Author Archives: Ana Rocha

td-net toolbox

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The methods and tools offered by the td-net toolbox specifically focus on jointly developing projects, conducting research and exploring ways to impact in heterogeneous groups. They are intended to help shape collaboration between experts and stakeholders from science and practice in systematic and traceable ways.

Methods and tools for co-producing knowledge

This web portal offers a point of entry to widespread methods and tools for collaboration between experts and stakeholders from science and practice for tackling real-world, context-sensitive societal challenges.

When targeted at tackling societal challenges, inter- and transdisciplinary research involves varying points of view, interests or political goals. Ways of how research can be societally relevant need to be identified. Specific tools that help to deal with these challenges and shape collaboration between experts and stakeholders from science and practice in systematic and traceable ways are therefore needed.

The resources provided in this portal are contributed by experts from the international community of transdisciplinarians and related academic fields.

Explore methods and tools for co-producing knowledge

You can search for methods using process phases, key issues, the list of methods compiled in our own toolbox or related toolboxes:

https://naturalsciences.ch/topics/co-producing_knowledge/methods/td-net_toolbox

Science Shop Toolbox

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The Science Shop Toolbox helps Science Shops provide independent, participatory research support in response to concerns experienced by civil society. The toolbox provides information on how to build strong and meaningful partnerships between community-based and university-based researchers. It offers a set of documents and a database that bring together relevant information on Science Shop procedures, processes and guidelines. The toolbox can empower new Science Shops in developing professional standards and enable existing Science Shops in refining and improving their practices through updated professional know-how. It also facilitates the exchange of good practices across different countries, incorporating the experiences and needs of new and potential European partners.

Science Shops as a way of transferring knowledge are innovative and effective and have a positive impact both on research and on civil society.

A Science Shop (is a unit that) provides independent participatory research support in response to concerns expressed by civil society. CSO members can participate as a researcher themselves, or the CSOs perform the whole research, with some methodological support from researchers. Through Science Shops, CSOs have a direct say on the course of the research (or ‘the research agenda’) and are allowed full access to and use of the results.

Source: https://www.livingknowledge.org/fileadmin/Dateien-Living-Knowledge/Dokumente_Dateien/Toolbox/LK_B_Sparks_Handbook_Extract_Guidelines_Pop-up_Science_Shop.pdf

The toolbox offers a database of downloadable documents with hyperlinks to other documents in the database. These offer relevant documentation on Science Shop procedures, processes and guidelines, grouped in the following categories:

  • A. community-based research methods

  • B. Science Shop administration

  • C. public awareness

  • D. preparing a Science Shop project

  • E. carrying out a Science Shop project

  • F. writing/publication of a Science Shop project.

The tools and documents under A and C can also be useful for researchers and educators, while those under B, D, E and F are specifically for science centres. Because Science Shops do not have one typical structure, specific needs will vary depending on local situations (e.g., sources of funding, time horizons).

Currently, some of the toolbox links are not functional, and the listed tools are not summarized. As part of the relaunch of the Living Knowledge website, the toolbox may be revised. Some of the tools in the database can be used to facilitate RRI, whereas others, such as Science Shop administration tools, may have little to no direct influence on RRI.

Living Knowledge: the International Science Shop Network.

http://www.livingknowledge.org/resources/toolbox/

This toolbox service will empower new Science Shops and people working in community based research in developing professional standards and enable existing Science Shops to refine and improve their practice through professional know-how. The database brings together relevant documentation on Science Shop procedures, processes and guidelines. Please send us a message, if you wish to contribute to the toolbox.

Visit also our Library including a list of good reads related to Science Shops, videos and project reports

Content

1 – Organisational Elements of Science Shops a. General b. Organisational Forms c. Financing a Science Shop d. Staffing a Science Shop e. Training and Mentoring for Science Shops 2 – Implementing a Science Shop Project – Methodological Elements a. Preparation b. Implementation c. Evaluation & Reporting d. Financing a project e. Case studies / examples 3 – Manuals, Tools, Guides a. Community Based Research b. Other Participatory Methods & Formats 4 – Working in / with Higher Education a. Working with students b. Working with academic staff c. Working with stakeholders d. Policy and curricula development e. Teaching and training resources for Higher Education staff 5 – Science Shops and the Policy Context a. EU / Swafs b. Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) & Science Shops 6 – Communication and Public Awareness a. Communication b. Networks

Wheel of Open Science practices

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refer to a set of research actions as part of an Open Science workflow, covering preparation, discovery, analysis, writing, publication, outreach and assessment. 

These examples of open science practices were prepared for and collected at several workshops in 2016, with researchers, funders, publishers, citizen scientists, librarians, university administrators, tool and platform developers, government officials, and other stakeholders in scholarly communication. 

Practices are also available as fileset with separate images, and editable powerpoint slides.

This ‘Wheel of Open Science’ visualization is also available as editable pptx. All items are collected in the Figshare collection ‘Open Science practices’. 

A link to a Google sheet listing a larger collection of research practices (including all these open science practices) is provided.

 

The Wheel of Open Science practices is also available as interactive animation, developed by Bianca Kramer & Jeroen Bosman / This work is part of the project ‘Innovations in Scholarly Communication’ 

https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.4628014.v2

Public Engagement

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This public engagement evaluation guide is designed for anyone, regardless of prior experience with public engagement or evaluation, who leads projects intended to engage with general audiences about science, social science, engineering and technology and the social, ethical and political issues that new research in these areas raises. It is also intended to help project managers evaluate individual projects. Besides detailing the evaluation process, it discusses important topics, such as what evaluation is about and how evaluation can help strengthen funding applications.

 

UK National Coordinating Centre for Public Engagement (NCCPE), Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), and Research Councils UK

 

Fast Track Impact

A common standard for evaluating public engagement with research: new paper by @profmarkreed with @NCCPE, @EngageQM & Dialogue Matters http://ingentaconnect.com/contentone/ioep/rfa/2018/00000002/00000001/art00013;jsessionid=whix95j1u9pw.x-ic-live-01

https://www.publicengagement.ac.uk/do-engagement/evaluating-public-engagement

http://www.rcuk.ac.uk/documents/publications/evaluationguide-pdf/

Professional Education Policies supported by RRI

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Dr. Ana Rocha analysed the professional education system for secondary school students and investigated the educational policies of Bahia State in Brazil for promoting retention and success of disadvantaged students. The methodology was based on Responsible Research and Innovation in Education and centred on the disadvantaged students’ social representation of the value of professional learning in their lives.

This study was developed by Ana Karine Loula Torres Rocha under the supervision of Dr. Okada.

Dr. Rocha holds a doctoral and master degree both in Education and Contemporaneity from UNEB – University of Bahia; post-graduation in Quality Management in Education and Distance Education, Bachelor in Business Administration and Mathematics.

Dr. Rocha is Assistant Professor at the State University of Bahia, DCHT – Irece/ Bahia and lecturer for more than 10 years, in undergraduate and postgraduate courses; Coordinates the specialisation course in Management of Educational Organizations; Coordinated the Undergraduate Program in Distance Administration / Irece / Bahia by UNEB; Member of the Sectoral Commission for Institutional Evaluation of DCHT – Campus XVI; Member of the Departmental Council.

She is a research member of the COLEARN – Open University and the Network Society, Cultural Plurality and Educational Digital Content. She is also the leader of the GENTTES Research Group: Research Group on Labor, Education, Management and Technologies. Her research interests include the areas of technology, e-learning, knowledge mapping, collaborative networks, work, education, public policy.

News:

An inspiring conference for the majority of science educators

Team:

Dr. Sonia Pinto, Dr. Silvar Ribeiro, Dr. Okada

Projects:

ENGAGE, CONNECT

Publication:

Okada, A.; Rocha, A. K. L. T..; Fuchter, S.; Zucchi, S. and Wortley, D. (2019). Formative assessment of inquiry skills for Responsible Research and Innovation using 3D Virtual Reality Glasses and Face Recognition. In: Technology Enhanced Assessment Conference (TEA 2018): Revised Selected Papers (Draaijer, Silvester; Joosten-ten Brinke, Desirée and Ras, Eric eds.), Communications in Computer and Information Science, pp. 91–101.

Rocha, A. K. L. T. (2018). Educação Profissional na Bahia: Representações Sociais dos Egressos no Território de Identidade de Irecê-Tii.

Rocha, A. K. L. T.; Rocha, A. B. L. T. and Okada, Alexandra (2018). Rubric to Assess Evidence-Based Dialogue of Socio-Scientific Issues with LiteMap. In: Technology Enhanced Assessment 20th International Conference, TEA 2017: Revised Selected Papers (Ras, Eric and Guerrero Roldán, Ana Elena eds.), Communications in Computer and Information Science, Springer, Cham, pp. 137–149.

Okada, Alexandra; Rocha, A. K. L. T. Whitelock, Denise; Furchter, Simone and Zucchi, Sangar (2017). Peer​ ​Learning​ ​And​ ​Assessment-in-Context​ ​With​ ​3D​ ​Immersive​ ​Glasses. In: 7th European Immersive Education Summit (EiED 2017), 16-19 Nov 2017, Lucca and Pisa, Italy.

Okada, Alexandra and Rocha, A. K. L. T. (2017). Responsible Research and Innovation for Contemporary Education. In: The Online, Open and Flexible Higher Education Conference, 25-27 Oct 2017, Open University Milton Keynes (UK).

ENGAGE

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The ENGAGE project is part of the EU Science in society agenda to promote more Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI).

ENGAGE is about equipping the next generation to participate in scientific issues to change how science is taught. Traditionally students gain an image of science as a body of content, whereas RRI deals with uncertain areas of knowledge, where values and argument matter as much as facts. This shift is hugely challenging.

ENGAGE focuses on a more inquiry-based methodology, which gives students opportunity for self-expression and responsibility for coming to informed decisions.

Timeline:

01 Jan 2014 – 31 Dec 2020

Partners:

  • Centre for Science Education – Sheffield Hallam University (Coordinator)
  • Open University UK (Research Leader)
  • Institute of Applied and Computational Mathematics – Foundation for Research and Technology
  • Innovation in Learning Institute
  • eXact learning Solutions
  • Traces
  • Valahia University Targoviste
  • Weizmann Institute
  • Universitat de Barcelona
  • Vestfold University College
  • Biotechnology and society department – Delft University of Technology
  • School of High Pedagogy of Freiburg
  • Lithuanian University of Educational Sciences
  • Department of Science Education
  • University of Nicosia

Responsible Research and Innovation in Action

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Alexandra Okada, Wednesday 23 November 2016

The conference “Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) IN ACTION,” organised by the RRI Tools project and supported by the European Commission, was held in Brussels on the 21st – 22nd of November 2016. This event brought together 200 experts in the field to discuss open science and innovation systems that tackle the societal challenges of our world.

RRI IN ACTION engaged a full range of R&I stakeholders: researchers and research organisations, policymakers at global, European, national, and regional levels, business and industry representatives, science education members, and civil society organisations.

During this event, various relevant questions were discussed: What are the key impacts of RRI projects for academia, business, and society? What have RRI projects achieved so far? Is our research work addressing social-scientific issues that are significant for society? What are the consequences of projectification? How are we equipping the next generation for RRI? How are the RRI best practices influencing policy? What are the international perspectives on responsibility and innovation? What is next? What is beyond the H2020?

Ale Okada, the technical coordinator of the European project ENGAGE, invited as a speaker, presented various outcomes of the project and its impact in EDUCATION. ENGAGE developed a wide community of more than 12,000 teachers in 80 countries, 30 Open Educational resources on topical science, and 3 Massive Open Online Courses translated into 10 languages. It also created a significant RRI curriculum that connects science with societal issues, needs, and concerns, along with 10 inquiry skills for equipping youth for RRI linked to the AQA national exam board. Furthermore, 6 pedagogical tools for educators to embed RRI in the classroom, and various best practices at the local, national, and transnational levels were discussed. During the conference, Okada also discussed with the participants the outcomes of the research on the mapping technology “LiteMap“ for RRI, which has been used by the ENGAGE community (researchers, teachers, and students) for two years in Europe and Brazil.

More than 45 projects were presented on various key issues: public engagement with science, gender equality, open access, ethics and research integrity, and science education. The event was a fantastic opportunity to collaboratively envision the next steps of Responsible Research and Innovation in Education, including in terms of impact, policy, and funding opportunities. The event ended with a nice proverb: “If you want to go fast – go alone, if you want to go far – go together.”

ENGAGE wins the 2017 OER & Project Awards for Open Education Excellence!

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Alexandra Okada, Monday 20 February 2017

ENGAGE is a winner of the 2017 OER & Project Awards for Open Education Excellence, which was announced by the global network of Open Education (OEC). Fourteen partners and more than 15,000 open educators in 80 countries, who are members of ENGAGE, are celebrating this award now. The ceremony will be presented at the upcoming OEC Global Conference in Cape Town, South Africa, March 08-10, 2017.

Dr. Okada highlights that the award was made in recognition of a new approach to Open Science Education which promotes Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI). The term RRI, created by the European Commission, refers to the participatory process that aligns scientific innovations to societal needs and expectations. She has just announced to the ENGAGE team that “We are officially leading creative innovations for Science Education to empower teachers through OER and MOOC for equipping the next generation for RRI by connecting non-formal resources (topical science-in-the-news) and informal learning (science networks) with formal education (science curriculum).

The ENGAGE project funded by the European Commission links available knowledge outside the classroom, such as science media that has an impact on citizens’ lives, to create controversial socio-scientific dilemmas that hook learners’ curiosity and their “need to know” in the school. Students think, talk, and develop informed-based views using science connected to their life while interacting with scientists. Through OER and guidelines, teachers support them with 10 inquiry skills for RRI, which are grouped into four areas: inquire, analyze, solve, and communicate. This framework was adopted by the UK national exam board AQA for assessment.

ENGAGE presents a new way of thinking and substantially improves the discoverability, presentation, usability, accessibility, and availability of openness in science education for RRI. It offers contemporary learning materials for students, guidelines for teaching, and open online courses in the OpenEdx MOOC platform for all educators, all under Creative Commons license in 10 languages.

A key challenge in Science Education, which ENGAGE was designed to tackle “for promoting critical scientific literacy, and for learning about science, scientists, scientific inquiry, and scientific argumentation, is the need to furnish students with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to address socio-scientific and environmental issues in a critical way and to reach informed decisions on a range of science-related and technology-related issues that impact them, their immediate family and friends, the surrounding local, national, and global community, and the planet as a whole (Hodson).

ENGAGE researchers are taking into account possible gender and geographical differences in Europe, including also the analysis of projects developed by socio-economically disadvantaged groups in remote areas of Brazil and Africa. Various studies in Brazil, Lithuania, Spain, and Romania use the LiteMap tool for collaborative argumentative visualization developed in KMi. New interdisciplinary research about children’s health and wellbeing in the UK and Brazil is currently in development based on ENGAGE materials related to ZIKA virus, Vitamin D, Sugary Drinks, e-Cigarettes, and Text neck (smartphones).

The ENGAGE team led by Dr. Sherborne elaborated more than 30 OERs based on contemporary science linked to various topics: Earth, Ecosystem, Electromagnetism, Energy, Forces, Genes, Matter, Organisms, Reactions, and Waves. Dr. Okada coordinated a MOOC on pedagogical tools and inquiry skills for RRI for pre-service and in-service teachers, delivered by 11 partners, and co-authored a course book, various research papers, and policy reports. Currently, the ENGAGE portal has more than 3,500 comments, 130,000 downloads, and 675,000 views.

ENGAGE Team, well done!

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