INQUIRY BASED SCIENCE EDUCATION AND RESPONSIBLE RESEARCH AND INNOVATION: REAL EXAMPLES FROM EUROPEAN UNION PROJECTS

Abstract

There is a close relationship between the competitiveness of the countries in scientific and technological fields and the qualified manpower trained in those countries. For that reason, European Union has been making major investments in the field of educational sector for the development of quality manpower in the fields of science and technology through both its framework programs (FP7 and H2020) and Erasmus plus program. In this context, initiatives such as “Inquiry Based Science Education (IBSE)” and “Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI)” have been realized in many EU supported projects to provide teachers and students necessary educational support and to give students opportunities to choose a career in science and technology. These approaches played an important role in changing the perspective of science education in Europe. In this study, the projects that are supported by European Union and their contributions to science education will be explained.