Success Story

Inquiry-based learning connected to the world of work prepares students for active citizenship and lifelong learning.  Inquiry based learning (IBL) aims to develop and foster inquiring minds and attitudes that are vital in enabling students to face and manage uncertain and quickly changing futures. Fundamentally, IBL is based on students adopting an active, questioning approach and on teachers supporting students in taking this approach and using it for developing content knowledge and content related skills as well as for developing skills that are nowadays labelled as 21st century skills. In addition, to enforce the benefits of IBL and make science and mathematics more meaningful to students, the use of rich vocational contexts – from the World of Work (WoW) – is advocated.

Mascil project was received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme. During the four-year mascil lifetime (2013 – 2016), 18 partners from 13 countries had worked together to achieve project goals. The project aims to:

• foster a teaching culture in which real-life contents from the world of work engage students to pose questions, explore phenomena and develop inquiring minds, thus enabling them to manage future challenges.
• promote a widespread use of inquiry-based learning (IBL) in mathematics and science in primary and secondary schools.
• establish a connection between  mathematics and science education and the world of work.

Mascil offers  professional development for teachers and teacher educators, free- to-use classroom material fostering inquiry-based learning in connection to the world of work and supports for teachers’ European-wide networking with an e-learning and a communication platform.