University of Patras

Twin centre

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University of Patras
26500 Rio-Patras
Greece

Contact person

Picture of Vassiliki Zogza

Vassiliki Zogza
Department of Educational Sciences and Early Childhood Education
University of Patras
26500 Rio-Patras, Greece

Phone: +30 2610 997786

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University of Patras - short overview

The University of Patras was founded in the city of Patras in 1964. It is the third largest University in Greece with 22 Departments. Besides its distinguished path in education, the University of Patras has made excellence in the fields of basic and applied research. Due to these features as well its rich cultural activity, the University of Patras attracts every year many candidate students as their first and foremost choice for their higher studies. Further information is available on the website of the university (http://www.upatras.gr/index/page/id/1). The University of Patras shows a growing interest in educational research and evidence-based, innovative educational practice. The Laboratory of Science, Mathematics and ICT Education (LoSMICTE) at the “Department of Educational Sciences and Early Childhood Education” (http://www.ecedu.upatras.gr) at the University of Patras appreciates for a quite long time the valuable contribution that inquiry-based learning may have towards the scientific literacy of young children. It is consisted of researchers who focus on the early childhood education and specifically (a) on the Didactics in the sub-domains of physics, mathematics and biology, (b) on the informal science education (i.e. educational activities in museums) and its connection with the formal one, and (c) on the ICT-based science education.

Activities with the Fibonacci project

The TC1 of the University of Patras (Laboratory of Science, Mathematics and ICT Education (LoSMICTE) of the Department of Educational Sciences and Early Childhood Education) will establish its initial ‘teacher-network’ and its ‘community board’ by organizing an open meeting where the philosophy and the usefulness of the project as well as aanthe actual work-plan will be presented to pre-school teachers and parents of the area, ‘school consultants’, representatives of the local branch of the international association for preschool education ‘OMEP’, and representatives of local authorities such as the ‘Regional Directorate of Primary and Secondary Education of West Greece’ and the city council.

The initial members of the ‘teacher-network’ will get familiar with our inquiry-based, natural sciences didactic units and prepared in integrating them in their own practice through a series of seminars and workshops that we will offer. Moreover, they will be fully supported during the implementation phase in their classrooms, while they will in turn contribute to the preparatory phase of the new members of the ‘network’ by sharing with them their experiences and expertise.

The expansion of the ‘network’ will cover parts of the Peloponnese and Ionian Islands, as well as other parts of the country (Athens, Thessaloniki, Volos and Ioannina).

The communication within the ‘teacher-network’ and between this and the local community will be facilitated by developing a local website that will present the didactic units of the project and the feedback from their use in real classrooms.

Information about this project in Greek

Στο πλαίσιο του προγράμματος “Fibonacci” θα δημιουργήσουμε ένα δίκτυο εκπαιδευτικών προσχολικής εκπαίδευσης οι οποίοι θα εφαρμόζουν στις τάξεις τους διδακτικές ενότητες φυσικών επιστημών σχεδιασμένες έτσι ώστε να εμπλέκουν ενεργά τα μικρά παιδιά στη διαδικασία της μάθησης μέσω διερεύνησης. Οι εκπαιδευτικοί του δικτύου αρχικά θα παίρνουν μέρος σε μία σειρά από σεμινάρια με στόχο την εξοικείωσή τους με το περιεχόμενο και τη φιλοσοφία αυτών των διδακτικών ενοτήτων που θα αναπτύξουμε και στη συνέχεια θα τις εφαρμόζουν στις τάξεις τους έχοντας την πλήρη υποστήριξή μας. Το δίκτυο των εκπαιδευτικών θα ξεκινήσει από την περιοχή της Πάτρας και στη συνέχεια θα επεκταθεί και σε άλλες περιοχές της Πελοποννήσου, των Ιονίων Νήσων και της υπόλοιπης χώρας (Αθήνα, Θεσσαλονίκη, Βόλος, Ιωάννινα).

Other related projects

The members of the laboratory have been engaged in developing pedagogical resources not only as part of their research work, but also per se in their published books of educational activities. Moreover, they have produced pedagogical resources and detailed teacher guides while working in Greek and European ICT-based projects.

Members of the LoSMICTE have been involved in projects funded by the Greek Ministry of Education, such as for example ‘ModelsCreator’ http://www.ecedu.upatras.gr/modelscreator).

There is also a scientific journal edited by the lab: the Review of Science Mathematics and ICT Education (http://www.ecedu.upatras.gr/review/)