SPICE Summer Academy - School pilots

SPICE Summer Academy

Organised jointly by the project partners (European Schoolnet, Belgium; Direcção Geral de Inovação e Desenvolvimento Curricular,Portugal; and Dům Zahraničních Služeb MŠMT, Czech Republic) the Academy presented the evaluation results of the project’s learning initiatives trials and launched the Communities of Practice, an online continuation of the project. The participants had also the chance to take part in various hands-on workshops on innovative learning prepared by 12 EU science education projects.

The event opened with a speech by Mr Lukáš Teplý, representing the Ministry of Education of the Czech Republic. Mr Teplý put science education in the context of the EU strategic initiative Europe 2020 and stressed the importance of cooperation between schools and industry. Lenka Henebergová then presented the academy’s host organization, Dům Zahraničních Služeb, its activities and initiatives.

The results of the SPICE project were divided into three parts: the SPICE project manager, Dr Agueda Gras-Velazquez (EUN), outlined the project objectives and activities, Petr Chaluš (DZS) and Barbora Grečnerová (DZS) focused on its policy aspects. Finally Barbara Schwarzenbacher (EUN) presented the outcomes of the evaluation of the good teaching practices developed within the project.

The EU project workshops (Scientix; Pathway; Photonic Explorer; UniSchooLabS) showcased various inquiry-based approaches to teaching STEM subjects. InGenious , Xperimania and The Global Water Experiment demonstrated three different ways how to involve industry in science and maths education. The science show by the Theatre of Physics reminded the participants that learning science is above all exciting and fun.

The Academy concluded with the launch of the Communities of Practice, an online platform open to any maths and science teacher across Europe interested in testing the SPICE good practices in their class. Although the SPICE project has ended, the conversation and cooperation can continue. The Communities are hosted in the discussion fora on the Scientix portal:
http://www.scientix.eu/web/guest/community/fora/-/message_boards/category/55072

We would like to thank the teachers who participated in the SPICE academy and the speakers and projects teams presenting their activities and results. Above all we thank the SPICE teachers for their presentations and for their excellent work during all phases of the project!

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