Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Erasmus Projesi, 2018 - 2020
PROJECT SUMMARY
The educational
system in many high schools in Turkey and in some countries in Europe is so
exhaustive that all learning outcomes in curriculums are tried
to be covered just in a theoretical way, with no opportunities to practise.
In normal circumstances with more skilled or more self-confident students, this
type of teaching may help pupils to recall all details asked in written exams
or tests; however, it does not guarantee that they can show the same success in
long term or in real-life. This situation gets more complicated when we
consider shy and silent students who usually take a back seat in class and
desperately wait for distinct ways of being taught other than visual or audible.
Even it becomes troublous when there are students with mental or physical
disabilities whose full participation in class should be ensured on an equal
basis with the others.
This debate has moved on over the centuries with
academicians all over the world. They argue that such over-formalization of
education which is primarily based on intellectual form of teaching is not
adequate for the proper development of a student who is expected to become mentally-flexible,
environmentally-conscious and creative when they graduate from their schools. To
realize this mission, a more straightforward and more student-oriented approach
is needed like Outdoor Education.
Within the scope of this project, we, as
five partners from Turkey, Italy, Portugal, Romania and Spain, aim to find out
whether learning in outdoors as a complement to the regular curriculum will
make a difference regarding the comprehension level of students in various
subject areas. For this purpose, we will focus on 5 high-school subjects, which
are Math, Biology, Literature, History and Art, and we will organize suitable
outdoor activities for each of them. While in Math and Biology the participant
students will have a chance to transfer their knowledge into real-life through
explorations and experiments, in Literature and History they will examine and
analyze a concept in detail via workshops and expeditions. Finally in Art, they
will be able to join a variety of cultural events, from choral activities to
museum visits and they will see famous art galleries and important street art
examples. In other words, with our LTT activities, a total of 75 pupils will
find a way to experience in outside what they have learned inside.
To assess
the effectiveness and the impact of outdoor education, we will use a pre-test
and post-test design. If the statistical analysis shows a positive difference
in student’ success rates, as we hope, then we will immediately start our
dissemination activities. There will be seminars and workshops given to some
local schools from various kinds and levels. Here, the use of nature and
environment as a learning setting will be emphasized and some qualified and
practical ways of outdoor education will be shared with teachers from different
branches. Moreover, two teachers from the applicant school will write a
scholarly article on the aims, processes and consequences of this project to be
published in an international journal and publicize the project’s results via
press and media. By this way, we will be able spread our ideas in a quick way
and with ease. Lastly, our schools’ websites and the project’s online platforms
will be open the use of other probable beneficiaries even after the end of the
EU funding.
To sum up, a
strong collaboration among branch teachers from different countries and their
common endeavor to find a more effective way of teaching will lead to a substantial
improvement in high-school education.