INES - Innovative teaching and learning paths for the prevention of new drugs abuse
▶Summary
New Psychoactive Substances (NPS) represent a growing and diverse group of synthetic chemical compounds with pharmacological and toxicological properties that pose significant risks to consumer he...
▶Objectives
The INES project achieved several key objectives: (1) Increase knowledge and adapt attitudes towards NPS. This was accomplished through a need analysis and training for teachers, students, and educators. Academic partners prepared blended learning courses to introduce the topic of NPS and homogenize the knowledge; (2) Avoid one-off training interventions. The project promoted continuous collaborative experiences involving academic partners, game design experts, teachers, and students. Together, they co-designed teaching and learning pathways on NPS, integrating the topic across various school subjects and following an interdisciplinary way. INES fostered active participation to empower teachers and students, supporting innovation at the school system level; (3) Involve stakeholders in content creation. The project promoted interdisciplinary exchange among teachers and researchers to create open educational resources on NPS. Pilot schools tested and released these materials under open licenses, making them adaptable for other educators; (4) Promote the educational value of games. Students and teachers co-designed a serious game to support active learning experiences to contrast the NPS.
▶Activities
New Psychoactive Substances (NPS) represent a growing and diverse group of synthetic chemical compounds with pharmacological and toxicological properties that pose significant risks to consumer health. As highlighted in the European Drug Report (EMCDDA, 2018), "New psychoactive substances continue to challenge public health, with the priority being to identify and respond to the emergence of drugs that have been overlooked elsewhere." The ESPAD Report has also identified a concerning rise in NPS use among 15- to 16-year-old school students, with 3-4% of adolescents in 24 European countries reporting frequent use. To foster innovation in secondary school education, including through the use of digital technologies, the INES project aims to create a supportive environment for collaboration among teachers, external experts, and students. This collaboration will focus on developing, testing, adapting, and implementing effective teaching-learning strategies to address the NPS issue. Schools play a crucial role in enhancing knowledge and developing strategies that promote students' agency, reflective thinking, and key competencies, which are essential for preventing early school leaving and combating NPS abuse.
▶Impact
The INES project achieved the following outputs. (1) The INES Project Platform (https://ines.unibo.it/), where all the results and materials generated throughout the project are made available and organized. (2) A Survey and Report targeting students and teachers to assess their knowledge and interest in the NPS topic. (3) The Creation of a European Syllabus on the NPS topic for school education. This syllabus represents a guideline for integrating the teaching-learning paths developed during the project into the mainstream secondary school curriculum. It reflects the outcome of collaboration between researchers, teachers, and students to create an interdisciplinary didactics proposal addressing the issue of NPS in schools. (4) The Publication of an online course on NPS, designed for teachers, students, and educators, and available on the open-source INES platform. (5) The design and publication of Open Educational Resources (OERs), available in the INES Pedagogical Planner. (6) The collaborative creation of the online serious game “Paradise on the Earth”. (7) The publication of the methodological guide INES Collaborative Handbook (8). A final publication (INES book) with the presentation and discussion of the project results.