying out virtual meetings with Dr. Caravita, Prof. Giordano and Dr. Mayer aimed at planning future collaborations in national and international projects. In particular, we are considering possible proposals for the 2014/15 calls under the Science with and for society section of the Horizon 2020 Work Programme.
Dissemination in Turkey
Excerpt of dissemination events supported by the Turkish partners:
National workshop
Ankara, Turkey, October 22, 2013
Target group: Policy makers, researchers, teachers and SME representatives
Topic: Teacher professional development programmes including reflective practice components, organized by the Haceteppe University
Talk at a conference
IOSTE Eurasia Regional Symposium & and Brokerage Event Horizon 2020, 24-26 April 2015, Istanbul, Turkey
Target group: educators, teachers, researchers, and policy makers
Contribution: Presentation of the Instem project and four presentations at the symposium by several Instem partners.
National Event
Science Camp, July 2015, Ankara, Turkey & August 2015, Halle, Germany,
Target group: 14-16 years old students
Topic: students could participate in the science camp of another country. During these science camps, many activities on IBSE were carried out with the students.
Conference
Stem & makers fest/expo Turkey 2015 & 1st Stem teacher conference, 7-8 September 2015, Ankara, Turkey
Target group: around 2000 participants: students, teachers
Topic: IBSE activities. Many EU-funded projects and national project were presented in a workshop. Teachers also presented best practices in a poster session.
Dissemination in Romania
Excerpt of dissemination events supported by the Romania partners
Talk at a conference
New Perspectives in Science Education, 20-21. March 2015, Florence, Italy
Target group: academics, researchers, teachers, experts and practitioners
Contribution: Presentation about “The follow up of the Fibonacci project, a case study” highlighted the analysis made for the INSTEM project concerning impact and showed new insights into the project and its results.
6th International Conference Science Education in School, 3-4 April, 2015, Galati, Romania
Target group: inspectors, primary and middle school teachers and school students
Contribution: Presentation about “Educational projects run by the Center for Science Education and Training: INSTEM, SUSTAIN, SCINET, CEYS”. This opportunity to meet a large audience to whom these projects are addressed offered the possibility to recruit new “end-users” and national partners.
Poster contributions
12th International Conference on Hands-on Science (HSCI2015), 27- 30 July 2015, Madeira Island, Portugal
Target groups: all people involved in science education, aimed at promoting a broad exchange of experiences on good practices of science teaching and learning related to science education and its development.
Contribution: Poster entitled “Lessons learned from the INSTEM project”, describing the INSTEM project, its goals and strategies.
Promoting the national and international Instem websites
Over 1600 emails have been sent out to different target groups in Romania. Aim was to invite them to visit the project website, to provide information about the Instem project and the project reports.
This action proved to be very fruitful as by the end of September 2015 the number of visitors at the Romanian national website reached 1715.