PERSIST_EU (Knowledge, beliefs, Perceptions about Science of European Students) (2018-1-ES01-KA0203-050827) is a project cofinanced by the European Commission under the Erasmus+ programme, whose main goal is to develop an ICT tool to assess both the initial knowledge of European students when configuring their beliefs and perceptions on different scientific topics and their changes after their participation in the project scientific activities.
Funded under Erasmus+ programme. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission
To produce an ICT based assessment method for the teaching of science among University students that might be applicable in the future for any teaching activity and potentially to any educational level. The platform will be able to assess what or who influences students when deciding matters related to science and whether it is based on scientific evidence or anecdotal evidence.
To improve the knowledge for science social appropriation of University students across the EU on specific topics of substantial
social influence: climate change, vaccines, the use of CAMs, phytosanitary strategies and food safety.
To analyze the regional, gender-related and cultural differences of University students in regards to their science social appropriation. For that purpose, the activities (either seminar, workshop, stand-up…) will be carried out in five different EU countries, two central European (Germany, Slovakia) and three south European nations (Portugal, Spain, and Italy). Therefore, we ensure to cover differences related to socio-geo-political issues
The goal is to develop an instrument to assess the quality of science-based training, specifically, focusing specifically on how the student views on certain topics could change after undergoing said training.
To carry out the validation of the ICT tool, training activities will be carried out in which 500 European students will participate, 100 students for each partner university. In addition, the training topics with which we will validate the platform are topics of great social controversy: climate change, vaccines, use of alternative medicines and genetically modified organisms. All the information collected during the 2 years of the project will be summarized in a digital book.
University students are the perfect target group for this project, especially given the transnational nature of the project. University students are used to learning habits, a scientific based environment, usually open to new ideas, learning ICT-based methods and more susceptible to change their views if presented with facts and new evidence.
Coordinator. University.