Setting the course for science education research
STRATEGY, LEADERSHIP
For the Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for University Science Education (USE), we facilitated an international summit that delivered strategic input to its research plan.
SITUATION
USE is the world's largest center-based grant for discipline-based education research (DBER) in science and mathematics. The centre has received approximately DKK 125 million over five years from the Novo Nordisk Foundation, with DKK 75 million for a potential additional three years, to strengthen science and mathematics education at Danish universities.
The mission is to enhance the excellence and capacity of DBER and to raise the quality of curricula, teaching faculty competencies and student learning, through research and collaborative development of practice. To advance its research plan, USE gathered more than 50 university science teachers and DBER researchers at an international summit in Copenhagen to identify the core challenges in science education.
RESULTS
Based on the participants' experience and understanding of major, underexplored challenges in science education, we identified the key issues to guide the design and facilitation of the summit. Together with the USE executive leadership team, we then translated these issues into specific deliverables for each session.
Throughout the two days, the facilitation and toolkits kept participants working towards the same goals, and design-based methods made complex, cross-disciplinary questions workable. The summit met all its objectives related to strategy, collaboration and research.
DELIVERABLES
BY ERROR designed and facilitated the two-day international summit in close collaboration with the USE executive leadership team. We broke down intricate science education challenges into operational workgroup tasks and sessions, each leading to key deliverables for the USE project.
A purpose-built toolkit and a visual collaboration model supported the work across disciplines and gave participants joint ownership of the results and their link to the project's strategic goals.
