A challenge facing Europe in the new century is to increase its scientific and technological knowhow, in order to be competitive on a global scale. An essential component of a healthy scientific venture is a scientifically literate and well-educated population. In the past decade, the growing consensus about the need for rejuvenation of science education in our schools led professional scientists to join forces with educators in taking a careful look at how science is taught and how teachers are trained to teach science. The widespread interest in astronomy can be tapped not only to increase knowledge and understanding on the part of students, but also to illuminate the nature of science, as well as its power and limitations in shaping our future. Moreover, astronomy’s interdisciplinary nature and its natural links with technology position the field as excellent horizontal skills booster – it is the best subject to develop critical thinking, analytical and abstract reasoning competences among youngsters. The STARS project aims to: • equip teachers with innovative methodologies, knowledge, competencies and tools to deliver astronomy-related curriculum in a relevant and meaningful manner; • 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. For this purpose, our consortium formed of seven organisations from Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Bulgaria, will develop: a. Methodological Handbook for Teachers b. Training Program for Teachers c. Online Platform for Teachers, Students and Parents d. Concept for Astronomy Education Program In addition, we will conduct extensive piloting of all our products to ensure their applicability and validate the STARS approach. Targeted and meaningful dissemination will also contribute to involving at least 2150 participants in various project activities. Our partnership is a unique symbiosis between schools, a publishing house, a digital solutions for the education sector company, a university and an astronomical society. The desired impact from our joint efforts could be summarised as follows: • improved knowledge and skill base on how to teach astronomy related subjects/topics at lower secondary level, as well as on how to integrate innovative methods and techniques in order to ensure high-quality and relevant teaching; enhanced competence to motivate students develop interest towards science and in particular astronomy as transdisciplinary subject enabling the acquisition of transversal skills such as critical thinking, analytical and abstract reasoning skills; enhanced competence in identifying and applying ICT and relevant digital resources; increased control and responsibility towards students’ attainment levels. • higher motivation among students to study astronomy, due to its interrelation with numerous science-based fields and aspects of life; enhanced critical thinking, analytical and abstract reasoning skills; increased participation in the learning process and bigger ownership of own results and aptitudes; • increased responsibility of policy makers for the quality of school education, to include astronomy as the fundamental subject raising the awareness of the different aspects encompassing science and technology in today’s society; proactive approach to addressing common challenges in relation to teachers skill gaps and lack of resources; enhanced ability to impact the system through reshaping the priorities of education to match the needs of modern society.
The main reason for carrying out the STARS project was that in the 21st century, it is essential to improve scientific and technical skills and strengthen competitiveness in Europe, which can only be achieved if the country has a sufficiently educated population. According to surveys, primary school pupils are insufficiently educated in science subjects, they lack interdisciplinary skills. In order to acquire relevant knowledge, it is very important that they learn in a conceptual structure, make observations, cooperate and make the most of current technological progress. At the same time, astronomy is included in science education only very marginally, and teachers often do not have sufficient knowledge, skills and methods to teach astronomy in an innovative way. For this reason, EXPOL PEDAGOGIKA s.r.o., the publishing house of textbooks for primary and secondary schools, has started to implement the international project STARS (Successfully Teaching AstRonomy in Schools) since 1 November 2017, the main goal of which is to support primary school teachers in teaching astronomy. The project brought together 7 organisations from Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Bulgaria, namely 3 schools, 1 renowned university, 1 non-governmental organisation focused on astronomy, a company creating innovative digital solutions in the school sector and a leading publisher of professional literature. The project focused on: • equipping teachers teaching at lower secondary education with innovative methods, knowledge, competencies and tools for teaching astronomy within the curriculum, • creating a training program for teaching astronomy, as ready to use educational tool for teacher training providers (e. g. universities, continuing education providers, observatories, astronomical associations, but also as a tool of self-development for individual use, etc.), • creating a concept of a new educational program for teaching astronomy, which reflects current trends and attitudes of pupils towards the modern teaching process, • supporting critical thinking, analytical and abstract perception in order to increase the level of knowledge acquisition by pupils, as well as the acquisition of relevant knowledge, • equipping the target groups of the project with freely available, language-relevant and high-quality educational resources for teaching astronomy. More than 3600 primary school pupils, science teachers, people involved in education, policy makers, academics and parents participated in various project activities: in the creation of outputs, their testing, validation, demonstration during workshops, targeted dissemination and their use in practice. The project lasted 34 months and further dissemination activities after its completion will ensure its sustainability. As part of the project, we implemented the following activities and outputs: - we designed, developed, tested and validated: STARS Methodical Handbook for Teachers: a handbook for lower secondary teachers teaching subjects involving astronomy; STARS Training Program for Teachers: offers an innovative and comprehensive approach to improving teachers' practical skills and providing them with further in-service training; - we designed, created, tested and launched the STARS Online Platform, which contains created outputs in digital form, which will enable the use and sustainability of project outputs in the future; - we created the STARS Concept for Astronomy Education Program, which provides ideas on how astronomical topics can be presented in a better way in terms of curriculum to pupils in the higher classes of primary schools; - we organised an online STARS dissemination conference for local and foreign participants, where we presented the outputs to the general public. All outputs are in 4 language versions – Slovak, Czech, Bulgarian and English. TARGET GROUPS: Teachers: - improving the knowledge, skills and competences of learning subjects related to astronomy, - increasing the capacity to offer interactive teaching methods and skills to motivate students to take an interest in science and especially astronomy. Pupils: - an inspiration to pursue the studies of astronomy in the future, - expanding the competencies of critical thinking and motivation to actively participate in the teaching process, - gaining relevant knowledge of astronomy. Politically active persons: - improving the ability to make decisions based on real needs and innovating curricula and curricula to meet the needs of modern society OTHER STAKEHOLDERS: - gaining awareness of the close relationship between science and other basic skills, - directors: supporting and creating an environment for education in astronomy, - parents: supporting the child's interest in astronomy. PROJECT PARTNERS: - improving the capacity to cooperate at transnational level, - strengthening the reputation of the education sector through the creation of freely available innovative materials and platforms.