Within the Skype a Scientist initiative promoted by Scientix EU, we met Federica Beduini P.h.D. who showed us the multiple applications of graphene on April 30, 2021 in a streaming event organized by our scientific high school, Liceo Scientifico di Stato Calini in Brescia (Italy).
The meeting was part of the “Journey into Modern Physics”, in the path of Art & Science and following one of the learning scenarios present in STE(A)MIT – AN INTERDISCIPLINARY STEM APPROACH CONNECTED: Graphene – miraculous 21st Century Material
This Institute is dedicated to research in photonics, the science and technology related to light. Since light is a versatile tool that is both precise and delicate, it allows to study and create new technologies in different fields: health, information and energy. For this, we spoke with Federica Beduini P.h.D. about the following themes:
photonics and applications in the field of energy and environmental care
photonics and health applications
photonics and applications in the field of information
Information is changing rapidly today. What should we do to keep up with this pace? Is it possible by developing new skills?
In order for information to change rapidly and keep up with this change, it is necessary to be a good digital literate. It is important to be an excellent digital literate in order to understand the digital world, take advantage of opportunities and use technology effectively and efficiently. Digital literacy also allows users to develop cognitive, sociological and emotional skills.
It is very important to have digital competence skills for this adaptation process. So, to be an excellent digital literate it is important to:
Understanding the digital world
Taking advantage of opportunities.
To use technology effectively and efficiently
Pupils need to be proficient in digital technologies to access, manage, integrate, evaluate and produce information. While doing all these, they should also be familiar with the safe use of the internet. Students need to be informed so that they have a basic understanding of ethical and legal issues. Therefore, we can work to increase the digital competence of our students in our classes.
How can we contribute to the development of our students as digital literate? We provide online trainings during the pandemic period because we think that students are passive when learning from distance. That’s why we decided to use web 2.0 tools to enable them. Thus, we wanted the students to develop their cognitive, sociological and emotional skills. Using the reverse training method, students had the opportunity to improve themselves in accessing, using and processing information.
Our work (Digital Science) is an eTwinning project. There are a total of 11 teachers in this project. Our project started in January and is still ongoing.
About the project
Science enables us to understand nature, living things, all beings and existing laws and produce solutions.Digital platforms make it easy to transfer this knowledge and experience. With the pandemic process, we can continue the lessons with distance education throughout 2020. Although we cannot meet face to face with our students in the classroom at our schools, education is carried out live using digital platforms. With the use of existing blended education models and inverted training techniques, students began to learn how to access information and use skills effectively.
In this process, web2.0 tools are our most important tools in distance education. We want our students, children of the technology age, to get to know web2.0 tools and use them for their purposes. Using digital learning tools (web2.0), they will create content related to the courses or a subject they are interested in and transfer their lessons to the digital platform.
Target of the project (Digital Science)
To inform students about safe internet use.
To gain the ability to create digital content.
A student-centered, active participatory learning environment.
Using the reverse learning method to accelerate the access of students to information processes.
İmprove social skills using digital resources.
Citizens with 21st-century skills.
Going out of traditional learning methods. (teacher, textbook, student, four walls).
Development of writing and writing skill.
Development of cognitive, sociological and emotional skills.
First of all, we chose some topics from our curriculum. Students worked on these topics using web.2.0 tool in our project and organized seminars ( esafety, media literacy and disinformation, science and technology week and world water day) After the seminar pupils prerared poster.
The project was created as a PCTO (internship) project for third and fourth-grade students of our school (Scientific High School) from the challenge “Art & Science across Italy”, which is a European project of the CREATIONS network (H2020) organized by the National Institute for Nuclear Physics and CERN in Geneva to promote scientific culture among young people. It combines the languages of art and science: two knowledge tools that are among the highest expressions of human creativity.
The first objective of the project is to bring students closer to the world of science and research, regardless of their aptitude for science subjects, using art as the communication language.
The project is structured in successive steps with seminars in schools and universities, visits to museums and scientific laboratories, workshops held by experts from the world of science and art, and tutoring activities during the creation of artistic compositions. In particular, for each of the cities involved, the project is divided into a training and a creative phase, followed by a local exhibition and a final national selection that culminates in the Exhibition “A Journey in Science”, scheduled to take place at the National Archaeological Museum of Naples on May 2022.
SUMMARY
The activity is as an opening towards the teaching of civic education. It aims at connecting the projects present in the school into a unity in order to open paths of citizenship, service learning and dialogue with institutions and the territory, to create dynamics inside / outside the school in synergy with one’s environment and to develop critical awareness and sensitivity.
It should create connections with the Service-Learning projects already present in the schools, with some Institutions in the territory, with Schools of Peace, in harmony with the guidelines for the implementation of civic education. It aims at creating opportunities for awareness and ideation arising from the students: data analysis and their interpretation as a central element for teaching citizenship and the Constitution, scientific research and care of the other, individual responsibility in collective choices, interconnections of knowledge and enhancement of communication skills.
Students will learn the meaning of scientific dissemination and the involvement of the territory through art: starting from the concepts and phenomena they have freely analyzed and deepened, they will create concrete and / or multimedia artifacts, which are an expression of their living the link among science, art and society.
Photograph of the 4N pupil Marzia Grasso of the State High School Calini who ranked 4th in the creativity championship of the PCTO project of Art & Science Across Italy with the photograph entitled atom modELIOlo and a score of 9.7 / 10. His shot represents the atom and in particular the helium atom, combining science and fashion. In the photograph she created a complete outfit consisting of dress, shoes and hairstyle. At the same time, these elements correspond to the components of the atom: the skirt emphasizes the orbit in which the electrons move, the shoes, the hairstyle represents the nucleus formed by protons and neutrons created through the colored ribbons.Continue reading →
