About iCSE4school project¶
Contemporary forms of use mathematical and natural sciences elements of information and communication technology in the work of a teacher is not only a legal obligation, but above all to diversify the lesson. A modern teacher can not imagine work without the use of modern information technology. Up-to-the-minute need is to improve their computer programming skills and programming languages. In everyday school work, the teacher uses computer technology primarily to create a variety of utility tests, diagnoses, research tools and surveys. With specialized commercial software, create invitations, posters, school informers and create lesson plans or school events.
Thanks to computer technology documentation of teachers’ activities is conducted transparently, aesthetically and legibly. The own workplace is organized and continuously refined, also through the use of e-learning applications and programs or school-based software. All these programs and applications are characterized by a relatively intuitive and simple relationship to their method of construction, and therefore no change or performance in them other than those enabled by the manufacturer. From both the teacher’s and the learner’s point of view, it is equally important to address the problems identified in the core curriculum and beyond. A teacher who studies the core issues of subjects such as physics and chemistry encounters a lot of content, which requires the use of a complex account with elements of mathematical analysis. Commonly known methods of education include providing without demonstrating a relationship describing a given phenomenon or presenting graphs of the discussed relations without presenting equations describing the transformed curves. For a student who expects a full explanation of a given phenomenon and its interpretation, this is one of the most important obstacles in the assimilation and in the connection of theoretical considerations with the mathematical interpretation. Most applications of information technology in teaching come down to data retrieval or their introduction and automated processing. The programming language environment of Python and Sage is the release of the subject from the imposed constraints and the programming skills acquired by the learner during the learning process effectively develop his or her ability to conclude and evaluation during the above process.
The use of the proposed programming environment brings down complex dependencies and equations from the academic level to a level not exceeding the applicable science curriculum and is fully endorsed and recommended as a work tool by both the Polish Ministry of National Education and the Polish Ministry of Digitization.
The proposed methodology is the output of activities related to the “Computing in high school science education - icse4school” project implemented in 2014-2017 under the Erasmus Program, Action 2 of the Strategic Partnership. The project was implemented in international cross-sectoral cooperation, including higher education institutions (University of Silesia in Katowice, University of Augsburg, Simula School of Research and Innovation), 2 high schools (2 AZSO in Chorzów and 117 ZS - XXXIII in Warsaw) and NGO Foundation for the Development of the Silesian Interdisciplinary Center for Education and Interdisciplinary Studies - EDU RES. The main objective was to develop in a transnational consortium a methodology integrated with computer science of mathematics and physics in high schools on the basis of the pilot program in selected schools. The subject of the project was to teach Python programming using the Sage environment and use this skill to solve problems related to mathematics, physics, and computer science. The project was addressed to students of high schools. The need for ICSE4school project was due to the growing interest in programming and the knowledge gathered showing the lack of information on one of the most widely used Python programming languages. In addition, the observations of teachers - both academic and classroom leaders with extended curriculum in mathematics, computer science and physics in high schools indicated the helplessness of students and students in applying information technology and numerical methods in solving problems on the borderline of scientific issues.
Using our materials and without basic skills in Python programming is in large extent possible, but, we recommend that you start by learning the language and the SageMath environment available at SageMath.org. In the Sage environment, the student has the opportunity, apart from programming, to do exercises on the sample materials contained there, with the possibility of modifying the source texts.
The scripts developed in the project using Python are recommended for use in a variety of ways, depending on the needs and capabilities of students and teachers. Thus, they can be used directly during class activities or in the form of workshops, provided that the number of teaching hours is at the teacher’s disposal. Materials or parts can also be used in home work using the innovative “flipped teaching” method, where pupils in homework analyze the underlying knowledge. This is a new topic and the lesson is devoted to consolidating and deepening the acquired knowledge and skills (as opposed to the classical methods whereby the basic knowledge is introduced during the lesson and the self-development of the material is done at home). Finally, our materials can be used to explore and broaden the knowledge and skills of students and students with special educational needs (gifted students and those who have the need for self-development or who need to use numerical methods for solving problems using a publicly accessible tool) learn outside the school for self-study, as well as by all those who are interested in repetition, consolidation and extension of knowledge.
The lesson scenarios from the iCSE4school project can also be used to work with students with less potential in the arts by presenting pieces of our materials by teachers, as well as in the form of workshop work, where students modify the source texts themselves, watching the effects of these changes and formulating appropriate conclusions. This way of using materials not only creates opportunities for teachers and young people, but also effectively uses classroom scenarios using Python in working with younger learners at earlier stages of education.
The materials from the iCSE4school project can be used in e-learning, blended-learning, and m-learning, using computers or other devices (eg smartphones, tablets); with access to the internet or off-line.
During the project students and teachers from two highschools worked on SageMath servers. They have created almost 3000 documents, some of them have been “published” and can be viewed:
Observing the students’ efforts to create simple programs using Python to solve a problem during project implementation has confirmed the great potential of individualizing their work. The individually tailored level of individual needs, the pace of work, and the individual teacher’s help influence the development of each student. An important factor in mobilizing pupils for action and learning is also the recent need for learning programming (coding) and awareness of the significant shortage of people able to program in the labor market. By encouraging the use of didactic materials developed in the iCSE4school project, we invite you to comment.
This methodology is a collaboration between representatives of the following institutions:
High school teachers: Jolanta Drogoń, Łukasz Głaz, Krzysztof Jarczewski, Mirosław Malinowski, Justyna Matejczyk, Adam Ogaza, Krzysztof Oleś, Katarzyna Sikora, Hanna Stachera, Mariola Strojny,
Jonas van den Brink, Vigdis Holta, Marie Roald, Freyja Jørgensen, from Simula School of Research and Innovation, Oslo
Manuel Milling, Severin Wünsch and professor Gert Ingold from Uniwersity of Augsburg
Marcin Kostur, Uniwersytet Śląski
Magdalena Hampel, Joanna Klekowska i Marta Margiel from The Foundation EduRes
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