Periodic Reporting for period 1 - MULTIPLIERS (MULTIPLAYERS' PARTNERSHIPS TO ENSURE MEANINGFUL ENGAGEMENT WITH SCIENCE AND RESEARCH)
Período documentado: 2021-11-01 hasta 2023-04-30
Modern societies are facing a wide range of complex challenges, such as fighting global climate change, protecting the environment, and promoting healthy living. To successfully prepare for and address such challenges, citizens need to be capable of identifying fake news/information, and participate responsibly in science-informed decision making. High-quality, life-long science education is essential for providing citizens with the necessary understanding and skills.
To address this issue and expand opportunities for authentic science learning, the MULTIPLIERS project establishes educational partnerships (“Open Science Communities”, OSCs) composed of different stakeholders (schools, families, industry, civil society organisations, informal education providers, media, policy-makers and a wide range of scientific institutions) to enable open, inclusive and inquiry-based learning on scientific topics that have a direct impact on citizens’ lives. The international project consortium brings together partners from seven EU countries (Cyprus, Finland, Germany, Spain, Slovenia, Sweden and Italy).
The OSCs jointly select socio-scientific topics to be addressed and develop projects where students work on real-life cases regarding contemporary challenges with a wide range of science professionals. Students are involved in inquiry and decision-making processes. They then reflect on their findings and experiences and share them – as multipliers – with their families and society.
All OSC partners are jointly committed to teaching and learning processes to ensure relevant, meaningful, and sustainable engagement with science and associated ethical and societal priorities.
To make best use of the project results, recommendations, guidelines and learning materials will be published in a multilingual open web space and training events will be organised; the OSCs will be maintained and expanded after the end of the project to keep “open schooling” going.
To address this issue and expand opportunities for authentic science learning, the MULTIPLIERS project establishes educational partnerships (“Open Science Communities”, OSCs) composed of different stakeholders (schools, families, industry, civil society organisations, informal education providers, media, policy-makers and a wide range of scientific institutions) to enable open, inclusive and inquiry-based learning on scientific topics that have a direct impact on citizens’ lives. The international project consortium brings together partners from seven EU countries (Cyprus, Finland, Germany, Spain, Slovenia, Sweden and Italy).
The OSCs jointly select socio-scientific topics to be addressed and develop projects where students work on real-life cases regarding contemporary challenges with a wide range of science professionals. Students are involved in inquiry and decision-making processes. They then reflect on their findings and experiences and share them – as multipliers – with their families and society.
All OSC partners are jointly committed to teaching and learning processes to ensure relevant, meaningful, and sustainable engagement with science and associated ethical and societal priorities.
To make best use of the project results, recommendations, guidelines and learning materials will be published in a multilingual open web space and training events will be organised; the OSCs will be maintained and expanded after the end of the project to keep “open schooling” going.
“Open Science Communities” (OSCs) have been successfully established in six countries (Cyprus, Germany, Italy, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden). These communities consist of different groups of stakeholders working together with the aim of expanding opportunities for authentic science learning through open schooling. In order to enlarge these communities during the project runtime and to foster open schooling approaches, different studies have been conducted. The result is a report on identified good practices and needs analysis. Based on this report, a common project approach has been co-designed by all partners defining the precise implementation modalities of the MULTIPLIERS open-school learning projects as well as the common evaluation methodology.
First prototypal learning projects have been developed and implemented in the six project countries hosting an OSC. Students of different ages interacted with science professionals working on socio-scientific, i.e. vaccination, antimicrobial resistance, biodiversity and ecosystem services, forest use vs. forest protection, clean water and sanitation, and air pollution. Through the evaluation of these learning projects, successful activities and methodological approaches to foster science learning could be detected. The results are presented in country reports. Part of this deliverable are also recommendations concerning the successful development of OSCs.
Learning materials derived from these first open-school learning projects have been selected, translated in English and made available on the project’s website as a first set of toolkits. Students have presented their learning projects to their families, peers and local communities; they have organised different type of events, actively involving the participants in science activities. OSC members provided support and helped the students in developing successful instruments for knowledge transfer and fostering public communication. New themes and activity plans for the next open-school learning projects in the six OSCs have been defined. These learning projects will be implemented and evaluated in the next reporting period.
First prototypal learning projects have been developed and implemented in the six project countries hosting an OSC. Students of different ages interacted with science professionals working on socio-scientific, i.e. vaccination, antimicrobial resistance, biodiversity and ecosystem services, forest use vs. forest protection, clean water and sanitation, and air pollution. Through the evaluation of these learning projects, successful activities and methodological approaches to foster science learning could be detected. The results are presented in country reports. Part of this deliverable are also recommendations concerning the successful development of OSCs.
Learning materials derived from these first open-school learning projects have been selected, translated in English and made available on the project’s website as a first set of toolkits. Students have presented their learning projects to their families, peers and local communities; they have organised different type of events, actively involving the participants in science activities. OSC members provided support and helped the students in developing successful instruments for knowledge transfer and fostering public communication. New themes and activity plans for the next open-school learning projects in the six OSCs have been defined. These learning projects will be implemented and evaluated in the next reporting period.
Being involved in MULTIPLIERS open school learning projects, working on real-life cases and meeting science professionals, will increase the students’ interest in science, their career awareness, and their awareness of the importance of science for our society. Students will be provided with tools and skills to make informed decisions based on sound scientific evidence throughout their lives. Furthermore, they will enhance their self-efficacy in science learning when acting as multipliers during targeted activities for their families and the wider society. The project will also foster a wider societal discourse culture about science beyond traditional ‘expert’ borders.
Educational tools and products developed during the project implementation will be collected and made publicly accessible through the project website to ensure the exploitation of project findings. They will also be presented at conferences. Training events will be organized to facilitate the adoption of open schooling approaches. A White Book on open schooling will be published at the end of the project including two sets of guidelines and recommendations for network building and science learning activities, one addressed to practitioners (formal, non-informal, and informal educators) and another specifically targeted at policy-makers. Translations in national languages will be provided.
By collaborating within the OSCs, different institutions will be involved in the science learning and communication activities, including informal science education providers such as museums and science centres. The communication will be two-way dialogue-oriented formats facilitating public involvement and cooperation of scientific experts and citizens. MULTIPLIERS will develop a project sustainability plan that will consider both financial and institutional means and mechanisms to ensure the OSCs’ sustainability, allowing them to become a permanent network for disseminating open schooling methods and tools.
Educational tools and products developed during the project implementation will be collected and made publicly accessible through the project website to ensure the exploitation of project findings. They will also be presented at conferences. Training events will be organized to facilitate the adoption of open schooling approaches. A White Book on open schooling will be published at the end of the project including two sets of guidelines and recommendations for network building and science learning activities, one addressed to practitioners (formal, non-informal, and informal educators) and another specifically targeted at policy-makers. Translations in national languages will be provided.
By collaborating within the OSCs, different institutions will be involved in the science learning and communication activities, including informal science education providers such as museums and science centres. The communication will be two-way dialogue-oriented formats facilitating public involvement and cooperation of scientific experts and citizens. MULTIPLIERS will develop a project sustainability plan that will consider both financial and institutional means and mechanisms to ensure the OSCs’ sustainability, allowing them to become a permanent network for disseminating open schooling methods and tools.