Our project faces an important trend in the academic world which revolves around the question how the knowledge of STEM can be used to increase the attraction of science in general. The title MISO (motion in the science ocean) is a metaphor of the motivation needed by students, teachers and schools in general to navigate in the ocean of the science, maths, technology and engineering disciplines. This approach to STEM will enable students to perform better in sciences and to see sciences from a perspective closer to real life and applied to everyday life. They will also feel that they are bitterly needed to save this world from ecological disaster. Secondly, the project is designed to foster inclusive teaching and learning, to promote the appeal of science for example to women and disadvantaged students. In this context innovative teaching and learning activities will be tried out and examined. The connection between STEM disciplines and the world of labour will help participants in this project when they have to make decisions about their careers. A further aspect of the project and STEM is the social approach. Sciences are not only formula or scientific knowledge but sciences include ethical, social and economic issues. These aspects are incorporated in the activities in the project. Therefore organizing debates, making and reading surveys, and having a look at the link between sciences and our daily life are prime targets of the project.The crucial question to be answered in the framework of this project is whether Europe can be successful in a changing world, as a union of innovative, inclusive and reflective societies, as suggested by the priorities for Strategies for Horizon 2020. This question is dealt with in a cross-curricular approach, in an attempt to relate our international project with social issues metioned earlier. The project includes six different countries from very different regions of Europe to ensure the objectives of the project are examined in all corner of the continent. The participants will deal with the subjects of STEM by making experiments and surveys, by planning and giving lessons, developing games, and by evaluating statistics. They will visits stakeholders and scientific institutes, use existing technology and science resources. The methods to be used are task based activities, cooperative learning, cross-curricular approach, problem-solving. It also includes reflection of how science influences our society. International meetings with all partners will be the moments when results of the activities carried out in the period between meetings are put together and when different topics of everyday life are brought in line with the priorities of the Grand Challenges suggested by the Responsible Research and innovation (RRI): • Secure, clean and efficient energy • Environment &Climate • Health and sports • Food security •Sustainable agriculture • Green transportation • Water and sustainability. We wish to build bridges between science and society. Use of ICT and English as the communication language will ensure the improvement of these abilities among all participants. E-twinning and School Education Gateway will be the platform for communication and tracking of the project. The project is intended to reach all school communities as well as local and even international target group. At school level all participants (teachers, staff, families) will be informed about the objectives of the project and they will work on the activities. Local authorities in education as well as peer schools will be invited to take part in the activities. To reflect the results of the activities carried out we will set up a website on which all the topics and activities will be published. A Moodle course will be set up to include all the materials used in each of the topics. A video blog with images from the experiments and a forum will be created. A logo which all participants use will make sure there is a strong identification with the project. An Erasmus corner in each school will make the project vivible in all school communities.Also dissemination products such as calendars and brochures will be published to reach the local, regional, national and international target groups. Social networks (Facebook, twitter...etc) will be used to make our project even more visible and will make sure that others see what is happening in the project. A thorough evaluation of the project will take place during each international meetings. There will be satisfaction questionnaires which will be answered by participants (teachers and students) and which will be used by the coordinator to set topics on the agenda. Also validation with the Europass and certification will be done by the participants to make sure the project is always on the right course in the science ocean. We plan to keep the website going for another two years after the end of the project so that a degree of sustainability can be guaranteed.
The MISO project addressed important and lasting trends in the academic world that revolve around the question of how knowledge about STEM could be used to increase the attractiveness of science for students in school and in general. In this context the title MISO (Motion in the Science Ocean) was used as a metaphor for the energy and motivation students, teachers and schools in general needed to navigate the ocean of mathematics, information technology, science and engineering to meet these challenges. The project partners tried to enable learners in school and beyond and tried to give them strategies to achieve better overall performance in the natural sciences. They tried to look at the natural sciences from a perspective that is closer to real life and also applied to everyday life. With the help of experiments specifically designed to activate students they could develop a feeling that they - as the younger generation - were urgently needed to save this world from a possible ecological catastrophe. Six different countries from very different regions of Europe were involved in the project. This was done to ensure that a. the goals of the project could be examined in every corner of the European continent and b. that dífferent ideas from all those regions could be appreciated in the project. The project was also intended to promote integrative teaching and learning in order to make science more attractive particularly for women and disadvantaged schoolchildren. In this context, innovative teaching and learning activities such as experiments in groups, interviews and outdoor activities were developed, tested in practice and evaluated. The project was therefore not only aimed at teachers who were shown new approaches to teaching the natural sciences. Also, the connection between the MINT disciplines and the world of work helped the student participants to make decisions about a job career in a scientific discipline. Another aspect of the project was the social approach. Sciences were not only seen as theoretical formulas or theoretical scientific knowledge, but as academic disciplines which include ethical, social and economic issues. These aspects were continuously reflected in the activities throughout the project. Debates, conducting and reading surveys, listening to experts and looking at the connection between science and the daily lives were therefore particularly important activities and goals of the project. The key question that needed to be considered in the context of this project was whether Europe was going to be successful in the transition, i.e. presenting itself to the world as a union of innovative, inclusive and reflective societies, as proposed in the priorities for strategies for Horizon 2020. This question was treated in an interdisciplinary approach in order to relate the international project to the social issues raised above. The participants dealt with the topics of STEM by carrying out experiments and surveys themselves, planned and gave lessons and presentations to others, developed games and evaluated statistics. Stakeholders and scientific institutes were visited and existing technology and science resources were used. Some students even presented the project and its objectives at an international conference in Turkey. International meetings with all partners were the focal points when the results of the activities in the time between the meetings were exchanged, compiled, and reflected within the project. Various everyday topics were brought into line with the priorities of the great challenges described by responsible research and innovation (RRI): Safe, clean and efficient energy, environment and climate, health and sport, food security, sustainable agriculture, green transport, water and sustainability. The project was aimed at building bridges between science and society. The use of ICT and English as the language of communication ensured the improvement of these skills in all participanting schools and institutions. E-Twinning and a project website were the platform for communicating and tracking the project. The project aimed at reaching school communities as well as local and international target groups. At school level, all participants (teachers, staff, families) were informed about the goals of the project and worked on the activities. Local authorities in the education sector as well as peer schools were invited to participate in the activities. The methods used in the meetings were task-based activities, collaborative learning, interdisciplinary approach and problem solving. It also included reflection on how science affects society. In order to reflect the results of the activities carried out, a website was set up where all topics and activities were published. A logo was developed to ensure that there a strong identification with the project could develop in all the schools.