Key Note Evidence-Based Education Eleni Chatzichristou CityUnity College 1 st Pedagogical Conference City Unity College & Liverpool John Moores University

Science Education – Europe Decline in the number of university students enrolling in engineering and scientific disciplines. Existing Science Education approaches are inefficient in creating STEM vocations and achieving scientific literacy for students. Do not enhance critical thinking, creativity, problem solving capacities, cooperative abilities, communication skills, job-embedded learning and intrinsic motivation. European authorities and the international scientific community have acknowledged IBSE's relevance to the teaching of STEM subjects from an early age.

Inquiry Based Science Education The IBSE framework is bringing authenticity to the practice of teaching and learning science in school, by introducing science through inquiry just as scientists practice it. It aims to use authentic scientific questions and problems to be dealt with by applying authentic procedural and reasoning skills and practices, in authentic scientific contexts, to produce authentic scientific knowledge. It aims to convert what scientists know and do into something a student can learn about and learn how to do at her/his level.

IBSE-Current Challenges Efforts of European projects such as Pollen (FP6), Mind the Gap, S-Team, Scienceduc, Fibonacci and MaterialsScience, EU-HOU (FP7), among others, have been directed to implement IBSE among teachers and pupils. However, it is very difficult to find a problem in the STEM field that is relevant for students and can be solved in school labs, with the use of school-based data. Often there is lack of a sophisticated and effective training, support and material strategy for teachers facing the challenge of changing their habitual practice of teaching science in a traditional way.

Science Education Perspectives IBSE is a pedagogical method that benefits from the knowledge-creating potential of scientific practice (modeling, argumentation, inquiry), focusing on scientific concepts, procedures, attitudes and values. It has to provide opportunities that lead students to face challenging problems that require creating possible explanations, testing these ideas against sophisticated data and constructing more sophisticated explanations. Students, like scientists, should work collaboratively and independently to solve complex data-rich problems, construct evidence-based explanations of natural phenomena and share and communicate them. IBSE should promote an image of science being profoundly human, a social and cultural activity that allows us to achieve some meaning..

Science Education Perspectives Provision of collaborative and on-going support and mentoring structures for science teachers. Teacher communities (collaborate among themselves and with others to reinvent practice and share professional growth): Communities of Practice (CoP), Professional Learning Communities (PLC). Provision of sophisticated and easily adaptable learning environments (e.g. STOCHASMOS platform). Change the content of Science Curricula introducing contemporary science to promote engagement. Personal contact with scientists (in particular young people, women or local scientists).

Space Research for IBSE Space research interdisciplinary profile makes it a suitable context where to learn about basic physics, chemistry, biology, geology, technology, mathematics and engineering, among other subjects. Space is a natural research laboratory where the products and resources that will contribute to the progress of society can be tested. Space can convey the challenges and successes ofern scientific endeavor to the younger generation in a comprehensive and inspiring way. Students hold “intrinsically” deep interest in Space Science.

Science Education Greece The Greek Ministry of Education and Life-Long Learning is currently engaged in a major effort to upgrade the national education system. Special emphasis is placed in modernizing the teaching practices and moving from the current school paradigm of passive learning to a new school model centered on the student. Towards the New School (source: ME-LLL)

Science Education Greece In the scope of improving education at all levels (from primary to higher) the government promotes digitization of learning material, interactive teaching methods in classroom, and hands-on activities. The student becomes a “young researcher”, a “young intellectual”, a “young scientist”. The new teaching paradigm hopes to develop within the young people the spirit of creativity and innovation. Digitized learning (source: ME-LLL)

Current Teacher Training System In the center of this major effort, the Ministry places the School Teacher. Particular effort on the training of teachers nation- wide, focusing on pedagogical methods in classroom, on the application of new technologies in education and on alternative student evaluation methods. The teacher training at national level takes place through interactive workshops, distance and on-line training, and feedback seminars. The Ministry foresees 200 hrs of training per teacher (split equally between face-to-face and distance training activities).

Education Stake Holders Pedagogical Department of the National University of Athens: involved in several teacher training programs and European collaborations (e.g. European Pedagogical ICT). Offers Masters programs for education professionals, including Science Teaching. Eugenides Foundation: developed a multi-disciplinary Interactive Exhibition Center of Research and Technology and a digital planetarium; involved in the preparation of educational scenarios promoting IBSE methods. Noesis Science Centre and Technology Museum: includes interactive technology park, cosmo-theater, digital planetarium, virtual reality simulator, mobile amphitheater for demonstration of science experiments, and the Centre for Creativity and Innovation where novel educational activities take place.

National Observatory of Athens It is the oldest research institute in Greece and in the Balkan area. It offers high-level research and expertise, and educational services of multi-disciplinary nature. It is involved in several public outreach and educational activities: yearly seminar series and workshops delivered by the Observatory’s researchers to secondary education teachers and summer schools including hands-on activities. I SARS has also been involved with the HOU and Europlanet projects (Greek coordinator), thus has rich experience in inquiry based astronomy education and has established strong connections with teacher associations nationwide. Regular field trips of schools to the Observatory campus give to teachers and pupils the opportunity to interact with scientists at work.

School and Teacher Networks Very active in promoting new material, exchanging ideas, announcing workshops, contests, best teaching practices: – National School Network ( – Education Gate for digital content ( yliko.gr/default.aspx) yliko.gr/default.aspx – 13 nation-wide Peripheral Directorates of Primary and 2ndary Education ( – Union of Greek Teachers of Physics and Technology ( – Hellenic Mathematics Society (