PROJECTS

 

Project "Inquiry-based science education for primary and secondary school - Discover!"

Project "LIGHT IN OUR LIFE"

As a partnership with Eastconn (SUA), Next Generation Regional Manufacturing Center (SUA), Three Rivers Community College (SUA) and Optical Society of America, CSET organizes together with Colegiul National "I.L. Caragiale" A Poster Contest for Students having as subject the role of light in our life.

Light - it is the fundamental element of life! It warms our earth, illuminates our world, and makes life possible. How does light affect you? What natural examples or technical applications of light do you find fascinating? Use your imagination and knowledge of light and optics and create a poster or photograph illustrating "Light in your Life".

PARTICIPANTS: Contest is open to students in the Eastconn Dark Skies and Expanding Horizons/ Laser Camp programs (CT, USA students and their partners in Wales, Ohio and Canada) and to students in schools from the Great Britain, Italy and Romania.

AGE GROUP: Prizes will be awarded in two age groups: 10-13 years (US grades 5-8) and 14-18 years (US grades 9-12)

MEDIA AND ENTRY INFORMATION: Posters must be original artwork (drawing, painting), computer art or phootographs:

• art on paper (e.g, water color, crayon, charcoal, etc.) 210 mm x 297 mm (8.5" x 11")

• computer art (clip art and web images may NOT be included) - high quality jpg format at least 2500 x 1700 pixels

• photo (color or black and white) - in print form 13 cm x 18 cm (5"x7"), in electronic format high quality jpg files at least 2500 x 1700 pixels

"S.O.S. EARTH" Multilateral Comenius Project

For the "S.O.S. EARTH" Comenius Project, Center for Science Education and Training offers technical support for the evaluation of light pollution. The participants at the April 2009 project meeting will pay a visit to the National Institute for Laser, Plasma and Radiation Physics

Partners:

• Grup Scolar de Constructii Montaj "Mihai Bravu" Bucharest, in association with the National Institute for Laser, Plasma and Radiation Physics, Bucharest, Romania

• Lincoln Christ's Hospital School, Lincolnshire, East Midlands, Great Britain

• Saarnilaakson Koulu, Upper Comprehensive School, Espoon Kaupunki, Finland

• Escola Profissional Gustave Eiffel, Vocational Secondary School, Entrocamento, Centro Medio Tejo, Portugal

 

PHOTON Problem Based Learning (PBL) Project

The New England Board of Higher Education (NEBHE) and Center for Science Education and Training (CSET) partnership, in the frame of PHOTON Problem Based Learning (PBL) Project, is a follow-up of the successful collaboration in the PHOTON2 Project in which three Romanian highschool teachers graduated the courses in photonics offered by Three Rivers Community College, Norwich, Connecticut.

The aim of the cooperation in the PBL Project is to promote PBL method in Romanian schools by applying it to photonics teaching. In August 2008, Dan Sporea and Elena Vladescu participated to the "PHOTON Problem Based Learning (PBL)" Project Intenssive Professional Development Workshop at Boston University Photonics Center, Boston, Massachusetts.

For the begining CSET will support with technical assistance Colegiul National Vocational "Nicolae Titulescu" from Slatina and, as the project will develop, it is expected that additional high schools will be involved.

 

Project Pollen

POLLEN is a 6th Framework Program - Science and Society project supported by the DG RESEARCH of the European Commission. Twelve pedagogical and scientific organizations coordinated by La main à pâte (Ecole normale supérieure) proposed the project which runs from January 2006 to June 2009.

POLLEN is focused on the creation of 12 seed cities for science** throughout Europe. It aims to stimulate and support science teaching and learning in primary schools, providing tools, training, coaching and assessment within the framework of the inquiry-based science teaching.

** A seed city is an educative territory that supports primary science education through the commitment of the whole community (families, educative authorities, scientific and industrial partners, municipalities, museums and cultural centres, etc.)

POLLEN SEED CITIES AND PARTNERS' INSTITUTIONS

•  Saint-Etienne – France (École Normale Supérieure – La main à la pâte, Project coordinator)

• Brussels – BELGIUM (Université Libre de Bruxelles)

• Tartu – ESTONIA ( Université of Tartu )

• Berlin – GERMANY (Freie Universität Berlin)

• Perugia – ITALY (Consortium Innovation Training Educational Inquiry)

• Amsterdam – NETHERLANDS (Universiteit van Amsterdam)

• Sacavém – PORTUGAL (Ciência Viva)

• Girona – SPAIN (P.A.U. Education)

• Leicester - UNITED KINGDOM ( University of Leicester )

• Vác – HUNGARY ( Apor Vilmos Catholic College )

• Ljubljana – SLOVENIA ( University of Ljubljana - Faculty of Education)

• Stockholm – SWEDEN (The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences)

 

Project CEEX - Science Education and Training in a knowledge based society – SET 2010

THE EUROPEAN UNION'S POLICY ON EDUCATION

During the Lisbon meeting (March 2002), Heads of State and Government of the European Union established a new strategy for Europe's development. They aimed to make the European Union “the most dynamic and competitive knowledge-based economy in the world” by 2010. A European Commission document issued in 2002 indicates clearly some paths to follow in the filed of school education along with some precise targets: “Europe must do more to encourage children and young people to take a greater interest in science and mathematics, and to ensure that those already working in scientific and research fields find their careers, prospects and rewards sufficiently satisfactory to keep them there”. “By 2010, the EU-average level of participation in lifelong learning (LLL) should be at least 15% of the adult working age population (25-64 age group) and in no country should it be lower than 10%”.

THE MAIN OBJECTIVES OF THE PROJECT ARE:

• to promote the European best practice and to establish a partnership between the existing teams in Romania and the advanced networks in Europe, in the field of scientific and technical literacy and LLL ;
• to contribute to the development of a regional network (Balkan area, Central and Eastern Europe) devoted to the improvement of science teaching at pre-university level, through the partnership of research institutes, universities, high schools, NGOs, teachers organizations / training centres, local authorities;
• to promote the collaboration with the European network „Hands-on Science” on the issue of science education through experiments (real or virtual);
• to assist the transfer of the European best practice on extra-curricular science and technology teaching, in order to rise the young generation interest towards a science carrier;
• to encourage the dissemination, at European level, of the major results on science education in Romanian schools.

THE EXPECTED OUTCOMES OF THE PROJECT ARE:

• the development of a national center to support the development in Romania of a culture on science literacy and LLL;
• to support the integration of Romanian actors into EU's programmes in order to strength the link between science and society, to promote the education of a scientific literate and responsible citizen, to encourage the young students to engage in science and technical carries, as per the requirements of a knowledge-based society in Europe for 2010;
• the organization of two international workshop focused on the science literacy and LLL in Europe, and on the extra-curricula science training in Romania.

 

Project Comenius "Hands-on Science" - 110157-CP-1-2003-PT-COMENIUS-C3

The recent challenges Europe is facing in these times of enlargement consolidation and global affirmation of the European Union in the world, gives Education and particularly Science and Technology Education a decisive importance.

In the frames of the action Comenius 3 of EC' program Socrates, twenty-eight institutions from ten European countries (BE, CY, DE, ES, GR , MT , PT, RO, SL , UK) and a transnational consortium (CoLoS) established the “Hands-on Science” network.

The main goal of the Hands-on Science (H-Sci) network is to promote experimental teaching of Science as a way of improving in-school scientific education and Science literacy in our society.

The H-Sci network has a broad remit, aiming to promote and diffuse among schoolteachers, schools, and national and transnational educational boards, well established and newly investigated practices of hands-on experimental teaching of Science in all its disciplines. We will do this by fostering the development and use of hands-on experiments in the classroom so that students “do” science rather than merely being “exposed” to it.

A task force is being established under the umbrella of the H-Sci network to co-ordinate a public relations campaign about Science education. This will be aimed at students, teachers and educators, schools and the community, Ministries of Education and Education bodies, in a systematic attempt to demonstrate the benefits of an extended use of hands-on learning of Science. Interactive web sites and virtual simulation tools and labs with open access to all will be established. Educational kits of hands-on experiments and support material at different levels of complexity will be designed created and discussed. Textbooks and reports, including electronic interactive versions, will be produced in different languages and disseminated.

Changes to the National syllabus in Science that, we believe, will enhance the effectiveness of science teaching, will be discussed and proposed to the proper authorities. Annual international conferences and workshops will be held, in addition to a significant number of training courses for schoolteachers. Meetings and transnational exchange visits will be organized. New members from all EU countries will be associated to the network. The network will promote and induce new cooperation projects at EU level in the field of Science and Technology education. The establishment of student' Science Clubs will be induced. Science fairs, contests and activities that bring together students, teachers and education specialists, research institutions, the industry and the community in general, will be a notable feature of the network.

 

Project Leonardo da Vinci "EU-Infobroker" D/99/2/09/194/PI/II.I.1.b/FPC

In today's knowledge-based economy, information is an important commodity and good research and reporting skills are increasingly in demand. Business and industry professionals are willing to pay for timely, relevant and accurate information.

Career opportunities are developing for information specialists to do research on a fee for service basis. Information brokers are self-motivated individuals, with strong communication, entrepreneurial, research and report writing skills. This new course program will help you developing the skills to succeed as an independent information professional.

The aim of this project is to develop a training curricula for not-academic people. The targed group are good qualified people from other professions related to ICT or with good knowledge in these. The should be able to work with EDP very well.

The product (the curricula) will be available by download or as guideline.