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ESERA – Yiannis Georgiou doctoral thesis

Doctoral thesis: “Investigating immersion in relation to science learning in location-based augmented reality settings”

The doctoral thesis of Dr. Yiannis Georgiou has been recently published in the ESERA’s bank of European science education abstracts of doctoral theses. The doctoral thesis is focused on the investigation of immersion in relation to science learning in location-based augmented reality settings, and has been supervised by the Coordinator of the MCL research group, Dr. Eleni A. Kyza.

You can read the abstract of the thesis and find additional information about the doctoral dissertation here.

Summer club for 5th-9th graders

The MCL Research group participated in the 2018 CUT Summer Club with fun educational activities for 5th-9th graders.

The younger participants (5th & 6th grade)  had the opportunity to: (a) practice their coding skills and develop interactive stories with the Scratch program, (b) participate in the evaluation of a mobile AR learning environment (“CompARe”) which supports a collaborative inquiry learning scenario about a unique 6th century wall mosaic, (c) engage in creative writing activities and challenges.

The activities designed by the MCL group during the summer club, aimed to unleash students’ creativity, develop their collaboration skills, and cultivate a team-working spirit, while also being lots and lots of fun.

Another major goal of the MCL activities, in collaboration with the Internet of Things lab at the Department of Communication and Internet Studies, was to familiarize students with the most trending educational technologies, like augmented reality and the Internet of Things (IoT).  Older students (7th-9th grade) were introduced to the applications of IoT and participated in co-design sessions contributing to the development of an IoT-based mobile application about air quality.

Meeting between members of the Cyprus University of Technology, Nanyang Technological University, and Nelson Mandela University in Cyprus

The MCL Research group, at the Department of Communication and Internet Studies (CIS) of the Cyprus University of Technology (CUT), organized a meeting on 27.6.2018 with Associate Professor Yiyu Cai from the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore and Dr Sue Patratos from the Nelson Mandela University in South Africa. The members of the MCL group had the opportunity to present information on the CIS Department at CUT to the visiting professors, and discuss the group’s current research projects. The participants had a fruitful discussion on the latest trends on innovative technologies for learning such as Augmented Reality and the Internet of Things. The meeting set the basis for possible new collaborations between the three universities!

Research grant at CUT: “IoT for Education: Air Quality matters”

The MCL Research group in collaboration with the Internet of Things Lab (IoTLab) of the Department of Communication and Internet Studies of the Cyprus University of Technology (CUT), have been awarded a 6-month grant to work on developing illustrative cases on how to integrate “Internet of Things” (IoT) in secondary education.

The project named “IoT for Education: Air Quality matters” (IoT4ED) is part of a larger Horizon 2020 funded program aiming to enhance physical environments with IoT platforms and applications, thus contributing to the development of of smart and connected environments (i.e. smart city, smart campus, intelligent transportation, etc).

The Cyprus University of Technology team will work on the development of an IoT-based mobile application for secondary school students, aiming to promote environmental awareness about air pollution and an understanding of how the “Internet of Things” works. The mobile application will be co-designed with students and will be tested in secondary schools in Limassol to evaluate the usability and impact of the app. The mobile app will communicate with the platforms and databases which collect data from other cities in the EU and will also display environmental data from Limassol.

The CUT team which will work on IoT4ED consists of Dr. Lambros Lambrinos, Dr. Eleni A. Kyza, Andria Agesilaou, Loucas Constantinou, and Markos Souropetsis from the Department of Communication and Internet Studies at CUT.

Master Program 2018 (Greek)

Το πρόγραμμα “Νέες Τεχνολογίες Μάθησης και Επικοινωνίας

  • Απευθύνεται σε όσους ενδιαφέρονται να κατανοήσουν καλύτερα την  επίδραση των νέων τεχνολογιών σε τυπικά και άτυπα περιβάλλοντα
    μάθησης και διδασκαλίας
  • Χρήση καινοτόμων τεχνολογιών και νέων μέσων για προώθηση της μάθησης
  • Εναλλακτικοί τρόποι φοίτησης μέσω τεχνολογιών εξ αποστάσεως μάθησης
  • Αναγνωρισμένο από την Εκπαιδευτική Υπηρεσία Κύπρου
  • Διανύει επιτυχώς το έβδομο έτος λειτουργίας του
  • Μειωμένα δίδακτρα ύψους €4100 για το σύνολο του προγράμματος
  • Τελευταία ημερομηνία υποβολής ηλεκτρονικών αιτήσεων 31/3/2018.
    https://www.cut.ac.cy/studies/masters/applying/

PARRISE

The aim of the PARRISE project is to collect and share existing best practices across Europe and develop learning tools, materials and in/pre- service training courses for science teachers based on the Socio-Scientific Inquiry-Based Learning (SSIBL) approach.

The goal of the project is to empower and facilitate science teachers and teacher educators, by in-service and pre-service professional development courses, based on reshaped best practices available among the partners. These shared selected best practices will be reflected on from a ‘Responsible Research and Innovation’ (RRI) perspective and improved by an international ‘community of learners’ who incorporate RRI in their teaching and learning processes.

The PARRISE project has established a multidisciplinary team and facilitates networking activities among teachers, teacher educators and educational researchers of 18 institutions in 11 countries. The project builds on recently developed Inquiry-Based Science Education (IBSE) insights and fosters implementation of IBSE in educational practice.

Focus: Science teachers’ professional development through a participatory design approach

Funding: European-funded project

Status: Completed

Related Publications

Georgiou, Y. & Kyza, E. A. (2024, September). Nanoparticles in food packaging: Exploring the impact of an RRI module in the chemistry classroom. Paper presented at the EARLI SIG20 & SIG26 conference “Digital, analog, and hybrid learning spaces: Rethinking dialogue, inquiry, and argumentation?!”, Berlin, Germany.

Georgiou, Y., & Kyza, E. A. (2023). Fostering chemistry students’ scientific literacy for responsible citizenship through Socio-Scientific Inquiry-Based Learning (SSIBL). Sustainability, 15(8), 6442.

Georgiou, Y. & Kyza, E. A. (2022, September). Empowering students’ active citizenship through socio-scientific inquiry-based learning: A case study in Chemistry Education. Paper presented at the EARLI SIG20 & SIG26 conference “Dialogue, inquiry and argumentation: shaping the future(s) of education”, Utrecht, The Netherlands.

Kyza, E. A. & Agesilaou, A. (2022). Investigating the processes and conditions for teacher and researcher empowerment in co-design settings. Cognition and Instruction, 40(1), 100-125. https://doi.org/10.1080/07370008.2021.2010213

Goldman, S. R., Hmelo-Silver, C. E. , & Kyza, E. A. (2022). Collaborative Design as a Context for Teacher and Researcher Learning: Introduction to the Special Issue. Cognition and Instruction, 40(1), 1-6. https://doi.org/10.1080/07370008.2021.2010215

Kyza, E.A., Agesilaou, A., Georgiou, Y., Hadjichambis, A.C. (2022) Teacher-Researcher Co-design Teams: Teachers as Intellectual Partners in Design. In A. C. Superfine, S. R. Goldman, M. Ko (Eds.) Changing Content and Contexts of Teacher Learning: Supporting Shifts in Instructional practices. Advances in the Learning Sciences. (pp. 175-195). Routledge.

Kyza, E. A., Georgiou, Y., Hadjichambis, A., & Agesilaou, A. (2018). Antibiotics in livestock: Introducing in-service teachers to the nature of contemporary, socio-scientific controversies. School Science Review, 100(371), 53-58.

Hadjichambis, A. C., Georgiou, Y., Paraskeva Hadjichambi, D., Kyza, E. A., Agesilaou, A., & Mappouras, D. (2018). Promoting RRI and active citizenship in an inquiry-based controversial socio-scientific issue: the case of cholesterol regulation with statins. Journal of Biological Education, 1-13.

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Activity Trackers

“Activity Trackers” is a locally-funded research project, which is focused on the investigation of elementary school students’ knowledge about the functions of the human body and healthy lifestyle habits. Employing an exploratory research design, the overall goal of the project is to investigate the potential contribution of this innovating technology in Science Education in order to help students learn about the functions of the human body by collecting data from their own bodies after a set of experiential activities. In addition, the projects aims to promote healthy lifestyle to students and help them adopt healthier eating habits, as well as to exercise regularly. The “Activity Trackers” program has also a parallel goal; to explore the potential of students’ contribution in the co-design of a learning environment which makes use of the activity trackers, in order to be implemented in Science Education in elementary schools. Co-design enables the inclusion of students needs and interests in the curriculum development for more motivating learning environments. The “Activity Trackers” program provides the opportunity to students to communicate their preferences and have an active role in the design of learning environments using innovating technologies.

Read more about the “Activity Trackers” program for schools.

Focus: Participatory design

Funding: Locally-funded project

Status: Ongoing

Mystery at the Lake

“Mystery at the lake” is a locally-funded research project, which is focused on investigating the nature of immersion in location-based AR settings for environmental science learning. Employing a design- based approach, the overall goal of the project was to collect multiple empirical data through a set of iterative studies about the nature of students’ immersion in location- based AR settings, its relation to students’ environmental science learning as well as about the successful design of immersive location-based AR learning environments.  As part of this project, the “Mystery at the lake” AR learning environment, which is addressed to middle and high school students, has been developed. The learning environment takes place by the Bishop’s lake in collaboration with the Cyprus Center for Environmental Research and Education (CY.C.E.R.E). As part of the design-based approach, the main efforts of the project were focused on the development of an evidence-based framework reflecting the conceptualization and valid measurement of immersion in location-based AR settings, the main learners’ characteristics mediating their immersive experiences as well as a set of design principles guiding the successful development of immersive location-based AR learning environments. This evidence-based framework has also guided the design and re-design, improvement and finalization of the “Mystery at the lake” AR learning environment.

Read more about the “Mystery at the lake” program for schools.

Focus: Immersion in location-based AR learning environments for environmental science learning

Funding: Locally-funded project

Status: Completed

Related Publications

Georgiou, Y. & Kyza, E. A. (2017). Investigating Immersion in relation to students’ learning during a collaborative location-based augmented reality activity In Smith, B. K., Borge, M., Mercier, E., and Lim, K. Y. (Eds.). (2017). Making a Difference: Prioritizing Equity and Access in CSCL, 12th International Conference on Computer Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) 2017, Volume 1. Philadelphia, PA: International Society of the Learning Sciences. [Long paper.]

Kyza, E. A., & Georgiou, Y. (2016). Digital tools for enriching informal inquiry-based mobile learning: The design of the TraceReaders location-based augmented reality learning platform. Paper presented at the Proceedings of the 3rd Asia-Europe Symposium on Simulation and Serious Gaming – 15th ACM SIGGRAPH Conference on Virtual-Reality Continuum and its Applications in Industry, VRCAI 2016, 195-198. doi:10.1145/3014033.3017432

Georgiou, Y., & Kyza, E. A. (2017). The development and validation of the ARI questionnaire: An instrument for measuring immersion in location-based augmented reality settings. International Journal of Human Computer Studies, 98, 24-37. doi:10.1016/j.ijhcs.2016.09.014

Georgiou Y. & Kyza, E. A. (2014). “Can you listen to my voice?” Including a student voice in the design of a chemistry module aiming to increase students’ learning and motivation. In Bolte, C., Holbrook, J., Mamlok-Naaman, R., Rauch, F. (eds.), Science teachers’ continuous professional development in Europe: Case studies from the PROFILES project. Berlin: Freie Universität Berlin. Print: University of Klagenfurt (Austria), 94-102.

Young Archaeologists

“Young Archaeologists” is a locally- funded research project, which is focused on the investigation of inquiry-based AR mobile learning in archaeological and cultural settings. Employing a design- based approach, the overall goal of the project is to collect multiple empirical data through a set of iterative studies about the nature of students’ historical learning in archaeological and cultural settings based on the inquiry-based AR mobile learning approach. As part of this project, the “Young Archaeologists” AR learning environment, which is addressed to 3rd  and 4th graders, has been developed. The learning environment takes place at the Neolithic archaeological site of Choirokoitia. As part of the design-based approach, the main efforts of the project are focused the development of an evidence-based framework reflecting the affordances and challenges of the inquiry-based AR mobile learning in archaeological and cultural settings; these efforts will also guide the design and re-design, improvement and finalization of the “Young Archaeologists” AR learning environment.

Read more about “Young Archaeologists” program for schools.

Focus: Inquiry-based AR mobile learning in archaeological and cultural settings

Funding: Locally-funded project

Status: Ongoing

Related Publications

Efstathiou, I., Kyza, E. A. & Georgiou, Y.  (2017). An inquiry-based augmented reality mobile learning approach to fostering primary school students’ historical reasoning in non-formal settings. Interactive Learning Environments26(1), 22-41.

Kyza, E. A., & Georgiou, Y. (2016). Digital tools for enriching informal inquiry-based mobile learning: The design of the TraceReaders location-based augmented reality learning platform. Paper presented at the Proceedings of the 3rd Asia-Europe Symposium on Simulation and Serious Gaming – 15th ACM SIGGRAPH Conference on Virtual-Reality Continuum and its Applications in Industry, VRCAI 2016, 195-198.

PROFILES

PROFILES (Title: “Professional Reflection Oriented Focus on Inquiry- based Learning and Education through Science) was a four year (2010 – 2014) research program, funded by the European Commission, under the FP7 Science in Society program. Bringing together 19 university teams from 21 European countries, promoted IBSE through raising the self-efficacy of science teachers to take ownership of more effective ways of teaching students, supported by stakeholders.

The PROFILES innovation lied on working with teacher partnerships to implement existing, exemplary context-led, IBSE focused, science teaching materials enhanced by inspired, teacher relevant, training and intervention programmes. This was undertaken by reflection, interactions and seeking to meaningfully raise teacher skills in developing creative, scientific problem-solving and socio-scientific decision-making abilities in students. The measures of success were through (a) determining the self-efficacy of science teachers in developing self-satisfying science teaching methods and (b) in the attitudes of students toward this more student-involved approach. Dissemination of approaches, reactions, and reflections formed a further key project target, making much use of the internet and other formats useful for sharing science teacher profiles in an interactive forum.

PROFILES involved the development of teachers on four fronts (teacher as learner, teacher as effective teacher, teacher as reflective practitioner, teacher as leader) consolidating their ownership of society-led, IBSE approaches and incorporating use-inspired research, evaluative methods and stakeholder networking. The project disseminated its innovation with trained lead teachers spearheading further teacher development at pre- and in-service levels and initiating a series of workshops for key stakeholders nationwide. The project focused on open inquiry approaches as a major teaching target and paid much attention to both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation of students in the learning of science. The intended outcome was school science teaching to become more meaningful, related to 21st century science and incorporate interdisciplinary socio-scientific issues and IBSE-related teaching, taking particular note of gender factors.

Find out information about the PROFILES here.

Focus: Science teachers’ professional development through a participatory design approach

Funding: European-funded project

Status: Completed

Related Publications

Hadjichambis, A. C., Georgiou, Y., Paraskeva-Hadjichambi, D., Kyza, E. A., & Mappouras, D. (2016). Investigating the effectiveness of an inquiry-based intervention on human reproduction in relation to students’ gender, prior knowledge and motivation for learning in biology. Journal of Biological Education, 50(3), 261-274. doi:10.1080/00219266.2015.1067241

Kyza, E. A. & Georgiou, Y. (2014). Developing in-service science teachers’ ownership of the PROFILES pedagogical framework through a technology-supported participatory design approach to professional development. Science Education International, 25(2), 55-77.

Kyza, E. A., Georgiou, Y., Hadjichambi, D. & Hadjichambis, A. (2013). Teacher Framing, Classroom Collaboration Scripts, and Help‐Seeking and Help‐Giving Behaviors. In N. Rummel, M. Kapur, M. Nathan, S. Puntambekar (Eds.) To see the world and a grain of sand: Learning across levels of space, time and scale. Proceedings of the 10th International Conference of Computer Supported Collaborative Learning. Madison, WI: International Society of the Learning Sciences (ISLS), 2013. [Long paper.]

Schulte, T., Georgiou, Y., Kyza, E.A., Bolte, C. (2013). Students’ and teachers’ perceptions of school based scientific literacy priorities and practice: A cross‐cultural comparison between Cyprus and Germany. In: C. P. Constantinou, N. Papadouris & A. Hadjigeorgiou (Eds.), “E-Book Proceedings of the ESERA 2013 Conference: Science Education Research For Evidence-based Teaching and Coherence in Learning”, Part 8: “Scientific Literacy and Socio-scientific Issues” (co-ed. J. Dillon & A. Redfors), European Science Education Research Association, Nicosia, Cyprus, ISBN: 978-9963-700-77-6, pp. 132-140.

Georgiou, Y., Kyza, E. A., & Ioannou, A. (2012). Creating and sustaining online communities of practice for science teachers’ professional development: Overcoming the barriers. In J. V. Aalst, K. Thompson, M. J. Jacobson & Reimann, P. (Eds.), The future of learning. Proceedings of the 10th International Conference of the Learning Sciences (pp. 533-534). Sydney, Australia. [Poster.]

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