10 A niversary of IIMCB

Courses for biology teachers
During our workshops for biology teachers we try to
build a connection between them and scientists so they
can feel they are a part of the scientific community. Since
we strongly encourage teachers to implement practical
protocols at schools, we not only train them but also equip
them with classroom scenarios and affordable experimental
kits, equipment and reagents that can be used in a school
environment. A total number of 202 biology teachers
participated in our laboratory workshops and scientific
meetings last year.
In 2008 following events were organized by CIBE as a part
of teachers’ excellence projects:
• “Molecular biology from the kitchen”, 7-8 March 2008,
Oświęcim, Poland
• “Introducing new approaches to teaching evolution
in secondary schools” 12-14 March 2008, EMBL
Heidelberg, Germany[http://www.embl.de/training/ells/
learninglab/2008/llmar2008/index.html]
• “Practical experiments at school” 3 April 2008, Siedlce,
Poland
• “Volvox – let’s teach to experiment!” 6-7 June, 21-22
November, 9-10 December 2008, CIBE laboratory, Warsaw,
Poland
• “Let’s teach to experiment – biotechnology every day” 24-
26 October 2008, part of a bigger project for 30 secondary
school teachers from small cities and villages in Poland,
this workshop was run at CIBE laboratory in Warsaw.
Participants were also given valuable sets of school
laboratory equipment
• “The VIIth scientific conference for biology teachers”
6 December 2008, NIEB, Warsaw
78 Annual Report 2008
The final year of the European “VOLVOx” project
“Volvox – Innovative network for bioscience education”
(www.eurovolvox.org) was a European project founded by
European Commission in 6. Framework Programme; IIMCB
represented a Polish partner in this project. It aimed to help
to enliven school biology teaching, so that more young
Europeans would continue to study biological science,
follow scientific carriers and, as engaged citizens, help to
shape Europe’s scientific culture and economy. To achieve its
aims, Volvox has:
• established an international network for European
bioscience education
• implemented mechanisms to help teachers, scientists and
others develop, exchange, translate and adapt resources
for biology teaching
• identified barriers that prevent the exchange of new and
novel ideas between those with a professional interest in
bioscience education
• investigated practical means of enhancing the uptake of
new and novel ideas by European biology teachers
• investigated ways in which such innovation networks can
be expanded to create a ‘critical mass’ and so become
sustainable.
The current reporting period covers the fourth and final
year of the Volvox project. During this year we have focused
on translating and adapting the educational resources and
setting up web sites so that the materials can be made
available to teachers. An on-line evaluation system, linked
to the web sites, has also been implemented. Several events
have been held to promote the project and its resources
across Poland and the European Union. Although the project
has now officially ended, the project partners will continue
to exchange their educational experiences and materials to
publish them for the foreseeable future.
Four meetings of Volvox partners were held during
this reporting period - a meeting of Volvox Management
Committee in Reading in January, a small meeting to
become more adept in the use of the In Design software
in Reading in February, two Volvox Consortium meetings in
Reading in April and in October in Luxemburg were focused
on production of resources for publication and involving
an official press launch and public promotion of the Volvox
project.
Volvox web sites were mentioned as a recommendable
source of educational materials in the May issue of Nature
[Nature, vol 453; 1 May 2008].