Should we ban antibiotics for flu treatment? A role-play activity at Cyprus’ sCYence fair

multipliersadmin on 20 April, 2023

As more germs like bacteria and fungi develop the ability to defeat the drugs designed to kill them, we are faced with increased antimicrobial resistance (AMR): an issue that is not only considered today’s “silent pandemic” but also a “wicked problem”.

In Cyprus, our Open Science Community (OSC) is experimenting with different teaching methods to increase societal awareness about AMR, a topic of high social complexity and of difficult resolution. Many biological and social factors play a role in increasing AMR, such as the behaviour of bacteria, the overuse and overprescription of antibiotics by individuals, and decisions taken by governments and multinational corporations.

To explore the different facets of the topic and present them to the wider public, a group of five students from the Junior and Senior School in our OSC participated in the sCYence fair, the largest Science Festival in Cyprus. After being introduced to the topic and interacting with experts at the biobank.cy molecular medicine center last year, the students went through an internal competition and were selected by a jury of science teachers to participate in the fair. There, they presented their work in the form of a 3-minute role-play representing different stakeholders debating on the question: “Should we ban the use of antibiotics for the treatment of flu?”. They represented a doctor, a scientist, a policymaker, a farmer, and a patient. Each representative argued on the topic above presenting their claims, reasoning, and available evidence.

After the role-play, the students wrapped up with concluding remarks about the use of antibiotics and explained how they worked with their teachers, the biobank.cy experts and University of Cyprus researchers to develop their school projects on antimicrobial resistance (e.g., posters, modelling-based activities, role-play, flyers).  

A total of 66 groups of students, aged 9 to 18, from 49 schools in Cyprus participated in the sCYence fair attended by the MULTIPLIERS students. The fair was the first of a series of upcoming activities where our students will act as “knowledge multipliers” to develop their science communication skills and pass on to society what they have learned on social-scientific dilemmas as part of the project.

More information about the fair is available on the event website and Facebook account.

 
 
 
 
 
View this post on Instagram
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by Multipliers (@multipliers_project)

A mission in Cyprus to tackle the silent pandemic: antimicrobial resistance

multipliersadmin on 7 December, 2022

In July 2022, our Multipliers Open Science Community (OSC) in Cyprus started designing the Teaching and Learning Sequence of their Open Schooling approach, and during the first week of October, their three science teachers introduced the crucial topic of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) to 96 8th graders (13-14 years-old) attending the Senior School in Nicosia. As part of the Open Schooling approach, during the second week of November, students had the opportunity to interact with experts from the Biobank.cy Center of Excellence in school and biobank.cy facilities and engage in scientific practices.  

Learning about AMR in school: how this Multipliers’ journey evolved 

On October 4th, the teachers started with an introduction to microbes (as part of the teaching unit ‘Microbes’ of the school curriculum), and after an initial brainstorming the discussion unfolded around antimicrobial resistance as an increasing threat to human health. To provide the students with crucial information, the teachers presented the issue of AMR using official videos and information according to official reports published by policymakers such as the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).  

After that, the students formed groups representing six different types of stakeholders (i.e., policymakers, pharmacists, academia/scientists, patients, farmers, and the media) to explore the issue of AMR. Each group was given a set of authentic information sources related to AMR (e.g., policy report, scientific article, newspaper article, testimonials) and after reading through the media, the students collaborated to evaluate the information according to a media literacy tool using Google Docs or a common table on A3 paper.  

In the next lesson, each group reflected on the trustworthiness of the source corresponding to their stakeholder group. After an introduction to the argumentation process, the students started forming lines of arguments for or against the use of antibiotics based on their assigned stakeholder role. They received feedback comments from their teachers and University of Cyprus (UCY) researchers, revised their arguments, and prepared themselves for a debate on the following topic: “We should ban the use of antibiotics for the treatment of flu. Do you agree or disagree?”. The final lesson of this phase was a debate on AMR with the students giving an excellent performance supporting the viewpoints of the different stakeholders.  

Students work with experts to learn more about AMR 

The next step was to learn more about AMR in interaction with experts while being engaged in authentic activities adopting scientific practices inside and outside of the school facilities. This intervention was effectively planned well in advance and implemented in close collaboration between the UCY researchers, the biobank.cy experts and the teachers adopting a student-centered approach. This intervention evolved in three days as follows:

Day 1: Biobank.cy experts meet the students 

On November 7th, six experts from the biobank.cy with biology-related backgrounds (i.e., molecular biology, biochemistry, biotechnology, molecular medicine, biobanking, and medical genetics) visited the Senior School. They introduced themselves talking about the biobank.cy mission, their jobs, their studies, hobbies, favourite food and animals. Finally, they familiarised the students with the agenda for the next day’s visit of the premises of the biobank.cy.

Day 2: The four-hour visit to the biobank.cy facilities 

On November 8th, the students arrived early in the morning at the biobank.cy and formed four groups representing four resistant bacteria: mycoplasma, staphylococcus, e.coli, and salmonella. The groups rotated through four different stations that were led by the six experts. In those stations the students were engaged in interactive lab activities with a focus on bacterial resistance to antibiotics.

During the activities, the students had the opportunity to use scientific equipment (e.g., light microscope, Petri dishes, antibiotic disks) but also simple materials (e.g., candies, clay, cumin) to engage in scientific practices such as observation, argumentation, and modeling. The most inspiring experience was that discussions between the experts and students unfolded related to the nature of science, the significance of science in society, the role of scientists in society, scientists’ everyday routine, their study and career trajectories, and the reasons they chose to be scientists.  

Day 3: Students’ reflections on the visit  

The day after, one expert and a researcher from UCY visited the school, shared an overview of the activities performed, showed photos from the cultivation of E.coli on CLED and blood agar, and announced the three best microbe clay models. The visit concluded with a 10-question quiz, students’ recommendations on how to improve the visit, and the secret message derived from the activities: “Some microbes transfer DNA mutations through plasmids for stronger coats” (i.e., some microbes survive and transfer germs via mobile elements – plasmids with AMR cassette – that form stronger cell walls – coats – thus resisting to antibiotics). 

The interaction between the students and the experts was beneficial for both. On the one hand, the students had an exciting opportunity to learn more about AMR in the authentic environment of the biobank.cy, and also engage in scientific practices with experts and in discussions about the nature of science and the value of science in society. On the other hand, the experts faced the challenge to get out of the research lab, to transform and then successfully communicate their scientific knowledge to the students. But what’s next? The next step for the students is to develop their open schooling projects within their OSC that will be part of a targeted awareness campaign for AMR.

The goal is to go beyond the school borders and spread the word to face AMR together. Stay tuned!

Students as Agents of Social Change/MULTIPLIERS & OStogether Inspiration Session

multipliersadmin on 20 October, 2022

What does the school of the future look like? The times when students were considered mere recipients of information are over. Still, schools haven’t fully transitioned yet into a model that strongly encourages student participation, agency and self-efficacy, preparing pupils to tackle real-world challenges. With a focus on science education and sustainability dilemmas, the MULTIPLIERS Horizon 2020 project is addressing that gap. Through its Open Science Communities in six EU countries, MULTIPLIERS is connecting school science to real life, empowering pupils to act as knowledge multipliers across society, and developing students’ scientific argumentation and critical thinking skills.

Join our first dissemination event, organised in partnership with the Open Schooling Together initiative, to:

  • learn more about our approach and meet our consortium partners;
  • be inspired by a key lecture with Prof. Shirley Simon, Institute of Education, University College London, on argumentation in science education; and
  • engage in an interactive session on practical Open Schooling tools and methods around key socio-scientific challenges!

Register for the webinar!

Date and time: 18 November 2022, 9:30 AM CET

Agenda:

9:30 – 10:00 Introduction to the MULTIPLIERS project: students as knowledge multipliers  
10:00 – 11:00 Key lecture: The role of argumentation in open-school science learning projects. Prof. Shirley Simon, Institute of Education, University College London  
11:00 – 13:00 Interactive session on practical Open Schooling methods and tools 3 breakout rooms on 6 socio-scientific issues: Forest use vs. forest protection & Biodiversity and ecosystem services; Vaccination & Anti-microbial resistance; and Air pollution & Water and sanitation  

What is Open Schooling? The MULTIPLIERS approach to build inclusive and long-lasting learning communities

multipliersadmin on 19 April, 2022

Modern societies are facing a wide range of complex challenges, such as fighting climate change, protecting the environment, promoting healthy living and fighting pandemics such as COVID-19, among others. To successfully prepare for and address such challenges, citizens must actively engage in public dialogue on scientific issues and participate responsibly in science-informed decision making. Still, this is easier said than done. Trust in scientific findings is diminishing in Europe and other parts of the world, which is an acute challenge of our time.

MULTIPLIERS has the ambitious goal to counter this trend by addressing the problem at its base. Guided by the concept of Open Schooling, the project will trigger a process to transform schools across six countries into innovative and open collectors of new ideas, practices and scientific approaches to address societal and environmental challenges. It will also offer students a space to engage their families, local communities, decision makers and the media in open, inclusive, and inquiry-based learning on science issues that have an impact on citizens’ lives.

But what is exactly Open Schooling and how can it be implemented in practice? As many different understandings of the term exist, one of the first steps of the project since its kick-off in November 2021 was to agree on a common and operational definition among project partners. As a result, the University of Cyprus and the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona compiled the MULTIPLIERS “Report on Identified Good Practices and Needs Analysis”, which explores the definition of Open Schooling in detail.

“Open schooling initiates in the classroom but exceeds the school borders when students engage the local community in science practices, taking on the role of ‘knowledge multipliers’ to confront societal challenges”

Irene Drymiotou, Learning in Science Group of the University of Cyprus

In the Q&A below, you can find more about our Open Schooling approach, along with a short history of the term in Europe. For more information, explore the report here.

—

What is Open Schooling? And what is MULTIPLIERS’ approach to the concept?

In MULTIPLIERS, we propose an approach to Open Schooling that combines three main objectives – community impact, pedagogical impact, and scientific impact – while also explicitly emphasising important societal values.

We see Open Schooling as an educational perspective in which schools become open to society by bidirectionally collaborating with different institutions with the aim to:

  • Improve community well-being by raising awareness and co-creating solutions to both personal and socially relevant problems that have a direct impact at a local level.
  • Enrich the curricula and pedagogical repertoire of schools, by sharing different views and expertise from both educational and non-educational agents and institutions with the aim to promote students’ meaningful learning and competence development.
  • Give epistemic authority to all agents from within and outside the school, specifically to the students and their families, by engaging them in sustained inquiry, knowledge creation, creative action, and dissemination on issues of relevance to the local community and beyond.

To do so, projects and initiatives on Open Schooling such as MULTIPLIERS take advantage of the knowledge, practices, visions, attitudes, resources, and values of all involved agents, empowering them to collectively transform society from a reflective and critical standpoint that focuses on sustainability, equity, social justice, and inclusion.

How did the concept of Open Schooling come about in European Science Education?

To analyse the appearance of the Open Schooling concept in the EU, specifically in Science Education, one has to undertake a journey through the different EU reports and work programmes and their evolution from an STS (Science, Technology and Society) view within the Science in Society frameworks to the recent views of Science with and for Society. These latter frameworks are increasingly permeated with democratic and ethical concerns on citizens’ participation in Science identified through the Responsible Research and Innovation approach and culminating in a particular version regarding science education.

As such, Open Schooling emerges as a new term first in the report Science Education for Responsible Citizenship and in EU’s Work Programme 2016-2017 and continues to be a priority in the Work Programme 2018-2020. However, despite the term not being explicitly there, we can identify the Open Schooling idea already in the Work Programme 2014-2015.

The EU WPs from 2016 to 2020 followed up on the report Science Education for Responsible Citizenship to explicitly promote the concept of Open Schooling in their strategy of Science with and for Society, which revolves around the concept of Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) and its pillar on Science Education.

How will the Open Schooling approach be implemented within MULTIPLIERS?

Open-school science learning projects will be developed collaboratively in our so-called Open Science Communities (OSCs). Science professionals will be actively involved in bringing real-life case studies to students regarding contemporary challenges and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including nature conservation, clean water and air, climate change, waste, energy, food, and public health.

Rather than seeking a single correct answer, students will interpret and represent the problem, collect information and evidence, identify possible solutions, evaluate options, and present conclusions supported with arguments. They will recognise that there is often no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ decision, and a constructive approach involves weighing each option against different needs and demands. Students will work with researchers gathering and analysing data, thereby developing a better understanding of the initial problem/case and acquiring familiarity with science practices and scientific research processes.

Ultimately, having gained first-hand experiences and inquiry skills in an authentic context, students will become knowledge multipliers; they will present, share, and deepen their knowledge and experiences in activities by actively involving their families and the wider community, firstly through dedicated local events (including open school/local action days or citizen science activities), and then through designing and exploiting science communication media (e.g., exhibitions, social media channels, and video clips).

All OSC partners will be jointly committed to teaching and learning processes in formal, non-formal, and informal settings to ensure relevant, meaningful, and sustainable engagement with science and associated ethical and societal priorities. Students will learn in the real world, with authentic problems fostering individual reflection and empowerment. Science experts, families, and local communities will be involved as part of sustainable learning communities.

Enabling the enablers – when pupils become knowledge MULTIPLIERS

multipliersadmin on 29 March, 2022

“Base decision on facts, not on beliefs” – Kick-off Meeting of MULTIPLIERS project

by Gesche Schifferdecker and Rosa Castañeda

In schools, science is often presented in an abstract way and without a context – but if we want to get young people interested, topics need to be relevant to their everyday life. This is the idea behind the H2020 project MULTIPLIERS – short for MULTIplayers Partnerships to ensure meaningful engagement wIth ScieEnce and ReSearch. In the project, scientists will bring real-life cases to students (from elementary to secondary schools) to look at specific “dilemma situations” from various perspectives.

These dilemma situations are explored in six different themes. The German theme is very up to date – it will explore the topic of “Pro–Con Vaccination” and is managed by MULTIPLIERS project coordinator University of Bonn. The University of Cyprus will focus on “Anti-microbial Resistance”, while the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona is investigating the theme “Air Pollution”. IREN SpA, an Italian company providing public services like energy, water, and heating, will handle the topic of “Energy Efficiency”.

MULTIPLIERS also tackles forest-related topics. Umeå University and the European Forest Institute (EFI) are going to explore the dilemma of “Forest Use versus Forest Protection”. This topic is quite controversially discussed in Sweden and beyond. The debate is – like the ones around vaccination or air pollution – more emotional than based on evidence and thorough analysis.

To understand the controversy, students have to be enabled to both collect knowledge and find the pain points by asking critical questions, and consider potential trade-offs. A very good environment to discuss the “Forest Use versus Forest Protection” dilemma is a marteloscope, an “outdoor forest classroom”, where all trees are mapped and measured to consider both the ecological and the economic value of each tree. In the framework of MULTIPLIERS, EFI plans to establish a marteloscope in Sweden, and potentially also in Slovenia, where MULTIPLIERS’ sixth theme is centered. The University of Ljubljana will engage with students there to critically analyse the discussions around “Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services”.

However, these themes are not set in stone – at a later stage of the project, other partners might also pick up other themes they consider relevant for the students, or explore themes investigated by others within their own community. For instance, the University of Bonn is interested in working on the topic of forest use versus forest protection together with local partners in the forest surrounding the city.

Kids exploring science (photo by patricialacolla via Pixabay)

By addressing current and future societal and environmental challenges and taking students to authentic workplaces like the forest or a medical lab, MULTIPLIERS aims to awaken students’ interest in science. Discussions with researchers on all themes will be based on scientific knowledge, but they should also consider potential ethical and societal implications of decision-making. To introduce different perspectives on the issues to the students, MULTIPLIERS is aiming at building so-called “Open Science Communities” (OSCs). Each OSC will involve all of the diverse stakeholders from education, research, enterprises, civil society, and policy, to innovatively engage different societal actors in the science learning process. During the project implementation and after its completion, the consortium will support the creation of new OSCs in the partner countries, as well as in other EU countries.

One of the main project objectives is to develop analytical and critical thinking competences for and with the students, to ultimately make them knowledge MULTIPLIERS. After engaging with the OSCs, in a second step, families and wider communities will be involved in problem-solving processes, which are called open-school science learning. The students will share and discuss what they have learned with their peers, families and beyond. To approach broader audiences and engage with students from all over Europe, students involved in MULTIPLIERS will post stories on the project’s social media channels, supported by EFI’s Communication experts. The idea is to encourage the students to prepare their own communication outputs, in a way that allows them to experience and learn from the process of communicating science while also creating ownership of the content.

MULTIPLIERS partners

The project Kick-off meeting took place virtually on November 18-19, with the participation of the partners and project advisors. One of the highlights was a discussion on how to develop a research methodology that will allow an analysis of the needs of all the different countries, the enlargement of open science networks and the sustainability of the project. The coordinations have just begun, soon we will be sharing more news on the exciting MULTIPLIERS project!