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Soil education: an integrated STEM approach


LOESS

Welcome to the MOOC Soil education: an integrated STEM approach

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Join this course to explore the critical role of soil health and soil education in creating a sustainable future. Learn how these topics can be integrated into STEM teaching to design meaningful and engaging learning experiences. Gain insights into using soil health as a lens to address real-world challenges, promote integrated teaching methods, and adopt innovative pedagogies.

You will also be introduced to the Biology Science Curriculum Study (BSCS) 5E Instructional Model, a proven framework that enhances student engagement and deepens learning. Through practical examples, you will discover how to make your teaching more interactive and student-centred. The course shows how teaching about soil health ties into important social and environmental issues, like the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and EU policies. By connecting these global topics to your students' everyday lives, you will learn how to make learning more meaningful and encourage your students to think critically and take sustainable actions. Strengthen your teaching skills and inspire your students to create a better future.

You can follow the course at your own pace. We will open one module at the beginning of each week, and there are only a few deadlines you need to pay attention to (those for the quizzes and/or the peer-review activity).

Join us in the Facebook group or share your thoughts on X (formerly Twitter) using the hashtag #LOESSMOOC.

Learning objectives

  • You will research and discuss what soil is, why soil health is important for humankind and how knowledge about soil can be taught in an engaging and interdisciplinary way.
  • You will learn what the Biology Science Curriculum Study (BSCS) 5E Instructional Model is and how to effectively use it in your STEM teaching.
  • You will learn how to teach and combine knowledge and practices related to different dimensions of soil health such as: the economic, societal, ethical, biological and chemical dimensions.
  • You will apply what you have learnt by designing a learning scenario on soil health ready to be used in your day-to-day activities."

Prerequisites

This course is designed for primary and secondary school teachers, practice-teachers, and formal and non-formal STEM educators who want to explore innovative, STEM-integrated approaches to teaching about soil and its importance in an engaging way.

Modules

  • Module 1: Introduction to soil education opens on 03/03/2025
  • Module 2: Soil education and the BSCS 5E Instructional Model opens on 10/03/2025
  • Module 3: Soil education, beyond a STEM perspective opens on 17/03/2025
  • Module 4: Assess soil educational activities opens on 24/03/2025

Certification

In order to receive the certificate, the participation in the quizzes will count for 5%, and the learning scenario together with the peer reviews will count for 95%. The overall passing grade is 95%.

The final deadline to complete all activities is 09 April 2025, 23:59 CEST.

Note to teachers from Castilla y León: Si eres profesor de Castilla y León, y además del certificado de la European Schoolnet Academy, quieres recibir un certificado oficial de parte de la Consejería de Educación de la Junta de Castilla y León inscríbete en la página web del CFP Idiomas de Castilla y León http://cfpidiomas.centros.educa.jcyl.es/sitio/

Note to teachers from Galicia: Se es profesor/a de Galicia e, aparte do  certificado da European Schoolnet Academy, queres recibir a certificación oficial de parte da Consellería de Educación, Ciencia, Universidades e Formación Profesional, inscríbete en FPROFE: https://www.edu.xunta.gal/fprofe/

Note to teachers from Portugal: You can get your successful participation in a European Schoolnet Academy course formally recognised as a valid continuous professional development, and thereby acquire the relevant number of training hours, by sending your certificate to the Conselho Científico e Pedagógico de Formação Contínua (CCPFC) at Rua do Forno, nº 30, 1º andar - apartado 2168, 4700 - 429 Braga, Portugal. For more information, please contact the CCPFC.

Note to teachers from Emilia-Romagna: Per i docenti della regione Emilia-Romagna iscritti alla piattaforma regionale https://iscrizioni.istruzioneer.it/ è possibile ottenere, oltre all’attestato rilasciato da European Schoolnet Academy, anche l’attestato rilasciato dall’Ufficio Scolastico Regionale per l'Emilia-Romagna (Servizio Marconi) che attua un'azione di facilitazione ed accompagnamento a questa attività. Maggiori informazioni al link: https://bit.ly/EuroSmooc21.

Note to teachers from Ireland: It may be possible to count the completion of this course as part fulfilment of any discretionary CPD hours, subject to your school management's approval. Therefore, please enquire with your school management if your participation in this course can be formally recognised. 

Course Staff

Giuseppe Mossuti - Course Coordinator

Giuseppe works as a project manager in the Science Education Department of European Schoolnet (EUN). Passionate about Open Schooling and integrated teaching, he coordinates international public funded projects on STE(A)M education and regularly creates content for online training courses. A sociologist and social researcher by education, Giuseppe started his career as a journalist, moving rapidly to social statistics. Since 2020, Giuseppe works on education advocating for the use of innovative educational practices. He regularly takes part to panels and contributes to international conferences.

Ana Belén Yuste Martínez - Course Moderator

Ana is Scientix Ambassador, support teacher in the LOESS project and Ambassador of the European Climate Pact in Spain. She holds a degree in Environmental Sciences and is a biology teacher, head of studies, tutor of the Teaching Digitization Plan and STEAM Project Coordinator at the IES Consaburum in Consuegra (Toledo, Spain), as well as founder of Zienziaburum: Annual Science Fair since the 2017-18 academic year.

Behind the course

This MOOC is run thanks to LOESS and Scientix.
LOESS (https://loess-project.eu/), an EU funded project, is dedicated to promoting soil literacy across Europe and raising awareness on the importance of soil health.
Scientix® (https://www.scientix.eu/home), the community for science education in Europe, promotes and supports a Europe-wide collaboration among STEM teachers, education researchers, policymakers and other STEM education professionals

Scientix_logoEUN_logo

Disclaimer

EU funded logoFunded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Research Executive Agency (REA). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them. This MOOC is coordinated by European Schoolnet, and it is supported by Scientix®, an initiative of European Schoolnet.

Creative Commons License

All content on this course unless specified otherwise is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License

  1. Course Code

    SoilEducation
  2. Classes Start

  3. Classes End

  4. Estimated Effort

    4-6h per week (22h total)
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