Second Student Mobility
Belgium (Merchtem) May 2016
From the 16th to the 22nd of May 2016, the second mobility of the Teaching Innovative Practices in STEM (TIPS) Erasmus+ KA219 Project took place in Merchtem (Belgium). The project, coordinated by CODEMA has a two-year duration (2015-2017) and is based in the exchange of good STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) teaching practices among the following schools:
-Codema Gijon (Spain)
-Lycee Marguerite Yourcenar (France)
-Sint Donatus Instituut (Belgium)
-Istituto Enrico Fermi (Italy)
During this week of the second mobility, seven students and two teachers from each of the partner schools stayed in Merchtem with their Belgian host families. All in all, 42 students and 14 teachers (8 from Sint-Donatusinstitute Merchtem) participated in the activities of the project. The topic for this TIPS-week is mathematics in real context, with special intrest on the use of the math software GeoGebra. All the activities that were carried out can be seen in the agenda of the mobility:
Thish short exchange of students began with the trip to Brussels on the 16th and then travelling to Merchtem and meeting the host families. On Tuesday we began the activities of the exchange: mathematical games such as a Kahoot quiz or a Math pattern walk on Dendermonde (a nearby city), constructing furniture with cardboard, a chocolate lab, a visit to the Museum of Science at Ghent (Tecnópolix), visiting the laboratory of the Hospital of Ghent (in which we were explained the experiments they did with mice for the study of epilepsy) etc ...
To sum up, it has been a cultural, language and STEM exchange. It has been an enriching cultural experience, on the second day we had a reception in which each country exhibited typical products for the host families and students to taste, and as well as a dinner with typical Brussels food from the host country. All host families spoke English with the visiting students so the use of this language was continuous throughout the week. A third remarkable aspect was that all activities were related to science, so students learned science in a much much more enriching and learning way.
Following are some links to webs where we have disseminated the mobility: