Tinkering Laboratories for inclusive and active learning

"Knowledge of and about science are integral in preparing our population to be actively engaged and responsible, creative and innovative citizens, capable of working collaboratively and fully awar...

ThINKER LAB general objectives were: 1. to increase the social inclusion of young students (14-19 y.o.); 2. to increase students' STEM skills through active inclusion methodologies and working techniques based on Tinkering and the creation and use of low-cost fablabs with recycled materials. ThINKER LAB specific objectives were: 1. to increase the skills of teaching staff in using didactic-pedagogical strategies to facilitate STEM learning in inclusive environments; 2. to increase students' competences in the field of technical/scientific micro-language, through challenge based methodologies; 3. to increase teachers' and students' digital skills, using low-cost laboratories employing recycled materials and co-built simulations; 4. to increase the internationalization capacity of the partnership, through comparative and cooperatively constructed studies, in order to achieve "European" results.

"Knowledge of and about science are integral in preparing our population to be actively engaged and responsible, creative and innovative citizens, capable of working collaboratively and fully aware of and conversant with the complex challenges facing society" (Science Education for Responsible Citizenship, EC, 2015). At the same time, social inclusion is one of the most profound aspects in today’s society, where the school population is becoming more and more multicultural (due to migration flows) and different in terms of disadvantages ; in one word highly diversified ; OECD Education Working Paper No. 227, 2020; Lawrie, G., Marquis, E., Fuller, 2017). ThINKER LAB partnership intended to broaden the educational offerings available to students, weaving learning paths in the field of STEMs more based on a laboratory-based approach.

R1. ACTIVE METHODOLOGIES AND TECHNIQUES FOR INCLUSIVE AND PARTICIPATORY TEACHING (=ThINKER LAB methodologies and best practices international report); R2. EUROPEAN PLATFORM "ThINKER LAB COMMUNITY FOR AND ACTIVE AND INCLUSIVE LEARNING"; R3. TEACHER’S HANDBOOK; R4. STUDENT’S HANDBOOK.