University of South Bohemia

(USB, Czech Republic)

WP6 of the S-TEAM project

WP6

USB will produce a training module based on the science-centred competitions (The Biological Olympiad)

The main objectives

• to get a collection of useful tasks for science education on the basis of competition tasks

• to get data about students´ motivation towards science competitions (BiO)

• to produce training courses on the basis of above mentioned resources

• to disseminate the findings and the training package via summer school or via alternative projects

Three course levels

(1) Pre-service teacher training

• seminar – duration of one semester –14 lessons – integrated with:

– the teacher training for primary school (ISCED 2) teachers in biology

– the study programme Nature and Environmental Education.

Three course levels

(2) In-service teacher training– one day seminar for teachers with potential to

disseminate the training package

Three course levels

(3) national level – summer school in September 2010 – for

professors and lecturers from other universities

Note: the training package on the level (2) will be realized in consequence of courses on the level (3).

Why to use the science competition in IBSE?

The competition tasks are• developed by experts • laboratory tasks are very useful.• tasks are, in fact, tested or validated• there is a methodical support• it is possible to collect data about the students’ motivation to

engage in science-centred competition (Biology Olympiad) and about development of their interest in science

• the data can be useful in teacher education.

What data will be collected?

• There are two ways of acquiring the data – students’ motivation and interest in science – analysis of competition tasks and the

possibility of their use in IBSTE

Students‘ motivation

• screening step - interviewing students in their schools and asking them about their motives for prospective participation in the BiO - the interviews will be recorded and analyzed using a grounded theory paradigm

• second step - gaining in-depth information about the development of student motivation and interest

The analysis of the tasks

– Content analysis

– Mistakes analysis

– Time analysis

The final training package

– case study of selected theoretical or practical tasks

– the analysis of teachers’ needs in implementation of science/biology competitions such as BiO in science education via IBST/E

– the study how science competitions improve student motivation in science.

Thank you for your attention.