The Project Successfully Continues its Second Year of Activity
In 2010, the European Structural Funds project “Natural Sciences and Mathematics”, implemented by the State Education Centre (hereinafter referred to as – the project) is successfully continuing the initiated work.
Already in 2009, the project completed development of sample projects of physics, chemistry, biology and mathematics programmes for grades 7 to 9 (samples of the programmes are published at the project web-site www.dzm.lv, for public discussion of the documents). The project team continues working with development of teacher support materials. The support materials in the subjects referred are designed as a unified system, including development of both methodological support materials for teachers, different visual materials, educational films, and electronic materials for students, varied didactic games, and other materials. At present, piloting of the materials designed is being carried out in the project pilot schools. The schools will receive the first sets of supporting materials at the beginning of the next study year.
At the beginning of the year, the piloting process of teacher professional development courses, which was initiated last autumn, will be finalised. During the piloting process, more than 130 teachers in the courses have acquired both knowledge on a contemporary lesson, varied teaching-learning methods, increasing interest of students, and work with the material devised within the project, as well as skills required for working with up-to-date technologies. Beginning from April, all teachers will be able to attend the courses that will be held in different regions, so that the teachers could attend courses as close as possible to the place of their residence. It is expected that in 2010, within the project the courses will be attended by 1000 teachers – that is the total number of teachers expected to be involved in the courses during the project implementation.
In order to ensure quality introduction of the new curriculum in secondary school and to be able to make conclusions on the necessary changes into it in the future, the project will continue monitoring of the curriculum introduction. At present, indicators are being developed for detecting acquiring of the standard requirements in chemistry and mathematics. Within the framework of the activity, in spring piloting of the monitoring model will be carried out, so that the monitoring model could be used in all subjects in the future.
This year the project will pay much attention to organisation of different events raising interest of students. The project will support organisation of contests in the subjects of natural sciences and mathematics, organise discussions, as well as varied events for students. Already in February this year, the second big event for students “Think Different - more Exact!” will take place in Riga. Within the framework of the event, education of the youth will be continued on skills required for an entrepreneur, creating a motivation for linking one’s future career with business in natural sciences and mathematics.
The competition for students that was initiated three months ago will also continue. In March the open stage of the competition will end, and already in April the best competition participants will meet in person, in order to select the smartest young people in the field of natural sciences and mathematics. The competition jury will include not only experts of the project, but also entrepreneurs.
For the purpose of incorporating the new ideas of the education philosophy of natural sciences and mathematics into the study programmes, and for the becoming teachers being prepared for working with the new curriculum and organising the teaching-learning process in classroom in compliance with the contemporary requirements, the project will collaborate with experts form universities, in order to complete the work of improving study programmes for the becoming teachers. Internship of university students will also be organised at the project support schools, and the first interns will begin their work at schools already in the next study year. More detailed information on news in the project work can be fount at the project web-site: www.dzm.lv.