EuroProjects: integrating transnational student research projects into the upper secondary curriculum. Erasmus Project

Project Title

EuroProjects: integrating transnational student research projects into the upper secondary curriculum.

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : School Exchange Partnerships

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2019

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses; Research and innovation

Project Summary

“EuroProjects: integrating transnational student research projects into the upper-secondary curriculum.”

EuroProjects revolves around an educational practice common in many European secondary schools: upper secondary (baccalaureate) students are encouraged to elaborate a personal research project as an optional and complementary activity to their regular two-year upper secondary curriculum. Interested students choose a research topic at the beginning of the school year, develop their research during the course mentored by a teacher and submit their finished project at the end of the year. Projects are evaluated by a jury and the best works are awarded prizes, honorable mentions or academic advantages.

All schools participating in EuroProjects are familiar with this practice albeit to a varying degree. The coordinating school (IES Pedro Salinas) has a long and successful experience of seven years. In addition, Trabzon Sosyal Bilimler Lisesi also has a very similar experience with student research projects and Bisschoppelijk College Broekhin has joined Global Perspectives, an international program aimed at teaching research skills to young researchers. Finally, Privatna varazdinska gimnazija is interested in widening its educational practice and it is willing to implement student research projects during EuroProjects lifespan.

There is a firm consensus among all participants that an Erasmus+ collaborative project will greatly help improve their schools as well as provide for their needs. The project will strengthen their current educational practice, increase the participation among students and also among mentoring teachers. Furthermore, it will increase the awareness and appreciation of research projects among students and families and open schools to cooperation among themselves and with any other European school involved in similar educational practices. Finally, the project will reinforce the knowledge of the European Union and the common European cultural heritage, both among students and teachers.

Those ambitious goals will be reached by means of a coordinated and collaborative effort among all participants. Five transnational mobilities have been scheduled in a two-year timeframe following the development cycle of student research projects. The first and the third mobilities will serve to launch new projects at the beginning of each academic year, the second and the fourth mobilities will be mainly devoted to teach and practice research skills and so they will take place in the middle of the school year. Finally, the third and the fifth mobilities are designed to cover presentation and oral skills and to present the projects at the end of each academic year. It should be noted that workshops, seminars and practical demonstrations will be the core of the teaching activities in every mobility.

The participants in all mobilities are upper-secondary students interested in doing a research project and teachers interested in performing mentoring tasks. A significant number of students will take part in the mobilities. Around half of the total number of interested students will be actively involved in each mobilities, hence guaranteeing the immediate impact over the participant schools.

Working methodologies include detailed work-plans with clearly defined goals, intermediate and final results, division of labor and roles among partners and agreed deadlines. Detailed agendas will be defined for student and teacher transnational mobilities, for the elaboration of documents (guidelines, best practices, teaching materials) and for the celebration of common events. A project coordinating team formed by the contact persons from every participant school and chaired by the project coordinator will apply quality project management practices.

The main results of EuroProjects include increased participation and quality in the student research projects. Well-defined procedures, clear and concise guidelines, detailed best practices and templates and dissemination and diffusion materials are other tangible results. Less tangible results include the creation of strong bonds between schools, teachers and students. The development of research, collaboration and communication skills on students and mentors, general knowledge and appreciation of the European Union and European cultures are other intangible results. These outcomes will be employed by the participant schools well beyond the temporal scope of the project. The materials developed (adapted to the specificities of each school educational context and language) may be put into use by other schools interested in implementing or improving similar educational practices.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 129280 Eur

Project Coordinator

I.E.S. PEDRO SALINAS & Country: ES

Project Partners

• Bisschoppelijk college Broekhin Roermond
• Privatna varazdinska gimnazija s pravom javnosti
• Trabzon Sosyal Bilimler Lisesi