Twin centre 1

Christina Siry
Campus de Walferdange
Route de Diekierch
L-7220 Walferdange, GD Luxemburg
Phone: +352 46 66 44 9717
Fax: +352 46 6 66 44 9555

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The University of Luxemburg was established on 12 August 2003 to carry out three principal activities: teaching, researching and transferring of knowledge, at the highest international level. Situated in the Grand Duchy of Luxemburg at the heart of Europe, the University of Luxembourg places particular emphasis on multilingualism and the programme of study includes modules in German, French and English. All our undergraduates have to spend at least one semester abroad. This mobility is done in cooperation with partners in Europe, Asia and North America. The Faculty of Language and Literature, Humanities, Arts and Education is a young and dynamic faculty. In this Faculty, the ‘Bachelor in Educational Sciences’ is an innovative integrated four-year study programme focusing on learning and teaching which started in 2005. This programme provides qualifications for teaching in preschool, primary school, in preparatory classes of the technical secondary school and in institutions for children with special needs.

• Promoting, in sciences and in mathematics, an Inquiry Based Education (IBSME). Recently, a new school law was enacted for preschool and primary school. It encourages an approach based on competencies that is aligned with an Inquiry Based Education approach. However, a large majority of Luxemburgish teachers have no expertise in IBSME. For this reason, Fibonacci is a good opportunity to support teachers in meeting the expectations under the new law. Several Fibonacci sessions will be organized in 2010-2011 and in 2011-2012 to train the teachers to IBSME. These sessions will provide them with the opportunity to experiment themselves with the approach and the materials.
• Developing the use of the teaching language, German. In Luxemburg, science and mathematical education take place in a multilingual context, not only in regard of the high amount of immigrant children, but also in regard of native children, because the official school-language in primary school is German and not Luxemburgish. So, science and mathematics are for all pupils taught in a foreign language essentially. This national particularity represents a special challenge for science and mathematical education because the learning and understanding of science is related to the level of language performance. The IBSME involves the pupils in a lot of verbal and written exchanges and thus mathematical and sciences activities become opportunities to use German in a context that makes sense for the children.
• Supporting the teachers IBSME work in long-term by creating a partnership between all actors involved in teaching and in sciences: the National Ministry of Education, the School Inspectors, the ‘Fonds National de la Recherche’ and especially the Pro Sciences group aimed at promoting Scientific culture in Luxemburg, the Faculty of Science, Technology and Communication, The National Museum of Natural History of Luxemburg, ...
• Spreading IBSME through the creation of a teachers network and through the publications of concrete pedagogical tools.
• Evaluating, through a Phd thesis attached to Fibonacci, the effect of IBSE on pupils' competencies in problem solving, pupils' self concept and pupils learning processes.

It is a dynamic mathematics system improving the children's understanding of the elementary geometric concepts.

It is a contribution to the UN-Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (2005-2014) by analyzing the current state concerning education for sustainable development (ESD) and developing perspectives.

The objective of ‘Teaching Elementary Mathematics Problems Understanding and Solving’ consists in analyzing the teachers' beliefs and the pupils' representations in problem solving