CMASTE welcomed Dr. Swai for a three-week residency which included observations of research and teaching, presenting his research, and strengthening pre-existing relationships between the University of Alberta and Dodoma University.

CMASTE welcomed Dr. Pohlkamp for a month-long residency which included observations of research and teaching, presenting his research, and strengthening pre-existing relationships between the University of Alberta and RWTH Aachen University.

Dr. Elaine Simmt participated in the World University Research Project in partnership with the University of Bristol. The project title was: Innovating the Mathematics Curriculum in Times of Change: Towards Local and Global Relevance. 

The Norway Energy camp arose from a larger project that looked at improving science instruction in Norway. The camp ran between 2011 and 2018. Each year, the 5 day camp was held in Hvam, Norway with 60 students and 30 teachers in attendance. 

The camp participants were immersed in inquiry-based science projects and experiences surrounding the extraction, use and application of energy sources, including both renewable and non-renewable resources. Canadian teachers, alongside Norwegian teachers, facilitated student-led, design-based activities that promote interest and enthusiasm in science, while also helping the students increase their English language communication skills and their experience with local energy-related businesses and projects.

All materials and resources are developed by the teachers in consultation with CMASTE.

Program Highlights:

● Norway’s Minister of Energy attended the camp in 2011.

● A teacher development and coaching component was added to the program in 2012.

IANAS (Inter American Network of Academies of Science) is a network dedicated to strengthening and empowering science communities in the hemisphere. One of the ways that IANAS aims to achieve this is through enhancing human resource development in science, technology and health by improving the quality of science education.

IANAS was established in 2004 and, since its inception, has initiated active programs in science education in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Mexico and the Caribbean. The programs include development of context-appropriate materials for classroom programs, evaluation of classroom programs, professional development training for teachers, and collaborative, intercountry workshops and conferences.

In the field of science education, Canada is perceived to offer expertise, and requests to make short visits to science education centres for the purpose of capacity building are made frequently. CMASTE has served as a focal centre for Canadian participation in the IANAS Science Education Program, as illustrated by the following activities:

• hosting key representatives from Central and South America and from the Caribbean for an IANAS annual meeting (2005)

• hosting elementary and secondary science teachers from the Caribbean, Bolivia, and Guatemala, for professional development seminars and school visits

• contributing to the preparation of reports focused on the evaluation of inquiry-based science education programs and on professional development in pre-secondary inquiry-based science education

• presenting sessions on contemporary views of science education to representatives from participating countries

• presenting workshops for science teachers in South American countries

• helping to find funds for the continuation of this important North-South project, with mutual benefit to all.

Within the framework of the UNESCO Iraq Office project "Training of Trainers in Teacher Education for Sustained Quality Education", the lessons were prepared in an instructional design template for Iraqi science teacher education. The project aimed to improve the quality of teacher education in Iraq by strengthening the capacities of colleges of science and education in four Iraqi universities. The project involved creation of lessons that were used by science-teacher educators / trainers. A major goal of the lessons was to create a synthesis of science knowledge with pedagogical knowledge. Many of the lessons available outside of this project are one or the other—pure science lessons or pure pedagogy lessons. An attempt has been made in this project to create a synthesis of the two knowledge forms—science and pedagogy.

Fortunately, science is a subject that enables pedagogy, for example,

• empirical science is real and concrete—enabling students to use their five senses to learn, especially in their everyday environment and in the laboratory

• theoretical science uses models and analogies—something that teachers and students can use to assist learning by making the abstract concrete

• science has ways of learning—evidence-based and reason-based learning complement and test each other, in a real way

• science has ways of knowing—empirical and theoretical parallel processes that complement each other, scientifically and pedagogically

• science is a team effort—complemented in pedagogy as collaborative learning, inside and outside the laboratory

• science is inquiry—complemented in pedagogy by inquiry-based learning, inside and outside the laboratory

• science is problem based—complemented in pedagogy by problem-based learning

• science is question based—promoting student-centred learning; e.g., question-and-answer and discussion-oriented instructional strategies

• science is research based—promoting the testing of hypotheses by students (about science) and teachers (about pedagogy)

• science is attitude based—promoting such predispositions in the classroom as perseverance, open-mindedness, honesty, and suspended judgment

Science is about how we know and pedagogy is about how we learn. When teaching and learning science, the teachers and the learners need to come to appreciate the strong connection between science and pedagogy. For example, Jean Piaget’s classification of learners as concrete and abstract is very similar to philosophers classification of science as empirical and theoretical.

This project involves consultation services with the Mauritius Institute of Education in order to support the conceptualization and design of a competency-based model that will enable students to opt for a more applied or inductive curricular approach and pedagogy at Grade 10/11 that leads to the assimilation of 21st Century skills.

This collaboration involves building capacity for transitioning to competency based curriculum in Post-secondary STEM Education in Kenya.

In partnership with the Oman Ministry of Education and University of Alberta International, professional development modules for primary school teacher training in mathematics and science were developed.

This collaboration involved teacher professional development in partnership with the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS) Rwanda. Topics included: assessment, science inquiry, policy dialogue, participatory learning.