Natural Science Talk in Teacher Educaations Erasmus Project

Project Title

Natural Science Talk in Teacher Educaations

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 : Strategic Partnerships for school education

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2018

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Quality Improvement Institutions and/or methods (incl. school development); Natural sciences; Key Competences (incl. mathematics and literacy) – basic skills

Project Summary

The background for the SciTalk project is the fact, documented through research, that there has been little focus on conversations in general in kindergartens and primary schools, and that there has been correspondingly little focus on how to conduct conversations in teacher education. This is also the situation in the field of natural science in teacher education. The SciTalk project has developed a methodology for how to teach teacher students in natural sciences to be better at conducting conversations about natural science issues in kindergarten and in primary school.
The participants in the project are teacher educators and researchers in natural science and language in Norway, Germany and the Netherlands. The participating institutions have been Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, Oslo Metropolitan University, Philips-Universität in Marburg, Germany and HZ University of Applied Sciences in Vliessingen, the Netherlands. Two kindergarten pedagogues from two Norwegian kindergartens, Bråtveit naturbarnehage in Sveio and Espira Pi-parken in Oslo has also participated in the project. Western Norway University of Applied Sciences has been the beneficiary partner.
The main activities in the project have been to develop a methodology for how to teach teacher students to conduct natural science conversations with children between three and nine years. The methodology was developed by doing a review of literature suggesting ways to conduct such conversations, by developing a structure for the teaching of the skills, by doing two interventions with teacher students in all the four participating teacher educations, by evaluating the results from the interventions and decide for a methodology and derive some principles from the methodology that always should be present when teaching teacher students to conduct SciTalk. The principles are to introduce the students to natural science skills and topic and to different types of talk and ways to conduct conversations, to let them practice at campus and in practicum, and to have them reflect upon their own efforts.
These principles are the basis for a digital learning resource that we have developed as a product from the SciTalk project. The learning resource is presented at an open access website: https://www.hvl.no/en/collaboration/project/sci-talk/
The digital learning resource contains written informative texts about natural science skills and topics and about types of talk and ways to talk. It also contains multitudes of pictures from everyday situations involving the opportunities to talk about natural science issues. In addition, the learning resource have lots of vodcasts, mini lectures on video, hot-spot-tasks and interactive videos with tasks for the teacher students. The learning resource can support teacher educators teaching teacher students, we call it a toolbox for teacher educators. The learning resource can also be used in self-studies for teacher students, teachers, teacher colleges, parents or anyone who wants to learn about this issue. As the website is innovative and fills a knowledge gap, and it can have a great impact on the lack of focus on conversation in natural science in kindergarten and primary school.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 254715 Eur

Project Coordinator

HOGSKULEN PA VESTLANDET & Country: NO

Project Partners

• OSLOMET – STORBYUNIVERSITETET
• Espira Gruppen AS
• PHILIPPS UNIVERSITAET MARBURG
• STICHTING HZ UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES
• Bråtveit natur og kulturbarnehage (Bråtveit korttidsbarnehage)