Elena VladescuPhysics teacher

“Nicolae Titulescu” National Vocational College, Slatina, Romania

Hello,My name is Elena Vladescu and I am Physics teacher

to “Nicolae Titulescu” National Vocational College, Slatina, Romania.

This school year, I worked in the inGenious project, as a pilot school teacher in the EU group, under the coordination of Mrs. Evita Tasiopoulou.

My students are from 15 to 18 years old.

Last school year, I implemented and evaluated 3 activities with my upper secondary classes, from inGenious Practice Gallery:

1. Experience Science with Sensors (22/11/2013);2. Street lighting (09/12/2013);3. Skoool Football (17/01/2014).

1. Experience Science with Sensors

2. Street lighting

2.

3. Skoool Football

Prior and after each activity, we filled in the appropriate questionnaires.

After testing these 3 practices, I provided my feedback, by sending to my coordinator the outcomes of our work: videos, photos, samples (copies) of pupils’ work, posters , Power Point presentations for each tested practice.

Together with my pupils, I participated in the online inGenious chat “The Environment, Development and Behaviour” (27 May 2014).

We took part in 2 inGenious Competitions: in the inGenious school competition, with an entry named “Physics for Juniors” and in the inGenious poster competition with an entry named “Street Lighting”.

Also, I participated in 2 online courses for teachers from European Schoolnet Academy: “Innovative practices for engaging STEM teaching” and “Future Classroom Scenarios”.

In the 8th inGenious workshop, 20-22 June in Setubal, Portugal, I had the opportunity to meet teachers from the European pilot schools, teacher trainers, industry representatives and policy makers.

My headmaster participated in the the 3rd inGenious academy, Stockholm, March 2014.

Here is our poster. We are among the semifinalists, so, please, vote

“Street Lighting”!

I disseminated these activities among my colleagues, parents, local, national and international community.

Another STEM project that I participated in was PBL project. The PBL Projects team specializes in facilitating “learn by doing” workshops in which instructors experience PBL as students, gain access to teachers’ resources, implementation and assessment strategies for PBL, and are prepared to develop their own industry-based “Challenges” using the Challenge Design Guide. Teacher education faculty are being prepared to adapt and implement PBL into existing teacher preparation courses.

Contact Principal Investigator Fenna Hanes at fhanes@nebhe.org to learn more.

Both inGenious and PBL projects provided me professional development activities, gave me the opportunity to implement activities based on authentic interdisciplinary problems in Science and to share best practices with STEM teachers from all Europe.

If inGenious project will continue also next year, I’ll encourage more STEM teachers from my school to apply to become pilot teachers.

This way, I want to promote the importance of STEM education in my school and in my town and the importance of STEM careers for students.

Thank you for attention!