Working groups

1. Scientific Reasoning

Head of the working group: Erzsébet Korom

The Scientific Reasoning working group is responsible for the development of theoretical frameworks and the construction, piloting, standardisation and evaluation of assessment instruments and intervention programmes.

 

2. Science for Children

Head of the working group: Imre Csiszár

The Science for Children working group develops teaching materials and instruction methods that can be used as individual modules in the teaching of science subjects at the first stage of science education (for children aged 6–12 years). Links with subject content are identified and mapped, and it is explained how individual instruction units lay the foundations for further science studies and which basic components of scientific reasoning are targeted.

 

3. Biology

Head of the working group: Lászlóné Nagy

The Biology working group devises exercises fostering reasoning skills in integrated science and in biology in 5th to 12th grades. This working group developed the programme entitled Verbal analogies related to the topic of Health and the human body for the fostering of analogical reasoning skills in 6th grade, and the digital education app BioScientist designed to foster inquiry skills.

 

4. Physics

Head of the working group: Katalin Radnóti

The Physics working group develops exercises fostering reasoning skills in school physics for 7th to 12th grade students. The working group is the author and implementer of the educational experiment entitled An inquiry approach to the teaching of thermodynamics for 7th grade.

 

5. Chemistry

Head of the working group: Veronika Németh

The Chemistry working group develops exercises fostering reasoning skills in connection with school chemistry for grades 3 to 10. The working group was responsible for the development of the experiment entitled The fostering of inquiry skills in the chemistry classroom in 10th grade: Carboxylic acids, and esters. They also constructed the Database of Chemical Compounds and Experiments as a resource for teacher and student experiments.

 

6. Interdisciplinary relationships, complex topics

Head of the working group: Gábor Veres

This working group devises exercises and lesson plans that exploit and draw attention to connections between different school science subjects and are models of methods of realising multi-dimensional educational objectives such as complex, systems thinking. The lesson plans encourage the use of inquiry-based learning, problem-based learning and project-based learning and the fostering of a scientific approach to problem solving.