Science
Ocean Solutions online course
Oceans Solutions is a free 6-week online course offered by the University of Western Australia (UWA) Class2Go programme and taught by Carlos M. Duarte, Director of the Oceans Institute and Research Professor with the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC),
This course focuses particularly on the Indian Ocean, which is arguably the least explored of the world's oceans. However, and like many other oceans, it is under stress from overfishing, pollution, climate change and sea level rise.
Students will analyse and discuss the great challenges humanity will face, and is already facing, due to the increase of the world’s population and address how an intelligent and innovative use of the ocean can sustainably and safely deliver the key resources necessary to meet the challenge of providing fair livelihoods to 9 billion people by 2050.
Professor Duarte will argue that while we live on a planet mostly covered with water, we get most of our resources from land, and we need to reverse that thinking.
weSPOT: Using Scientific Inquiry in the Classroom
weSPOT promotes employing scientific inquiry in the classroom, by connecting scientific concepts to personal curiosity, experiences, and reasoning.
weSPOT focuses on inquiry-based learning, in which the learner takes the role of a self-motivated explorer, and provides support for building these skills. The project is aimed at students from ages 12 to 25, and links everyday world experiences to the classroom. Its main objectives are: (a) defining a reference model for inquiry-based learning skills, (b) creating a diagnostic instrument for measuring inquiry skills, and (c) implementing a working environment that allows the easy linking of inquiry activities with school curricula and legacy systems.
LD-Skills
The aim of this project is to have a positive impact on the development of students' problem-solving competencies by promoting the use of inquiry and problem-based approaches to teaching. To achieve this, a training framework will be developped for training teachers how to create science lesson plans by not just providing examplar solutions to problems that arise from everyday practice, but also enabling them to perceive effective lesson planning in relation to educational principles that may enhance students' problem-solving skills.
Following the recommendations of the Rocard report on science education in Europe, the use of problem-based and inquiry-based approaches is important because they provide the means to increase students' interest and motivation.
LD-Skills is a pilot project that is funded by the European Comission's Comenius Multilateral project programme. It has started in January 2011 and is expected to run for 2 years.
International Conference on Information Society (i-Society 2013)
The i-Society is a global knowledge-enriched collaborative effort that has its roots from both academia and industry. The conference covers a wide spectrum of topics that relate to information society, which includes technical and non-technical research areas. The mission of i-Society 2013 conference is to provide opportunities for collaboration of professionals and researchers to share existing and generate new knowledge in the field of information society. The conference encapsulates the concept of interdisciplinary science that studies the societal and technological dimensions of knowledge evolution in digital society. The i-Society bridges the gap between academia and industry with regards to research collaboration
and awareness of current development in secure information management in the digital society.
VirtualiTeach: la réalité virtuelle en pédagogie
Le projet VirtualiTeach conduit par CLARTE, propose aux lycées d’enseignement technique des méthodes et outils pédagogiques inédits basés sur la réalité virtuelle et la réalité augmentée. VirtualiTeach est un programme de recherche financé par les investissements d’avenir et soutenu par l’Etat.
La réalité virtuelle rentre dans les lycées techniques
Nos générations de lycéens sont nées avec le Web, et utilisent naturellement smartphones, jeux vidéos et 3D ; ils ne peuvent que ressentir le besoin d’environnement pédagogique et de processus d’apprentissage novateurs intégrant les TICE. Le salon Educatec vient encore de montrer il y a quelques semaines, l’incursion du numérique dans le secteur de l’éducation.
VirtualiTeach se concentre sur les lycées techniques, en introduisant dans les « Labos », ces classes de travaux pratiques où l’on travaille en petit groupes, des équipements de réalité virtuelle et réalité augmentée. Dans ce contexte, ces technologies permettent une immersion sensorielle et cognitive qui met l’élève en situation d’acteur et favorise l’appropriation des concepts et des connaissances.
Le Laboratoire du futur issu de VirtualiTeach devra permettre d’aborder sur une même plateforme matérielle tout un panel de domaines d’enseignement : architecture, mécanique, thermique, environnement … Il devra aussi permettre d’expérimenter des systèmes dangereux ou trop coûteux en grandeur réelle, comme par exemple le travail sur échafaudage ou encore l’utilisation de machines outils.
« Ces cursus sont au coeur d’un véritable enjeu de formation. Les métiers et les entreprises auxquels ces jeunes se destinent, embauchent. Les nouveaux équipements et l’ingénierie pédagogique que nous allons contribuer à mettre au point, vont rendre ces formations plus attractives. », explique Jean-Louis Dautin, directeur de CLARTE, chef de file de VirtualiTeach.
11 lycées associés dans 3 académies
Ce sont les nouveaux aspirants au baccalauréat STI2D (sciences et technologies de l'industrie et du développement durable), qui constitueront les élèves pilotes de ce projet. Intéressés par l'industrie, l’innovation technologique et la préservation de l’environnement, ils expérimenteront les propositions de VirtualiTeach dans 11 lycées en France.
Ce projet sélectionné par le Ministère de l'Education Nationale, réunit des représentants du monde de la recherche et de l’industrie - Cadware, le Centre de recherches en psychologie, cognition et communication (CRPCC) de l’Université Rennes 2, le CEA et CLARTE -, et des partenaires du monde de l’éducation, les Académies de Nantes, de Créteil et de Rennes.
D’un montant total de 3 M d’euros, mobilisant une vingtaine de personnes sur 3 ans dans les différentes équipes associées au projet, il est co-financé par les Régions de Bretagne et de Pays de la Loire et reçoit un soutien de 1,35 M d’euros de la part de la Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations.
Fort de son expérience, CLARTE prend en charge le pilotage de ce groupe de travail qui devra mettre au point les logiciels, les équipements et les méthodologies nécessaires à un fonctionnement opéré directement par les professeurs et les élèves dans chaque classe.
Les travaux débuteront en janvier 2013 à Laval par la tenue d’un kick off avec tous les partenaires.
A propos de clarté
CLARTE est un centre de recherche, d’étude et de transfert technologique spécialisé dans le domaine de la Réalité Virtuelle et de la Réalité Augmentée. Créé en 1996 avec pour objectif de participer au développement économique de Laval et de la Mayenne par l'innovation et la technologie.
Strategies for Assessment of Inquiry Learning in Science
The aim of this project is to support teachers in adopting an inquiry approach in teaching science at second level (students aged 12-18 years) across Europe.
This will be achieved by utilising existing resources and models for teacher education in IBSE, both pre-service and in-service. In addition to SAILS partners adopting IBSE curricula and implementing teacher education in their countries, the SAILS project will develop appropriate strategies and frameworks for the assessment of IBSE skills and competences and prepare teachers not only to be able to teach through IBSE, but also to be confident and competent in the assessment of their students‟ learning. Through this unified approach of implementing all the necessary components for transforming classroom practice, i.e. teacher education, curriculum and assessment around an IBSE pedagogy, a sustainable model for IBSE will be achieved. SAILS will provide teacher education workshops in IBSE across the twelve participating countries and promote a self-sustaining model encouraging teachers to share experiences and practice of inquiry approaches to teaching, learning and assessment by building a community of practice.
“SAILS aims to prepare teachers, not only to be able to teach through Inquiry Based Science methods but also to be confident and competent in the assessment of their students’ learning.”
A European approach
The SAILS consortium consists of thirteen partner organisations, including universities, SMEs and a multi-national organisation, from across twelve European countries. The strength of this consortium lies in its vast experience and expertise in the areas of science education, teacher training and resource development for teaching, learning and assessment.
By using a pan-European approach, SAILS will ensure that the diverse practices built up in each country can be analysed and shared, resulting in the development of models of best practice. These can be used not only in all the consortium countries but will also be available for other countries to adopt. This European approach raises the standard for everyone by encouraging national implementation, and by extending and promoting innovation in science teaching and learning in the classroom.
“The long-term aim is to generate a greater interest in science subjects at school, improve the take-up of science at third level and thereby increase the number of skilled graduates for employment in science and technology in Europe”.
Creative Little Scientists
Science and mathematics education is important for Europe. Creativity and innovation are equally recognised as important, and their strengthening in and through education as a vital priority. Importantly, also, creativity holds a strong position in early childhood. The Creative Little Scientists project constitutes a timely contribution to a better understanding, at the European level, of the potential available on the common ground that science and mathematics education in pre-school and early primary school can share with creativity.
The recommendations of important European reports in science and mathematics education urge countries to implement innovative curricula and ways of organising the teaching of science and mathematics that address the issue of low student motivation, and ensure that science and mathematics education engages students before the age of 14.
It is widely acknowledged that empowering today’s students to become tomorrow’s creative citizens should be a priority of education in today’s world. Innovation and creativity are vital for economic and social progress, while qualities of mind such as inventiveness, imagination, intuition, wonderment and curiosity are vital for innovation and creativity.
Interestingly, an inherent link seems to exist between creativity and science and mathematics education. Science intrinsically involves inquiry and invention, which are triggered by curiosity, intuition, imagination, all of them elements closely related to creativity; it is also widely accepted nowadays that effective science and mathematics education is based on inquiry, which leads to wonder, and is fuelled by curiosity. However, traditional science and mathematics education is missing the element of creativity.
Despite universal recognition of the importance of inquiry based methods for science and mathematics education, they have not been implemented on a large scale in many European countries, resulting in less effective science learning. However, even in many contexts in which inquiry based science education has become mainstream in the educational discourse, the link with creativity is not explicitly acknowledged.
It seems therefore that we should explore the potential for science and mathematics education that exists on the common ground that it shares with creativity in pre-school and early primary school. The Creative Little Scientists project is a timely response to these needs.
Global Online Science Labs for Inquiry Learning at School
The Go-Lab project will open up remote science laboratories, their data archives, and virtual models (“online labs”) for large-scale use in education. Go-Lab enables science inquiry-based learning that promotes acquisition of deep conceptual domain knowledge and inquiry skills and directs students to careers in science.
For students (10 to 18-years old), Go-lab offers the opportunity to perform personalized scientific experiments with online labs in pedagogically structured and scaffolded learning spaces that are extended with social communication facilities.
For teachers, Go-Lab offers pedagogical “plug, share, and play” through a Web-based interface and a community framework to disseminate best practices and find mutual support. A modular approach and inquiry classroom scenarios promote a seamless incorporation of online labs into the classroom.
For lab-owners, Go-Lab provides open interfacing solutions to easily plug in their online labs, construct their virtual didactic counterparts, and share them in the Go-Lab federation of online labs. Go-Lab will thus promote their scientific activities.
The project starts with a set of online labs from worldwide renowned research organisations (e.g., CERN, ESA) and then from selected universities and, based on initial in-depth pilots, will gradually improve and expand its series of online labs and associated inquiry learning opportunities with the increasing contribution of teacher and lab-owner communities. More advanced and later versions will be evaluated and validated in large scale pilots. The Go-Lab project throughout Europe will expand the resources for teaching science in schools and provide more challenging, authentic and higher-order learning experiences for students. Its sustainability will come from the opportunity for the larger science education community to add new online labs. An open and Web-based community will capitalize on the ‘collective intelligence’ of students, teachers, and scientists.