1. newsletter

Dear reader,

 

This is the first newsletter dedicated to the transnational project STARS (Successfully Teaching AstRonomy in Schools) that publishing house of primary and secondary schools´ textbooks EXPOL PEDAGOGIKA ltd. has started to implement in November 2017 in cooperation with six other partners from three European countries – Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Bulgaria.

This is the way how we would like to give you all information about the project itself, our partners, what we have done so far in the project and what lies ahead of us.

We believe that together we will succeed in achieving our goal – to support the teachers teaching astronomy at lower secondary education. Various researches have shown the fact that in most education systems in Central and Eastern Europe, teachers struggle to highlight the interrelation of subjects due to lack of resources and sometimes even information on certain topics. This is extremely valid information with regard to the instruction of astronomy-related subjects.

 

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STARS partners

 

 

Tento projekt bol financovaný s podporou programu Erasmus +, Číslo projektu: 2017-1-SK01-KA201-035344, Kľúčová akcia 2, Strategické partnerstvá v školskom vzdelávaní.

 

This project has been funded with the support of the Erasmus+ Programme, K2 action, Strategic Partnerships in School Education. Project Agreement Number: 2017-1-SK01-KA201-035344

The current publication reflects only the author´s view and neither the Slovak National Agency, nor the European Commission are responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains.

According to the latest Eurydice Report about the teaching profession in Europe from 2015, 44, 8% school teachers are especially concerned with needs under the heading of “teaching cross-curricular skills”. Also various researches have shown the fact that in most education systems in Central and Eastern Europe, teachers struggle to highlight the interrelation of subjects, due to lack of resources and sometimes even information on certain topics. This is extremely valid information with regard to the instruction of astronomy-related topics. In order to acquire relevant knowledge, it is very important for students to learn in a conceptual framework, conduct observations, work collaboratively and take maximum advantage of today´s advanced technological development.

 

Since November 2017, the publishing house of primary and secondary schools´ textbooks EXPOL PEDAGOGIKA ltd. situated in Bratislava has started to implement the transnational project STARS (Successfully Teaching AstRonomy in Schools) whose aim is to support the teachers teaching astronomy at lower secondary education. There are six partners from three different countries participating at the project together with us – Slovakia, Czech Republic and Bulgaria. Our aim is to equip teachers with comprehensive methods to improve their teaching practices, as well as concrete ideas of how to present a given topic in astronomy-related curriculum.

 

What are the aims of the project?

• to equip teachers with innovative methodologies, knowledge, competencies and tools to deliver astronomy-related curriculum in a relevant and meaningful manner
• to foster the acquisition of critical thinking, analytical and abstract reasoning skills, thus contributing to increasing the attainment levels among students, as well as the acquisition of relevant knowledge
• to develop a concept for new educational program in astronomy which is reflecting current trends and students´ attitude towards the modern learning process
• to equip target groups with open education resources on astronomy that are of high-quality, free to use and available in their national languages

What are the project outputs?

What is the project objective?

• Our effort will be focused towards the development of a comprehensive toolkit to include all four mentioned project outputs. The bespoke collaboration between a leading publishing house, academics, astronomy experts and schools will not only contribute to the high quality of the outputs, but will also ensure that our target groups will be served through resources that are extensively tested and evaluated to ensure maximum applicability, usefulness and potential for further exploitation.

Who are the target groups of the project?

• The target groups of the STARS project are mainly teachers teaching at lower secondary education,
• also pupils in lower secondary education (age 10-14),
• their parents (as an indirect participants) and
• high-level decision makers responsible for introducing reforms and creating education programs at the national level.

 

 

Who are the project partners?

• - Partners of the project are well-known astronomical society (Bulgarian Astronomical Society), university conducting the research in the field of astronomy (The University of West Bohemia in Pilsen); schools (Grammar School Metodova 2 in Bratislava, Primary School at Říčany wood, Sofia High School of Mathematics “Paisiy Hilendarski) and company focused on programming the webpages and information systems made-to measure (M7) from three different countries (Slovakia, Czech Republic and Bulgaria).

 

Find more information about the project at our official webpage: www.project-stars.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1st Transnational Meeting of the STARS project partners

   

The 1st Transnational Project Meeting of the STARS project partners took place on 24th of November 2017 in Bratislava. All the 6 project partners from Slovakia, Czech Republic and Bulgaria attended the meeting:

• Grammar School Metodova 2 Bratislava; M7 (SVK)
• The University of West Bohemia in Pilsen; Primary School at Říčany wood (CZ)
• Bulgarian Astronomical Society; Sofia High School of Mathematics „Paisiy Hilendarski“ (BG)

The coordinator and organiser of the project meeting was textbooks´ publishing house EXPOL PEDAGOGIKA ltd.

 

Content of the meeting was:

• introduction of each partner,
• presentation of the project STARS itself, Project Management Handbook and the financing rules of the project to partners,
• start of the work at the 1st intellectual output (proposal of the structure and content)

The aim of the meeting was:

• to agree upon the structure and content of the questionnaire which will be used to test students´ and teachers´ entry levels of knowledge about astronomy at lower secondary education (the task for the partners from UWB and BAS)
• to suggest and create content and structure of the 1st intellectual output of the project – Methodological Handbook for Teachers based on the survey results (partners from UWB and BAS will be working on the O1 during the first half of 2018)

The next steps in the project are:

• conducting survey at partner schools in Slovakia, Czech Republic and Bulgaria
• working on methodical materials for teachers at lower secondary education
• producing and expedition of the 1st project newsletter
• preparing for 2nd transnational project meeting in Pilsen in august 2018 where the 1st version of methodical materials will be introduced to partners and they can give their comments on it