The project INSTEM has received funding from the European Union LIFELONG LEARNING Programme (2012-2015) under Grant Agreement n° 2012 -4827 / 001 - 001. The

report only reflects the author's - the INSTEM consor3um - views. The European Union is not liable for any use made of the informa3on contained herein.

1

Brief Report about the Brief Report about the Brief Report about the Brief Report about the 3rd INSTEM Conference3rd INSTEM Conference3rd INSTEM Conference3rd INSTEM Conference

From June 17th to 18th Freiburg (Breisgau, Germany) From June 17th to 18th Freiburg (Breisgau, Germany) From June 17th to 18th Freiburg (Breisgau, Germany) From June 17th to 18th Freiburg (Breisgau, Germany) was host to the third international INSTEM conference. was host to the third international INSTEM conference. was host to the third international INSTEM conference. was host to the third international INSTEM conference. 95 participants representing various fields of education 95 participants representing various fields of education 95 participants representing various fields of education 95 participants representing various fields of education

came together to share knowledge and experience came together to share knowledge and experience came together to share knowledge and experience came together to share knowledge and experience gained in educational projects (funded by the FP 7 as gained in educational projects (funded by the FP 7 as gained in educational projects (funded by the FP 7 as gained in educational projects (funded by the FP 7 as

well as the Comenius programme).well as the Comenius programme).well as the Comenius programme).well as the Comenius programme).

In order to address a broader variety of people INSTEM cooperated with the FP 7 Project Mascil to set up two

workshops contemporaneously to the conference. One addressing international stakeholders while the other work-

shop was a Mascil teacher training course (for more infor-mation: www. Mascil.eu), each of them addressing the spe-cific needs of these target groups. Participants of these

workshops were invited to join in during the “market of possibility” session (see below) and engage in discussions

with the conference participants. This allowed for a broader

variety of people to exchange their thoughts and findings on STEM education.

Day 1Day 1Day 1Day 1

The introductory speech of the conference was held by

Peter Gray who gave the participants an overview of the state of the art in mathematics and science education in

Europe.

As he outlined, science education covers the whole learning continuum and can be linked with many other educational

disciplines. The competencies required for employability correspond directly with the quality in teaching and learning, thus demonstrating the importance of science and mathe-

matics education as well as the creation of diverse learning environments. In order to do so, collaboration between

research, society and politics is necessary. It is particularly important to close the research-practice gap (for which dissemination also plays a key role), and educational policies

and systems should ensure that science is an essential com-ponent of education for all.

Therefore schools, teachers and teacher educators need

the respective support to adopt an inquiry approach to sci-ence education, as a part of the core framework of science

for all. In addition, socioeconomic, gender and cultural ine-qualities need to be addressed to provide everyone with

the opportunities to pursue excellence in learning.

The project INSTEM has received funding from the European Union LIFELONG LEARNING Programme (2012-2015) under Grant Agreement n° 2012 -4827 / 001 - 001. The

report only reflects the author's - the INSTEM consor3um - views. The European Union is not liable for any use made of the informa3on contained herein.

2

Peter Gray then continued to give the conference partici-pants an overview of INSTEM’s conclusions regarding

STEM education such as the project’s vision for the future and important goals to achieve regarding innovation, collab-

oration and other aspects.

Shortly after this overview of INSTEM’s findings, Katja Maaß

talked about successful implementation of inquiry based teaching on a daily basis. Showing the audience some quick examples, she successfully outlined the possibilities of

changing a rigid daily classroom routine into an interesting inquiry based lesson. The examples she used were devel-

oped by the Mascil and Primas projects which both focus on linking theory, practice and real world scenarios, particu-

larly by using examples from the world of work.

Following a short coffee break, three projects (Fibonacci, ZELF and INQUIRE) provided information about project

dissemination strategies. In their presentations Dan Sporea (Fibonacci), Beate Epting (ZELF) and Suzanne Kapelari

(INQUIRE) addressed the question of how important dis-semination is for the implementation of project knowledge

and outcomes. This question was raised during the second INSTEM conference (see respective report; http://

instem.tibs.at/node/24#reports) and in the INSTEM Syn-thesis Report. The projects’ strategies included pupil in-

volvement, teacher training, collaboration with teacher edu-cation, newsletters, flyers, tandem collaborations and work-

shops in order to enhance teacher understanding of IBSE.

The first conference day continued with a one hour show-and-tell session of ten different projects (see appendix)

which again addressed different dissemination strategies. Afterwards the conference participants had the possibility

to get an “interactive” insight into the different projects while meeting the projects’ representatives at the “market of possibilities”. The fair-like setting enabled communica-

tion, hands on testing of teaching materials, exchange of information and discussions on STEM education and inno-

vation. Mascil workshop participants joined in to engage in discussions.

Impressions from the “market of possibili3es”.

Audience listening to the presentations.

The project INSTEM has received funding from the European Union LIFELONG LEARNING Programme (2012-2015) under Grant Agreement n° 2012 -4827 / 001 - 001. The

report only reflects the author's - the INSTEM consor3um - views. The European Union is not liable for any use made of the informa3on contained herein.

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Day 2Day 2Day 2Day 2

The second conference day started off with three project

presentations by Peter van Marion (SUN), Francesco Cuo-mo (Traces) and Gültekin Çakmakçı (Mascil), which provid-

ed further information on factors which are crucial for a sustainable project implementation.

All three presentations emphasised the importance of col-laboration between research and teachers in order to facili-tate change and implement project knowledge. Moreover,

teachers need communities of practice and professional development, such as teacher training e.g. workshops as in

Mascil, in order to implement innovative teaching methods in schools.

Subsequently, Suzanne Kapelari and Peter van Marion sum-marised the most important points and outcomes of all presentations held during the conference. The key strate-

gies for disseminations were:

◊ the snowballing strategy — start small and establish a

small group of people/institutions particularly engaged in the issue, then engage other people

◊ the community of inquiry strategy —establish a reflective community of inquiry, e.g. a group of institutions

◊ the generate interest strategy –––– offer new and innova-

tive training activities that raise interest, ask teachers to engage and keep up communication within the commu-

nity

◊ the school based strategy –––– improve practice on a daily basis by fostering the establishment of school based

teacher communities of practice while introducing ex-ternal consultant; regular meetings should be held

◊ the transformative research based strategy –––– based on collaboration between teachers and researchers

◊ the interdisciplinary strategy ---- establish the collaboration amongst different stakeholders inside and outside the formal education system

This summary was followed by a vivid plenary discussion of

the topic, during which some very important questions were raised, which are still to be answered by future re-

search and/or projects:

◊ Are there alternative strategies?

◊ How to improve the network idea?

◊ How to facilitate networks best?

◊ How can we sustain networks?

◊ How to implement ideas in regular educational pro-grammes?

◊ How to measure the quality of our approach?

Discussion on the projects led by Suzanne Kapelari and Peter van Marion.

The project INSTEM has received funding from the European Union LIFELONG LEARNING Programme (2012-2015) under Grant Agreement n° 2012 -4827 / 001 - 001. The

report only reflects the author's - the INSTEM consor3um - views. The European Union is not liable for any use made of the informa3on contained herein.

4

As a closing activity, Peter Gray organised an interactive group activity and asked all conference participants to name

one word they regarded most representative for the con-ference. This provided many with new inspiration for fur-

ther reflection and discussions.

After the conference, the participants were invited to visit two German schools (organised by the INSTEM partner

institution Walther-Rathenau Gewerbeschule), a lower sec-ondary school and a vocational school. For the conference

guest this was a rare and well received opportunity to look inside the German educational system. As can be seen in the

images on this page, the guests were given a tour and en-gaged in discussions about STEM education with the local representatives/teachers.

To summarise, the third INSTEM conference was well re-ceived and offered a great opportunity for all participants,

as well as the participants of the Mascil workshops, to ex-change their experience and knowledge, to learn from each other and particularly to reflect on successful dissemination

concepts of innovative science education.

A group of par3cipants visi3ng German secondary schools a=er the confer-

ence.

The project INSTEM has received funding from the European Union LIFELONG LEARNING Programme (2012-2015) under Grant Agreement n° 2012 -4827 / 001 - 001. The

report only reflects the author's - the INSTEM consor3um - views. The European Union is not liable for any use made of the informa3on contained herein.

5

AppendixAppendixAppendixAppendix

Show and Tell SessionShow and Tell SessionShow and Tell SessionShow and Tell Session

9 project-teams presented their projects in the form of short presentations on their work and how they are disseminating their results.

Market of Possibilities, Presented ProjectMarket of Possibilities, Presented ProjectMarket of Possibilities, Presented ProjectMarket of Possibilities, Presented Project

◊ Mascil / Primas ◊ WEBGEO ◊ Fibonacci / iBEST ◊ PROFILES/ÖKOLOG/IMST ◊ Sails ◊ Hands-on Physics. Evrika! and national Romanian projects presented by INSTEM Romania. ◊ Inspiring Science Education ◊ GoLab ◊ Creative Little Scientists ◊ SciVis ◊ SciCamp

Presenter/s (country)Presenter/s (country)Presenter/s (country)Presenter/s (country) Presentation TitlePresentation TitlePresentation TitlePresentation Title Name of the projectName of the projectName of the projectName of the project 1 Odilla Finlayson (Ireland) Assesment in Scientific Inquiry Sails 2 Mihaela Balint (Romania) It all starts with a question It all starts with a question 3 Peter Gray &

Gultekin Cakmakci

Gender in Scince

Teaching and Learning

STING

4 Martin Dixon & Science Education for Diversity Scinece Education for Diversity

5 Mira Dulle (Austria) PROFILES Dissemination & Networking PROFILES 6 Ana Blagotinšek (Slovenia) Building the vertical in IBSE education Fibonacci, PROFILES, ChReact

7 Christos Gotzaridis (Greece)

Using ICT technologies to provide inno-vation and training in science teaching in

Thrace Greece

Open Discovery Space (ODS) Inspiring Science Education (ISE) Mascil , Go-Lab.