InSSTER

InSSTER, Innovative STS (Science, Society, Technology) Education Research Centre, is a dynamic multidisciplinary research hub that brings together passionate educators and scholars from diverse fields within the field of education. Our collaborative team includes faculty members and researchers from the Department of Education at the University of Nicosia. Together, we explore the intersection of inclusive research education, science, society, and technology, with a strong emphasis on innovative and inclusive practices.

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Vision

InSSTER promotes research in education focusing on innovative and inclusive practices in Science, Society, Technology education. This involves transforming schools to cater to all children, including marginalised groups, aiming to eliminate exclusion. It also emphasises cultivating skills for global problem-solving, ensuring inclusive education, and addressing gender equality in digital skills. InSSTER aligns with the Digital Education Action Plan for comprehensive and high-quality digital instruction and training (European Commission, 2020).

Objectives

  • 1

    Conduct state-of-the-art research under the umbrella of innovative and inclusive education with links to science, society and technology;

  • 2
    Participate in competitive EU calls and receive external funding for projects
  • 3
    Establish a national and international network with relevant, researchers, schools, and policy makers;
  • 4
    Engage with society on issues related to inclusive science and technology education, and
  • 5
    Offer continuous training on skills, methodologies and technologies to its members and beyond.

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Research

The members of InSSTER are involved in funded research under the umbrella of Innovative and Inclusive education with links to science, society and technology.

  • ProSTEM: European collaboration and mobility in professional development of pre- and in-service STEM Teachers

    • Start: 02/2022
    • End: 01/2025

    Local Principal Investigator
    Maria Evagorou

    Participants
    Evi Kostantinidou, Kyriakos Demetriou

    Coordinator
    University of Education in Freiburg, Germany

    Ref.
    Erasmus 2027

    Budget
    1495323 EUR

    Website
    https://icse.eu/icse-academy/

    ProSTEM supports the EU’s endeavours to minimize the amount of low-performing STEM learners. It does so by investing in a new era of a high-quality STEM teacher workforce by innovating based on existing best practices teacher education and transnational exchange strategies.

  • Active Citizenship Through Dialogue in Virtual teacher Communities

    • Start: 12/2022
    • End: 11/2024

    Participants
    Maria Vrikki, Maria Evagorou

    Coordinator
    Christiana Karousiou

    Ref.
    Erasmus+, KA2

    Budget
    250000 EUR

    Website
    https://actdiv.weebly.com

    Citizenship education became a highlighted priority within the strategic framework for European cooperation in education and training towards the European Education Area and beyond (2021-2030) following the so called Paris Declaration. ACT-DI-V aspires to promote responsible citizenship through dialogic and argumentative pedagogies and offer opportunities to individuals to express their ideas freely, evaluate ideas critically and engage in meaningful discussions. Specifically, ACT-DI-V’s objectives are to:
    1. raise awareness about the importance of promoting active and responsible citizenship education through dialogue and argumentation
    2. build the pedagogic competences of teachers on active and responsible citizenship education
    3. develop hands-on resources on promoting active and responsible citizenship education to improve the students’ critical thinking and decision making skills
    1. support teachers in reflecting on their practices within a VCoP
     

  • VRnSight: “Boosting Virtual Reality Learning within Higher Business Management Education”

    • Start: 01/2018
    • End: 12/2020

    Participants
    Efi Nisiforou

    Coordinator
    Fachhochschule des Mittelstands FHM

    Ref.
    Erasmus+, KA3 Strategic Partnerships for higher education

    Budget
    292025 EUR

    Website
    https://www.vrinsight.org

    The project VRinSight aims to roll-out Virtual Reality learning in Higher Education and in the teaching of business management across Europe through a partnership between education and industry. The project runs over a 2 year period co-funded by the EU Erasmus+ program. An EU Survey of SMEs & Higher Education Institutes was conducted in an effort to understand the challenges involved in introducing VR learning techniques in business management education. The project will offer a complete VR integration guide to educators through a unique VR Training Program and accompanying VR Training Curriculum. Additionally, the project offers a comprehensive Green Paper on Virtual Reality Teaching & Learning giving educators, business and policy makers across Europe an insight on how VR technology can be embraced.

  • DRONE

    • Start:
    • End:

    Local Principal Investigator
    Kyriakos Demetriou

    Participants
    Maria Vrikki, Christiana Karousiou, Efi Nisiforou, Maria Evagorou

    Ref.
    KA2, Erasmus+

    DRONE is an Erasmus+ KA2 research project that emphasises the inadequacy of current one-size-fits-all digital literacy education for teachers and vulnerable adolescents. It proposes a threefold ecosystem approach: examining disinformation spread within digital and human ecosystems, exploring how young people's ecosystem parameters affect their digital literacy, and engaging school leaders and parents to integrate digital literacy into crisis management. The project aims to fill literature gaps, conduct field research, develop training materials, pilot test them, and scale up training across the EU and Ukraine. It seeks individual, organisational, and systemic impact by creating innovative materials, integrating them into curricula, offering policy guidelines, and establishing a network of ambassadors for sustainability. The project is coordinated by the Hellenic Open University and engages partners from Italy, Hungary, Netherlands, Greece, and Cyprus.