PlAn for Green OppoRtunities: Be A Digital scIentific chanGeMaker
▶Summary
The active role of citizens and their involvement is essential to address climate change. Changes in citizens behaviours towards more sustainable patterns can be boosted through STEM, which has at...
▶Objectives
PARADIGM uses the appropriate technological infrastructure (devices, data platforms and tools) to empower the active engagement of citizens in taking action against climate change and for sustainable development through better monitoring and observing the environment and its environmental impacts. PARADIGM promotes innovative practices based on designing and developing the appropriate technological infrastructure coupled with selected learning scenarios that follow challenge-based and project-based learning methodologies, piloted by the network of European Schools in each partner country. In specific, the purpose is to train, lead and motivate learners to gain environmental knowledge and propose solutions via an educational process based on three different learning dimensions-objectives: a)Cognitive: learners gain environmental knowledge through IoT-STEM based activities and platforms b)Scientific: learners acquire knowledge through an empirical process based on the scientific method (e.g. observation, scepticism, cognitive assumptions, hypotheses, inductive thinking, e.t.c.) c)Pedagogical: educators receive the appropriate pedagogical directions to implement a teaching approach based on an e-learning course and repository.
▶Activities
The active role of citizens and their involvement is essential to address climate change. Changes in citizens behaviours towards more sustainable patterns can be boosted through STEM, which has attracted a lot of interest lately due to the increased availability of low-cost open-source solutions and the increased interest of young students in being engaged in such activities. Latest technological advances in the fields of wireless sensor networks and the IoT have introduced unprecedented capabilities towards monitoring the environment in aspects of everyday life. Turning these technological tools into powerful educational tools coupled with their proper societal dimension is the opportunity foreseen by PARADIGM: it is a structured pedagogical, scientific and educational project. It contributes to the needs through involving citizens directly and especially the young generation and communities in action plans that leads to a more sustainable lifestyle and relationship to the environment. It contributes to emerging environmental challenges; develops innovative curricula in the green sector, that it is not effectively included in school education; promotes STEM approaches and; upskills teachers through innovative methodologies.
▶Impact
PARADIGM has three main project results. PR1. E-learning course for environmental awareness: The online training programme for environmental awareness aims to prepare educators for applying pedagogical structured problem-based learning (PBL) and challenge-based learning (CBL) projects. Furthermore, it seeks to introduce environmental observatories in classrooms to produce inspiring new knowledge based on appropriate technological infrastructure. The training course also guides learners to adopt and implement inclusive education strategies and take actions based on them. The course is accompanied by 15 learning scenarios, self-assessment questions, 7 video tutorials and 1 step-by-step user guide for setting up an ESP32 board with sensors using Arduino. It consists of the following modules and units: PARADIGM strategies to raise environmental awareness, the PARADIGM pedagogical methodology, the PARADIGM environmental challenges, the PARADIGM environmental observatories and turning youth to digital scientific changemakers. PR2. IoT-STEM Based Environmental Observatories Framework: This includes the design and development of the observatories through the ThingsBoard platform, the DIY kits’ installation and the development of the learning scenarios. In specific, teachers were guided to coordinate students to manage and collect data of natural resources via an environmental data monitoring process (selection, analysis, interpretation of data on the PARADIGM platform ThingsBoard). 1 step-by-step user guide and 7 video tutorials were also created in order to help teachers and students with the installation of the ESP32 board with sensors. Finally, codes for programming the sensors with Arduino were also created for the following sensors: CO2, humidity and temperature, dust, air quality. PR3. Citizen Science platform: This is the PARADIGM Virtual Maker Space and Repository. It enables teachers and students to participate in fundamental cutting-edge research across environmental issues, increasing its visibility within the European public and discourse. In the citizen science platform, learners can also discuss the results of data (findings) and propose practical solutions. They can engage with other European schools' citizen scientists. Schools have also participated in a European contest among European schools that contributed to delivering the PARADIGM project. The Citizen Science platform also includes a mapping tool of best practices in STEM, green and/or IoT projects, initiatives, organisations, educational programmes, etc. The repository also contains online available resources related to STEM and green education through IoT technologies.