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.

  • DRONE

    • Start:
    • End:

    Local Principal Investigator
    Kyriakos Demetriou

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

    Coordinator

    Ref.
    KA2, Erasmus+

    Budget
    EUR

    Agreement No.

    Website

    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.

  • 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

    Agreement No.

    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.

  • ICSE Science Factory: Combat a shortfall of scientists and citizens versed in science

    • Start: 01/2023
    • End: 12/2025

    Local Principal Investigator
    Maria Evagorou

    Participants
    Efi Nisiforou, Maria Nicolaou, Evi Kostantiniou, Maria Vrikki, Elena Papanastasiou, Myrtani Pieri, Iris Charalambidou

    Coordinator
    University of Education in Freiburg, Germany

    Ref.
    HORIZON/WIDERA/2022ERA01

    Budget
    1980000000 EUR

    Agreement No.
    101093387

    Website
    https://icse.eu/reported/icse-science-factory/

    The ICSE Science Factory supports the EU’s endeavor to combat a shortfall of scientists and citizens versed in science. It does so by offering a unique combination of different measures, each of them tackling the issue from a different starting point, thereby leveraging impact. The unique features of the ICSE Science Factory are, in a nutshell:
    • New high-capacity cross-sectoral partnerships in five partner countries consisting of science researchers, science education researchers and non-formal education providers, supported by attached schools, enterprises and community institutions.
    • Innovative concept to enlarge the number of scientists and scientific knowledge in the communities:
      1. To strengthen the partnerships, we organise local partnership conventions, where we share and apply research findings, and local public fairs to integrate communities in the scientific learning process.
      2. With the expertise of the local cross-sectoral partnership, in each country we offer collaborative and interdisciplinary lighthouse activities and open schooling activities for community members (on health, digitalisation, Green Deal), supported by mentoring.
      3. All activities are complemented by a series of interactive career talks, focussing especially but not only on female role models in science and on overcoming stereotypes.
    • An educational, research-backed concept for our lighthouse and open schooling activities which deliberately includes real-life problem-solving on issues relevant to society (including decision-making), and the concept of challenge-driven innovation, which integrates communities in overcoming challenges.
    The activities are supplemented by special features: The setting up of stimulating science labs in each country, a threefold system for encouraging mentoring across the partnership and a systematic approach to quality assurance by using design research, which strives for solutions tailored to local communities based on a joint European concept.  

  • VRinHE: Integrating Virtual and Augmented Reality in Higher Education Curricula

    • Start:
    • End:

    Local Principal Investigator
    Efi Nisiforou

    Participants

    Coordinator
    UNIVERSITY OF RUSE ANGEL KANCHEV

    Ref.

    Budget
    259015 EUR

    Agreement No.
    2021-1-BG01-KA220-HED-000032128

    Website

    VRinHE aims to build the capacities of HE institutions and their staff, to integrate Virtual and Augmented Reality in teaching and learning, targeting key EU priorities. The project will sustainable promote digital transformation of the HE sector, by providing relevant stakeholders with innovative methods, approaches and guidelines to increase the participation rates, improve the quality of HE, and foster university learners’ digital, 21st century skills. A discussion on the importance of following coherent strategy and policy will also be initiated.