The Da Vinci Code Erasmus Project

Project Title

The Da Vinci Code

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: Pedagogy and didactics; Key Competences (incl. mathematics and literacy) – basic skills; Overcoming skills mismatches (basic/transversal)

Project Summary

The project target groups are science teachers in STEM and ICT and students (age 14-19), studying science in high schools or professional schools. The project aims to increase the interest and understanding of STEM disciplines by students using new innovative methods and approaches. The main needs of the target groups addressed by the current proposal are: difficulties in understanding the scientific material and lack of comprehension about science concepts in students; teachers need to influence the students’ processes of problem understanding by structuring the objective task environment as clearly as possible.
Studies in the field of science education show an increase in students’ negative attitude towards science, lack of understanding of the material, scientific illiteracy.
Students work without comprehension, just writing down what the teacher says, and have difficulties to imagine the discussed processes in real life.
Lack of comprehension is the main problem of underachievement in schools, especially when it comes to science subjects. For students it hinders their ability to use the knowledge in everyday life, decreases their functional literacy and as a result it limits their abilities to work on their transversal competences, since they are mainly a passive side in the education process. For teachers lack of comprehension lowers their motivation to work and introduce new pedagogical tools and instruments.
The problems in science education lead to the declining interest in science studies, which leads to decline in innovations and this is already creating serious problems for the European economy.
The project aims to raise the interest and understanding of the students by new innovative methods.
The project will enable students to be included in interdisciplinary training through specially developed lessons and to participate in annual projects with developments including the application of concepts and dependencies on boring science lessons.
The new Z generation have different perceptual skills because of the digital environment in which they grow. This also requires new methods in their training. In support of our findings is the COUNCIL RECOMMENDATION of 22 May 2018. International surveys such as the OECD, PISA or the OECD, PIAAC indicate a constant high share of teenagers and adults with insufficient basic skills. In 2015 one in five pupils had serious difficulties in developing sufficient reading, mathematic or science skills. 44 % of the Union population have low or no (19 %) digital skills. Consequently, investing in basic skills has become more relevant than ever. High quality education, including extra-curricular activities and a broad approach to competence development, improves achievement levels in basic skills. In addition, new ways of learning need to be explored for a society that is becoming increasingly mobile and digital. Digital technologies have an impact on education, training and learning by developing more flexible learning environments adapted to the needs of a highly mobile society. Skills, such as problem solving, critical thinking, ability to cooperate, creativity, computational thinking, self-regulation are more essential than ever before in our quickly changing society. They are the tools to make what has been learned work in real time, in order to generate new ideas, new theories, new products, and new knowledge.
Our project, building on the above-mentioned conclusions and experiences, aims to build on the next level of understanding science through the formation of key competences.
The final goal of the project is to prepare 12 interdisciplinary key competences lessons (2 per country), 30 STEM projects for project-based learning that use real-world problems, as well as a system for evaluating them. These products will be distributed to all schools in partner countries and will be available on the project site. Through their application, the following key competences will be acquired: Digital competence, Mathematical competence and competence in science, technology and engineering; with the solution of real problems set in the projects – Citizenship competence, Entrepreneurship competence; for participants in international meetings – Multilingual competence, Cultural awareness and expression competence. Through these products and their dissemination, we will achieve our goal of open education and the creation of innovative practices in the digital era, which will be a sustainable investment in quality and effective education and training.
The proposed project is a direct response to the EU strategic framework ET 2020 addressing comprehension as an ability to be developed in students as a corner stone for developing their creativity, adaptability, complex communication/social skills, non-routine problem-solving skills, self-management/self-development, and systems thinking.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 2882,87 Eur

Project Coordinator

Profesionalna gimnazia Asen Zlatarov & Country: BG

Project Partners

• Kaunatas vidusskola
• Tehnicka skola
• Liceul Tehnologic “Anghel Saligny”
• ITIS “E. Mattei”
• Agrupamento de Escolas Augusto Cabrita