Abstract:

ERIS is EU funded project (ERASMUS+) aiming to increase the interest of students in junior high and high schools in STEM, and the choice of a scientific career. Thanks to the development, pilot implementation and dissemination of educational packages and methodological materials, research results will be exploited in the education systems of at least 3 European countries: Poland, Romania and France.

The ERIS project is divided into 2 parts: a testing and a dissemination phase. During the testing phase, teaching materials in national languages and in English for students in junior high and high schools are being prepared. The packages are tested in selected schools in each partner country. Packages are adapted to the needs of end-users: teachers and students, according to the results of evaluation surveys. During the dissemination phase, all participating schools in the partner countries, but also elsewhere in Europe, will have the opportunity to freely participate in the project. They will use the packages during their lessons and take part in the webcasts of online lessons conducted by scientists in the project’s national languages and in English. These virtual meetings with scientists will offer the opportunity to get a close view of scientific work, taking measures and doing research in the field of mathematics and science. The meetings are designed to encourage students to explore the world of science independently.

30 educational packages (10 per each partner institution) are being developed during the project. They are dedicated to various topics, e.g.: glaciers, earthquakes, geomagnetism, meteorology in the Arctic, UV radiation, ocean waves etc. They use freely available research databases or results published online, which may be analised by students with the help of instructions prepared by scientists. The packages include materials for teachers to work with students during classes and/ or extracurricular activities (e.g. student interest groups). They contain worksheets for students and hints for teachers. In addition, they include multimedia materials (movies, animations). Webcasts of online lessons are complementary to the packages. One package or its part can be used on lessons in several subjects (physics, geography, mathematics, science and others). The amount of materials and worksheets presented in one package will be so vast that teachers may use some parts of materials during one lesson or even a couple of lessons, including the extra classes for interested students.

Apart from the educational packages, ERIS also provides a guide for teachers as to the effective exploitation of research results in school practice, including examples of good practice in this respect. During conferences for teachers, which will be held in Poland, Romania and France, educators will get familiar with the packages and get tips on how to use them effectively in their classrooms.

The project will contribute to the growth of students’ skills in searching reliable sources of knowledge. Their participation in online lessons and the use of educational resources in English will contribute to the improvement of their language skills, expanding notably their specialized vocabulary in STEM. This is going to be very useful for their future STEM studies, which are crucial for the development of a knowledge-based economy in Europe. The project will also help to increase the understanding of the language of science and scientific messages.

Keywords:

STEM education, research, educational packages, STEM teachers, secondary schools, scientific database, scientific messages.