Moon, Mars and Mundus: primary school children discover the nature and science of planet Earth from experimentation and extra-terrestrial perspectives

Like earth and planetary scientists, most children are curious about the world, the solar system and the rest of the universe. However, for various reasons primary schools emphasise language and calculus rather than natural sciences. When science is taught, examination systems often favour knowledge of the ‘right’ answer over the process of investigation and logical reasoning towards that answer. In order to continue to spark children's curiosity and their motivation to learn and discover, science education hubs at universities and science museums could collaborate more with schools and teachers, and are beginning to do so. The objective of this position paper is to report on recent experiences in earth and planetary science education for pupils in primary and secondary education, to provide examples and inspiration for scientists. We report three examples of initiation and consolidation of science education in primary schools in the Netherlands: (1) a focus on asking questions and seeking information to reason towards the answer, initiated with a classroom game, Expedition Mundus, (2) bringing pupils and teachers together outside their school in the science museum to gain confidence and self-efficacy, and (3) having children ask their own questions and do their own research guided by the empirical cycle, for example on experimentation on sandbox scale models of channels and crater lake deltas as found on Mars. The focus on other planets, fictitious and real, stimulates pupils to ask questions about planet Earth. Finally, we argue that involvement of more scientists in science education would not only benefit primary and secondary schools and future students but also university education and science communication with society

The value of simulations and games for tertiary education

Simulations and games play an important role in how young people learn. Through simulations and games you can practice skills that are relevant for professional practice. Through simulations and games you can learn to deal with complexity and diversity. Simulations and games already play a role in higher education, albeit modest, fragmented and insufficiently embedded in learning objectives, and its evidence base is limited. In keywords this was the point of departure for a broadly-based, interfaculty group of Utrecht University (UU) colleagues who, in 2014, set to work on the joint project, Simulations and Simulation Gaming in Tertiary Education, initiated by the Utrecht Education Incentive Fund (Utrechts Stimuleringsfonds Onderwijs, USO). From the outset our objectives were ambitious and diverse, but could nevertheless be summarized in two sentences: To contribute towards making simulations and games easier to use and more accessible to a larger group of professors of different degree programmes. Secondly, to contribute towards getting a better idea about which types of learning and which learning objectives could be improved by which kinds of simulations and games. In this booklet we would like to take you on our journey of discovery and show you what the journey yielded