South East Earth & Space (SEES) CPD project

The South East Earth & Space (SEES) Continuing Professional Development project is part of the ISE 5-14 CPD programme.

Who are the members of the SEES consortium?

The SEES members are organisations and local authorities in South East Scotland that came together in response to the invitation for consortia to take forward the ISE CPD programme. The individuals that make up the consortium's steering group are:

• Dan Hillier, SEES Project Manager, Royal Observatory (Edinburgh) Trust - lead partner
• Dee Davison, Our Dynamic Earth
• Bob Kibble, Faculty of Education, University of Edinburgh
• Hamish Ross, Scottish Earth Education Science Forum
• Joy Snape, Scottish Borders Council
• Mike McLauglin, East Lothian Council
• Meg Morrison, West Lothian Council
• Walter Whitelaw, Midlothian Council
• Billy Higgins, City of Edinburgh Council

Many of these members have worked together before, and are continuing to collaborate, on other projects in the field of science education. The SEES CPD project is, however, the first time they have all cooperated as a consortium.

Who are the SEES project team?

The consortium has recruited three teachers on secondment to form the SEES project team for the school year 2003/2004. These teachers, based at the Royal Observatory Edinburgh Visitor Centre, are:

• Diane McMichael, Project Coordinator, from West Lothian Council
• Carole MacLaren, National Trainer, from East Lothian Council
• Ron Clarke, National Trainer, from Scottish Borders Council

What will the SEES project produce?

The project has two main phases. Firstly, the team will develop CPD materials and sessions to support the 5-14 Earth and Space Attainment Targets. These focus on:

P1-P3 - Sun Moon and Stars (Group 6 of the ISE framework)
P4-P6 - Earth and its Resources (Group 15)
P7-S2 - Model of Matter (Group 22)

The SEES CPD will use these groups to illustrate important aspects of teaching and learning for science education including motivation, misconceptions, learning styles, language and literacy and assessment.

The second stage of the project is for the SEES team to train up to 25 teachers as Local Trainers in the South East of Scotland. These Local Trainers will then be able to run CPD sessions in their local area. Other consortia in Scotland are producing CPD resources for Living Processes and Energy & Forces.

We are also running Earth and Space Easter and Summer Schools for teachers in 2004. These are listed in our programme of CPD events.

What is our timetable?

The project runs for the school year 2003/2004. We piloted and evaluated our CPD materials and sessions before Christmas. We aim to start training the Local Trainers in Spring 2004 and complete this by the end of the Summer term.

Further information

Click here for further information about the ISE 5-14 initiative. For further details of the SEES project, please contact:

Diane McMichael
SEES Project Coordinator
Royal Observatory Edinburgh
Blackford Hill
Edinburgh
EH9 3HJ

Tel: 0131 668 8343
dbm@roe.ac.uk

The Royal Observatory Edinburgh comprises the UK Astronomy Technology Centre of the Science and Technology Facilities Council, the Institute for Astronomy of the University of Edinburgh and the ROE Visitor Centre.