Kyburz-Graber
Fakultäten » Philosophische Fakultät » Erziehungswissenschaft, Institut für (per 1.2.2012 Zusammenlegung mit dem Institut für Gymnasial- und Berufspädagogik) » Prof. Dr. Regula Kyburz-Graber » Kyburz-Graber
Current research project
| Title / Titel | EU Project “kidsINNscience” Innovation in Science Education – Turning Kids on to Science | ||||||
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| Abstract (PDF, 14 KB) | |||||||
| Summary / Zusammenfassung | kidsINNscience. Innovation in Science Education – Turning Kids on to Science is a research project involving eight partners in Europe and two in Latin America (Austria, Brazil, Germany, Italy, Mexico, the Netherlands, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, and UK). It aims to identify and promote innovative approaches for teaching and learning science. Goals are to facilitate educationalists at different positions in the educational system to operate more creatively within the system and to help generate changes toward active learning systems. It also aims to improve performance and interest in S&T among young people. The basic assumption is that innovations in S&T education work efficiently if they meet agreed quality criteria and are adapted to the local circumstance and conditions. Therefore, kidsINNscience proposes to adopt adaptive strategies to enable participating countries to learn from each other and to develop feasible innovation plans and carry out effective pilots that fit the specific needs and conditions of a given country. Main questions the project addresses are 1. What strategies for teaching and learning in S&T motivate teachers and learners in the participating countries? 2. What similarities and differences are there in innovating S&T teaching and learning in the participating countries? 3. What strategies to innovate S&T teaching and learning would work in the participating countries, considering its characteristics of S&T teaching and learning? Cultural diversity, gender aspects and activity based and learner centred approaches such as Inquiry Based Learning (IBL) are explicitly addressed in all phases of the project. First, an initial set of criteria and indicators to describe and compare S&T practices and methodologies was agreed upon. Second, in each participating country, innovative practices meeting the quality criteria were collected and described, resulting in a compilation of 81 innovative practices in science (Mayer & Torracca 2010). Third, each country selected five innovative practices originating from other partner countries for adaption to the national educational conditions. This was done in close collaboration with the teachers implementing the innovative practices in field trials (Jiménez-Aleixandre & Eirexas-Santamaría 2010). Currently, the adapted innovative practices are implemented in a number of schools (school years 2010/2011 and 2011/2012). The field trials will be evaluated with respect to feasibility and effectiveness of activities. In addition, the clusters of partner countries adapting and implementing the same innovative practice of origin will allow for an interesting analysis of the changes applied against the backdrop of the individual national and local context. Finally, based on the results of the field trials, the set of criteria and indicators for innovation in teaching and learning of science will be revised and country-specific strategies for innovating S&T education will be formulated. UZH leads the workpackage „Evaluation and Strategies“. |
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| Publications / Publikationen | Jiménez Aleixandre María Pilar & Eirexas Santamaría Fins (2010) Adaptation of innovative practices in science education (including Annex I “Teaching Materials”). 86 pp. 244265_kidsINNscience_Deliverable_D4-1_101126.pdf, 244265_kidsINNscience_Deliverable_ D4-1_Annex-Teaching-Material.pdf (from http://www.kidsinnscience.eu/download.htm)Mayer Michela & Torracca Eugenio (2010) (eds.) Innovative methods in learning of science and technology. National findings and international comparison. 230 pp. 244265_kidsINNscience_Deliverable_D3-1_100730.pdf (from http://www.kidsinnscience.eu/download.htm) | ||||||
| Keywords / Suchbegriffe | Adaptive strategies, cultural diversity, gender, inquiry based learning, science education | ||||||
| Project leadership and contacts / Projektleitung und Kontakte |
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| Other links to external web pages | http://www.kidsinnscience.eu | ||||||
| Funding source(s) / Unterstützt durch |
EU European Commission, Seventh Framework Programme, Project no. 244265 |
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| Duration of Project / Projektdauer | Nov 2009 to Jul 2013 |