DCU-led SAILS project goes to Brussels
Almost 70 stakeholders, decision-makers and partner representatives took part in a high-level event in the European Parliament on 18 November to launch the main outputs of SAILS. This four year FP7 funded project aimed at supporting teachers in adopting inquiry based science education in their second-level classrooms and increasing their confidence in the assessment of inquiry skills and competences.
The event, hosted by Irish MEP Seán Kelly, highlighted the work of SAILS to meet the challenge of assessing inquiry learning in science and provided an opportunity to launch the project heritage website featuring a vast array of teaching and assessment resources, including frameworks for inquiry and assessment, teacher education programme and inquiry and assessment units. These resources and materials are freely available to science teachers interested in building their competence in assessing inquiry skills in the classroom.
Over 2,500 teachers have been involved in SAILS workshops and activities meaning that over 30,000 students in 12 countries (Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Sweden, Turkey and the UK) have already benefited.
"The next generation will require scientific skills and competencies in addition to being scientifically knowledgeable and informed. To meet this challenge, we need to implement the most effective curricula and teaching assessment strategies across Europe. The SAILS project is a brilliant example of how we can make improvements," according to Mr Kelly, a former teacher.
Speakers at the event included Ana Arana Antelo, Head of Unit in DG Research & Innovation of the European Commission, Dr. Odilla Finlayson, SAILS Project Coordinator, Dublin City University, Ireland, Dr. Martina Roth, Director of Intel's Global Education Strategy, Vanessa Figueiredo Pereira de Andrade, SAILS Teacher, Institute of Education, University of Lisbon, Portugal and Robert Clarke, SAILS Teacher, Dublin City University/Confey Community College, Leixlip, Ireland.
SAILS Partners represented at the event:
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Dublin City University, Ireland Intel Performance Learning Solutions Ltd, Ireland University of Szeged, Hungary Jagiellonian University, Poland The Institute of Education of the Lisbon University, Portugal Kristianstad University, Sweden Malmö University, Sweden |
King’s College London, United Kingdom Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice, Slovakia University of Piraeus Research Centre, Greece Hacettepe University, Turkey Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Universität Hannover, Germany University of Southern Denmark, Denmark ATiT, Belgium |
For more information about SAILS contact: info@sails-project.eu/www.sails-project.eu.