The Didactics Center – BioEduLab – has been opened at the VU Life Sciences Center (LSC), where teachers will have the opportunity to improve their theoretical knowledge and hands-on training skills.
Justas Nugaras, Vice-Minister of Education, Science and Sport of the republic of Lithuania, who attended the official opening of the BioEduLab Didactics Center at the VU LSC, congratulated the scientific and educational communities on this important initiative for Lithuania.
"Science starts with the school and the teacher. For the Life Sciences Center to have many more generations of scientists, it is essential to invest in teachers and their passion for biology. This is something that every university should strive for," said the Vice-Minister.
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The mission of the BioEduLab is to strengthen didactic competences in biology and other branches of life sciences by organising educational activities and fostering collaboration among teachers, pedagogical students, schoolchildren, and members of the LSC community.
Dr. Ingrida Prigodina Lukošienė, Deputy Director for Studies of the VU LSC, warmly welcomed the opening of the Didactics Center and noted that it provides a very important link between the university and the school, studies and school education.
"Joining STEAM activities is and will always be a very important strategic goal for the Life Sciences Center. In doing so, we are contributing to a very important strategy to develop twenty-first century pedagogy, which is essential for both our university and the Lithuanian State", emphasised Dr. Ingrida Prigodina Lukošienė.
To improve the subject knowledge of biology teachers and to develop cooperation between Vilnius University and general education institutions in Vilnius, LSC lecturers have developed a program of almost 42 academic hours "Biologists for Biology Teachers in Vilnius".
Dr. Indrė Lapeikaitė, Head of the Didactics Center, together with the team of Dr. Jurga Turčinavičienė, Dr. Jonita Stankevičiūtė, Dr. Paulius Lukas Tamošiūnas, and PhD student Anita Elizabeth Clarke, value the engagement of the LSC community in the activities of the BioEduLab, and note that the contribution of researchers in the improvement of pedagogical competence is a significant step in the development of the Lithuanian education system.
"It takes time and dedicated work of people to accomplish something significant and important in life. I am extremely happy about this moment and I thank the whole team that helped to turn the vision of this Center, which was on paper back in 2018, into reality," Dr. Indrė Lapeikaitė recalled the long way that has been completed.
All BioEduLab sessions are designed to follow the updated Biology General Education Curriculum. By participating in the activities organised by the VU LSC Didactics Center, teachers have an excellent opportunity to deepen their theoretical knowledge and improve their hands-on practical work skills.
Read more about BioEduLab here: https://www.gmc.vu.lt/en/bioedulab
STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Mathematics) education is comprehensive and holistic understanding of real-world phenomena through a creative approach and integrated science, technology, engineering, mathematics education.
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