Submitted Abstract
The SciTeach2Schools (Science Teaching to Support Children Learning Science) project focuses on developing and disseminating high-quality, research-based, resources to Luxembourg primary school teachers for teaching science. Responding to an identified need in the national context for providing teachers with resources and support for science instruction, SciTeach2Schools will have a two-pronged mission; 1) develop and disseminate digitally available pedagogical resources for teachers to use in their science lessons, and 2) facilitate in-service teacher education courses that are school-based and focused on creating professional learning communities among teachers. The ultimate goal of this project is to promote the teaching of science in Luxembourg’s primary schools, through contextualized resources and pedagogical support. These resources and courses will be developed by the SciTeach team at the University of Luxembourg, an experienced group of teacher educators and researchers who established the Science Teacher Resource Center (SciTeach Center) in 2016. A collaboration between the University of Luxembourg, Fonds National de la Recherche, the Ministry of Higher Education and Research, and the Ministry of Education, Children and Youth, this Center is housed at the University of Luxembourg and the team has successfully designed and provided innovative teacher education in-service workshops and materials for the teaching of science with primary-aged children. Building on the successes of the SciTeach Center, the proposed follow-up project, SciTeach2Schools, will target primary school teachers by developing two new initiatives to complement the existing offerings of the Center. A compendium of pedagogical resources for teaching science at the primary school will be developed and made available for download. The compendium will include topic-based information including science investigations, content, and classroom management suggestions for teaching using active science learning pedagogies. Complementary to this online compendium, a series of school-based workshops will be planned and implemented with groups of teachers at schools interested in receiving support for teaching science. These courses will have as an overall focus the teaching of science in competency-based ways and will support the development of professional learning communities among participating teachers, at their schools, to help them teach science in active inquiry-based ways.