Inquiry and Chain Reaction in Slovakia

The chapter presents how the Chain Reaction project was implemented in the context of science education in Slovakia. The educational reform highlighted inquiry as a leading approach in science education. But teachers were not prepared for implementation of such approaches. There was a lack of resources and a strong time pressure caused by a reduced number of science subjects lessons. Students' motivation to do and to study science was weak. Thus, the project team from Matej Bel University Banska Bystrica concentrated on two main issues: gaining teachers' engagement in non-traditional ways of science subjects teaching and motivating students to put their effort into inquiry-based science projects. The main problems connected with delivery of the Chain Reaction approaches in Slovak schools are discussed and the impact on secondary school students, science teachers, and teacher trainees is demonstrated. The developed pre- and in-service teacher training courses will serve as a tool of sustainability of the inquiry-based approaches in science education in Slovakia.

IBSE Training Feedback and Its Impact on the Design of the Next Training Program

An inquiry science-based education is commonly followed in a variety of educational contexts around the world and is a key parameter in various national curriculum guidelines. The impetus of this chapter is to record the initial and final reactions of science teachers participating in a series of one-year action research and training program that took place in the University of Crete (UoC) in 2013-2016, identify their perception of the first training course, and explore the impact this data had on the program's redesign for the following training session by the technical board. Teacher reactions and responses regarding what they thought had, and had not, worked well in their classes were taken into account prior to re-designing the training program that the new teachers were going to join the following year. Looking into the general benefits as well as challenges, the authors also examined the overall effect of the UoC IBSE training program to participants as reported by both students and teachers.

Chain Reaction

This chapter presents a case study of the experience of the Irish Chain Reaction (CR) team, which took place during a time of significant curriculum change in the lower secondary school system. As such, it is hoped that those interested in teacher professional development will find the case of interest while acknowledging the varied cultural, material and structural resources, and limitations that influence the context of any educational change process. The authors have placed a significant focus on describing the Irish context to begin this chapter, initially comparing the old science syllabus with the new “specification,” with thought given to the existing modalities of student learning and the nature of teacher professional collaboration and the developments that will be required by the new curriculum. The authors then summarize the plan for CR implementation through a professional learning community (PLC) focused on supporting teacher agency and autonomy in the design of inquiry-based science education (IBSE) classes. Teacher and student reflections of experience are presented.

Chain Reaction

This chapter describes aspects of the successes and obstacles in the delivery of chain reaction in school science classrooms in England. It offers an overview of recent education reform in England and moves on to discuss the implementation of the program and provides anecdotal evidence from teachers to support emerging themes from the delivery experience. Issues of “time” restraints and over-burdened “curricular” as barriers to the deployment of inquiry approaches are highlighted by identifying positive outcomes and offering implications for science education across Europe.

Chain Reaction

Due to the huge development in the communication sector, science education has become very challenging. Inquiry-based science education (IBSE) has been proposed by academic leaders and policymakers as having the potential to increase student involvement and provide opportunities for the development of the key skills desired by employers in the future. Thirty teachers from 15 schools participated in the project and disseminated the knowledge obtained to their colleagues through peer-to-peer knowledge sharing. Most teachers expressed an increase in their understanding of IBSE, and 66% agreed that they received high-quality IBSE/EUPRB briefings. Students showed motivation to learn science and obtained scientific approaches and steps of answering their inquiries in order understand their surroundings, improve their achievement of scientific knowledge, build positive science attitudes, improve their understanding of the nature of science, and develop IBSE skills such as scientific data collection analyses, interpretation, and how to provide evidence to test ideas and develop theories.

Reflections on Inquiry

This chapter provides concluding comments and reflections on the Chain Reaction project as well as inquiry approaches in general. The authors also include three reflective stories based on their involvement in the program. These stories attempt to bring differing roles and aspects of the project to life while identifying successes and barriers within the project. They also discuss implications for the future of science education across Europe and summarize their outcomes from the Chain Reaction project.

Implementation of the Chain Reaction Project in Georgia

Ilia State University (ISU) is one of Georgia's leading universities in teacher education and has taken part in a number of EU funded projects aimed at implementing new approaches to science teaching in Georgia, including those with an inquiry-based science education (IBSE) focus. This chapter gives an overview of the Chain Reaction project in Georgia, including discussion of the teacher professional development scheme, the perceptions of teachers following participation and implementation of the project, and the impact of Chain Reaction on students' motivation and teachers' professional development.

Comparative Perspectives on Inquiry-Based Science Education

The National Science Education Standards as well as the 2061 project reaffirm the conviction that inquiry is central to the achievement of scientific literacy. The National Science Education Standards use the term inquiry in two ways: (1) inquiry as content understanding, in which students have opportunities to construct concepts, patterns, and to create meaning about an idea in order to explain what they experience and (2) inquiry in terms of skills and abilities. Under the category of abilities or skills, Bybee includes identifying and posing scientifically oriented questions, forming hypotheses, designing and conducting scientific investigations, formulating and revising scientific explanations, and communicating and defending scientific arguments. It is suggested that many of these abilities and skills are in alignment with those that characterize inquiry-type laboratory work, an activity that puts the student in the center of the learning process. Thus, the following chapter will mainly deal with the inquiry-based science education in the laboratory.

Experiences of IBSE and Chain Reaction

This chapter considers the impact of professional development on IBSE in the Chain Reaction (CR) project, Ireland. The author offers reflections, based on his own experiences of CR, suffused with the theme of “evolution.” Evolution experienced includes that in thinking, practice, curriculum, and teacher engagement during the project and follow-on professional development endeavors. He speaks as a practicing teacher who, during the lifetime of his engagement with CR, took up a national leadership role in supporting Science Education change in Ireland. He offers that professional development that seeks to enhance social capital creates opportunities for teachers to develop their capacity as science curriculum developers. This has been a guiding precept for CR Ireland and broader professional development endeavors across Ireland in recent years. Evolutions in science education across Ireland have allowed for the integration of IBSE opportunities afforded by the introduction of national policy and the promotion of social capital at CPD to compliment policy intentions.

Science Education Funding in Europe and the Inspiration for Chain Reaction

This chapter aims to introduce the policy perspective of the relevant European funding stream, tracing the evolution of the science with and for society call from the first Framework Programme through to Horizon 2020. It also introduces the Pupil Research Initiative (PRI) and how the Chain Reaction project built upon PRI's legacy, using its successes to inform a project that was relevant across Europe. The chapter highlights the key aspects of the chain reaction project, for example the Pupil Research Briefs (PRBs) and Express Yourself Conferences, and how these were adapted, and in the case of the PRBs, expanded upon to be more relevant to different partner contexts and the needs of their education systems and curricula.