Main objective(s) of the Erasmus sub-programme

 

- The programme improves the quality and increases the volume of student and teaching staff mobility throughout Europe. The I.P. gives added value to interaction with the other universities, which already have ERASMUS students' mobility programmes.

 

- The I.P. improves the multilateral cooperation between higher education institutions in Europe. The LIGHT project is a basis for the development of common undergraduate curricula since it will develop one of them. It ties to the existent undergraduate programmes as a free choice course providing 5 ECTS. It also promotes co-operation between Universities and Enterprises, as science museums, science centres and environmental parks under the scope "science for all citizens". It brings modernisation of Higher Education especially involves science to culture. Finally, via the interactive website the I.P. programme contributes to virtual campuses.

 

- The programme enhances the professional knowledge and skills of science teachers, by lifelong, didactically-innovative and pedagogically-rich, open and flexible, learning approaches. These approaches will also foster students' potential for employability and cultivate the growth of an entrepreneur spirit. In relation with the undergraduate courses, the I.P. project could help students to gain their job in both schools and museums without any gender or disability exceptions.

 

- We mention that the participant universities are in permanent collaboration with some scientific museums and centres (CittΓ  della Scienza, Thessaloniki Science Centre and Technology Museum, Gaia Environmental Centre, Cyprus Museum of National History etc.). Furthermore the universities educate their students both academic and practical in private and public schools of each participant country.

 

- The consideration of societal conditions, the innovative pedagogical approaches, accompanied with interesting practices on the "LIGHT" and the ICT affordances, will raise the motivation of the trainees for learning, will improve the quality of their professional development, will result in better quality of LL learning, and promote performance, increase participation of women (early grades teachers are mainly women) and give a contemporary European dimension of science education.

 

- Our project aims to invest on ICT affordances for interactive communication through a website, using teaching of light for exchanging experiences and innovative ideas relating to science content, services, pedagogies and practices, materials, and equipment.

 

European Priorities

- The programme brings a high contribution to the area of cultural studies of science education. Shorter programmes give a particular added value because these approaches need locality.

 

- The programme gives evidence of full recognition and credits to the activities by the participating institutions. There are monitoring and evaluation activities all time long. Finally, the new curriculum about the topic of "light" will be part of the university undergraduate courses.

 

- The programme presents a strong multidisciplinary approach ("hundred skills" approach). This approach grasps the gap between science and culture. The I.P. Project brings a strong innovation in Science Education in early grades by communicate the ways children are educated in the scientific topic of "Light" in a scientific museum or centre or laboratory, based on the philosophy of the "hundred skills", regarding the multiple communicative and elaborative capabilities of the children.

 

- The LIGHT I.P. Program uses ICT tools and services (website and dvd) to support the preparation and follow-up of the Intensive Programme. The website www.uoi.gr/hundredskills will be used to spread the results of the IP. A CD/DVD with the IP content will be widely distributed.

 

National Priorities:

The field of study of the LIGHT I.P. program includes

 

i) science education,

 

ii) environment,

 

iii) state of the art technology (website, dvd, technologies of light) and

 

iv) languages (myths for light, words, etc.).

 

It has strong multidisciplinary approach-cooperation of different HEI departments.

 

Especially, 1) University of Naples is expertise in outdoors science education.

 

2) University of Ioannina does scientific research on the innovation of using cultural-historical-activity theory (CHAT) in Science Education. This approach takes into consideration the whole learning and teaching context including tools, subjects, objects, community rules, and division of labour.

3) University of Eindhoven is building a CHAT network in Europe.

4) The University of Cyprus is expertise in psychological approach on science education and especially on the ways of building the inquiring mind and of developing critical thinking.

5) University of Minho is expertise in Biology Education and school science textbooks.

6) At the University of Kalmar is used the concept of "Nature of School Science" (NOSS).

7) The College of Dublin City University is expertise to open and distance learning (VLEs and Video/Web conferencing) in science teacher education.

All partners share common philosophy of the "hundred skills", regarding the multiple communicative and elaborative capabilities of the children. All the partners' profiles guarantee an integrated approach to the issue of LIGHT. HEI is the University of Ioannina in the Hpeiros Region, which is a region of Convergence.

 

Life Long Learning Program:

http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/llp/

 

European Higher Education on the Μove:

http://ec.europa.eu/education/study-in-europe/why_study_in_europe_developments_in_european_en.html

 

ECTS Users' Guide:

http://ec.europa.eu/education/pub/pdf/higher/ectsds0910_en.pdf

 

Information on the Diploma Supplement:

http://ec.europa.eu/education/lifelong-learning-policy/doc1239_en.htm

 

Information on the European Credit Transfer System:

http://ec.europa.eu/education/lifelong-learning-policy/doc48_en.htm

 

A complete list of current Label holders (2009 and 2010)

http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/llp/erasmus/erasmus_ec