Report: Third Project Meeting Istanbul – Course and Material Development

The third SPACIT project meeting was held April 17th to April 20th in Istanbul, Turkey. Fatih University, leader of the work package “Course Development”, invited the partners to discuss the proposed course model as well as the material development.

The meeting involved Goethe University (former University Koblenz-Landau) giving input on understanding the competence model and the curriculum framework as an incentive for further course development. EUROGEO presented possible concepts to evaluate the course and the material. PLUS Salzburg, the coordinating organization, looked after the management aspects and discussed added organizational matters and the interim report to the agenda. Also school partners from Kars Landau, Germany, Colegiul Naţional – Iaşi, Romania and NGO European Youth Parliament UK participated to ensure the practicability of the course material and the course structure.

The partners discussed the SPACIT curriculum, which will be based on the principle idea of a face-to-face Comenius course. The structure is composed of four levels reaching from a basic/introductory level to the application level.

The course is divided in four modules. The Module “Concepts of Space” contributes to the knowledge and understanding of absolute conceptions of space as used in geoinformation and social concepts of space as used in the social/political sphere, and the correlation between them. The Module “Geo-media Technology and Methodologies” contributes to the understanding of geo-media consumption, analysis, production and social networking. The Module “Geo-media Communication and Reflection” sheds light on the application of spatial representations within geo-media in everyday life and the translation between social and absolute space. The Module “Concepts of Citizenship Education” is based on the selected themes such as spatial action and participation, the effectively usage of spatial representations and geo-media in collective decision-making processes. The SPACIT curriculum development will be completed in June 2013.

In a next step the course structure as well as the framework for material development has been discussed. The course material will be based on a problem-based learning approach and every module will incorporate the following structure:

  • A description (aims, outcomes)
  • Problem
  • Self paced learning exercises
  • Self assessment
  • Materials for “hungry minds”

The course material development will be finished at the end of the year and will be tested in a SPACIT pilot course. The 5-day course will take place in Iaşi, Romania on April 28th to Mai 2nd 2014. The Course is been registered at the European Teacher Training Data Base with the reference number AT-2014-373-001 and teacher trainers or teachers can apply for a grant at their National Agency. See guide for funding https://spatialcitizenship.cesie.org/media/SPACIT-grant-info.pdf