Towards Science and Research

Evropský sociální fond Praha & EU: Investujeme do vaší budoucnosti

Towards Science and Research Josef Brůna TEREZA Association Czech republic Lumír TEREZA Association

Mojmír http://www.projekt3v.cz

Towards Science and Research

Outline of presentation


• TEREZA Association – Projects and activities – The GLOBE Programme

• Towards Science and Research – Background – Challenges – Activities – Online Activities – Constrains – Success factors and lessons learned TEREZA Association

http://www.projekt3v.cz


TEREZA Association


• Non-profit NGO • 30 years tradition of environmental education • Delivers programs to 67 000 children each year – Half-day programs in our building – Long term programs in schools: Ecoschools, Forest in schools, school in forest and The GLOBE Program • done by teachers using our materials

• Now we focus also on teacher education TEREZA Association



The GLOBE Program


• Global Learning and Observation to Benefit the Environment

• Worldwide hands-on, primary and secondary school-based science and education program • Focused on inquiry based learning and collecting data about environment TEREZA Association



The GLOBE Program


• Started in 1994 and TEREZA is coordinating it in Czech republic from the very beginning

TEREZA Association



The GLOBE Program


• There are more than 23 000 schools around the world in 111 countries and >130 schools in Czech republic • Most activities are for younger students • We wanted better activities for high schools => Towards

Science and Research

Project – started in November 2008 TEREZA Association



TEREZA Association




Project goals


• Enhance the scientific literacy of secondary school students • Develop their scientific research skills • Establish a working network of students, teachers and researchers • Improve the attractivness of science • Fully funded by – Operational Programme Prague - Adaptability(OPPA) Priority Axis 3: Modernization of initial training, with the support of the European Social Fund and the City of Prague. TEREZA Association



Regional challenges


• Inquiry based education is new in czech curriculum • Teachers are not very used to it • There is not enough time in the classes • We have to start with the teachers • Materials have to be useful Out of the box – Allow further modification for active teachers

TEREZA Association



Cooperation


• Creating the materials – Department of Experimental Plant Biology, Faculty of science, Charles University • Team of doc. Jana Albrechtová – Faculty of Agrobiology, Food and Natural Resources, Czech University of life Sciences • Team of prof. Luboš Borůvka

• Testing the materials: – 8 high schools in Prague

• Online activities: – Centre for Modern Education (CZ), s.r.o. TEREZA Association



Project topics


• Scientific process – General principles of scientific work

• Carbon Cycle – Popular problematic of CO2 – Modern topic with few learning materials

• Soil science – New in curriculum – Missing in most textbooks TEREZA Association



Project Activites


• Methodical materials • Online materials – E-learning lectures – Publishing system – Browser game

• Workshops for teachers and scientists – During the whole project

• Excurses to Universities (2009 and 2010) • Final students conference (9th November 2010) TEREZA Association



Materials and experiments


• For each topic – Methodical guide with background information, literature reviews, solutions and references to relevant literature – Set of easy experiments without special equipment – Possible modifications for equipped schools and active teachers – Students workbook or field guide TEREZA Association





• Scientific process – Reading skills – Working with information – Formulation of hypotheses – Planning of experiments – Principles of data collection and basic analysis – Interpretation of results – Publication and presentation of the findings TEREZA Association





• Carbon Cycle – Carbon capture in plants • How much carbon is in different types of wood ? • Principles of photosynthesis

– Carbon release from soil • How much carbon is in different type of soils? • Sealed environments in a milk bottle TEREZA Association






• Soil science – Flower pots • Influence of different additives on plant growth • Contamination, acidification salinisation

– Field surrvey – soil profiles • How does soil change in various conditions • Land use, geology, morphology

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Students conference


• 9/11/2010 at Czech University of Life Sciences, Prague • 8 high schools present results of their research

• You are all welcome TEREZA Association



Online learning activities


• Interactive e-learning lectures

• Publishing tool with database

• Browser game TEREZA Association



E-learning lectures


• Flash based interactive slides with tasks • Same topics as other materials – 3 sections with 6 lectures – each with 5-9 slides

• Dialogs of two companion scientists – Mojmír (plant physiologist) and Lumír (soil scientist) – Introduce tasks and give direct feedback dependent of students performance – Text or fully voiced

• Individual study pace • Compatible with interactive whiteboards Mojmír TEREZA Association



Contents of lectures


• 3 sections: • Scientific proces – – – –

Literature, online databases Hypotheses Methods and plans Presentation of results

• Carbon cycle – Plant physiology – Photosyntehsis – CO2

• Soil science – – – –

Soil types Life in soil Threats, vulnerability Feedback of soils

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Examples

TEREZA Association



Examples

TEREZA Association



Examples

TEREZA Association




Online publishing system DATEL • • • •


Online cooperation of student groups Writing scientific reports from experiments Practicing writing skills Learning principles of citation and authorship

TEREZA Association




Online database of results


• Database of published results – Publicly accessible – Source of information and inspiration • For other students • For teachers • For new schools – Knowledge base from all experiments • New research • Further investigation

– Includes a discussion forum for teachers TEREZA Association




Browser game


• Simulation of a small village • Results of decisions on regional level – Connected mostly to soil and carbon cycle

• Possible to play in groups with roles

• Vision of sustainable development • Detailed statistics

TEREZA Association




Network for SD


• Strengthens cooperation between universities and high schools • During workshops, testing and excursions teachers have cooperated with scientists • Exchange of experience – online – For teachers – For students

• Online activities don´t need much maintenance, most is done by teachers • Detailed feedback for the first draft of materials TEREZA Association



Constraints


• Time limits in school lectures – Activities are sometimes done in students free time – Opportunity - new school education plans

• Limited number of topics – Limited by number of cooperating scientists – Can be extended in GLOBE Program topics

• No regional University partners today

TEREZA Association



Success factors


• Functional network for creation of materials and cooperation on students research activities • Tailor made activities • Simple but interesting experiments

• Teachers count scientific skill as vital for biology and chemistry lectures

TEREZA Association



Lessons learned


• Possibilities of online learning • Universities can offer many things to secondary schools, but there is almost no platform for this cooperation • On universities, there are usualy no special courses of scientific literacy – Usually taught by supervisor – May use some of the activities for the first grades

TEREZA Association



Current state


• • • •

Methodical materials - in print Excursions and workshops - finished E-learning – finishing and dubbing Publishing system – well tested – articles for conference • Browser game – parametrisation • Beginning of last part – Dissemination to 80 high schools in Prague TEREZA Association



Future


• Dissemination to 80 high schools in Prague until april 2011 • Modification for elementary schools • Dissemination to all GLOBE schools in Czech republic

TEREZA Association


Summary


• Project was beneficial for all participants • Online activities can be integrated into methodical materials to deliver better support for students and teachers • Online database for results of experiments can help new schools in their scientific work • Scientific work can be done in regular classes in schools TEREZA Association


Links


• http://www.projekt3v.cz/ - project website • http://elearning.projekt3v.cz/ - lectures • http://datel.projekt3v.cz/ -publishing system • http://www.terezanet.cz/ - main TEREZA website • http://www.globe.gov – The GLOBE Program

Thank you for your attention TEREZA Association





Optional activity

Towards Science and Research

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