PATHWAY: The Pathway to Inquiry-Based Teaching (FP7 / University of Bayreuth (coordinator) - Ellinogermaniki Agogi (partner) / 2011-2013)

Following the recommendations of the "Science Education Now: A renewed Pedagogy for the Future of Europe" report (Rocard, 2007)1, the Pathway Supporting Action brought together experts in the field of science education research and teachers' communities, scientists and researchers involved in pioneering scientific research, policy makers and curriculum developers to promote the effective widespread use of inquiry and problem based science teaching techniques in primary and secondary schools in Europe and beyond.

The Aims of the project were

  • to set the pathway toward a standard-based approach to teaching science by inquiry; 
  • to support the adoption of inquiry teaching by demonstrating ways to reduce the constrains presented by teachers and school organisation; 
  • to demonstrate and disseminate methods and exemplary cases of both effective introduction of inquiry to science classrooms and professional development programmes; 
  • to deliver a set of guidelines for the educational community to further explore and exploit the unique benefits of the proposed approach in science teaching; and
  • to facilitate the development of communities of practitioners of inquiry that will enable teachers to learn from each other.

Approach

The project strategy was based on three main approaches to facilitate the uptake of InquiryBased Science Education (IBSE). The project has

  1. proposed a standard-based approach to teaching science by inquiry that outlines instructional models to assist teachers to organise their instruction effectively;
  2. deployed a series of methods to motivate teachers to adopt inquiry based techniques and activities in their classrooms;
  3. provided access to a unique collection of open educational resources and teaching practices (linked with the science curricula) that have been reviewed for efficiency and efficacy in promoting inquiry based education and exploring beyond the limitations of classroom instruction.

The Pathway Consortium team collaborated closely with teachers to develop a support service network designed to help teachers implement the necessary changes, to develop the diagnostics and intervention skills necessary to plan and diffuse innovation in their own contexts.

Partners:

University of Bayreuth (Coordinator) (DE)
The University of Sheffield (UK)
Austrian Ministry of Education (AT)
University of Cambridge (UK)
University of Barcelona (ES)
Ellinogermaniki Agogi (GR)
Futurelab (UK)
National Museum of Science and Technology “Leonardo da Vinci” (IT)
IASA (GR)
Katholieke Hogeschool Limburg (BE)
CERN (CH)
The Centre for Research and Technology Hellas (GR)
European Schoolnet (BE)
Fraunhofer FIT (DE)
Dublin City University (IE)
University of Helsinki (FI)
Pedagogical Institute - Greek Ministry of Education (GR)
School of Pedagogical and Technological Education - ASPETE (GR)
University of Shumen (BG)
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (DE)
Ludwigsburg University of Education (DE)
Cluj County Teacher Training Centre (RO)
European Physical Society (FR)
Centre of Information Technologies and Learning Environments (RU)
Shodor Foundation (USA)

Link: http://pathway.ea.gr/


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