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COESME Past Activities

Activities of the Centre of Excellence in Science and Mathematics Education (COESME)

(October 2015 onwards)

Activities for Undergraduate Teachers

Activities for School Teachers

Activities for Students

Activities for Educators and Scientists

See glimpses of selected activities at CoESME Photo Gallery

Activities for Undergraduate Teachers

1. Pilot Workshop for Undergraduate Science Teachers to develop Research Based Pedagogical Tools, Organized jointly with the DBT and Newton Bhabha Fund of the British Council

March 10-12, 2016

Conducted by team of experts from Sheffield Hallam University, UK

2. Pilot Regional Workshop for Undergraduate Science Teachers to develop Research Based Pedagogical Tools, Patiala

September 29 - October 1, 2016

Organised at Punjabi University, Patiala through the COESME and conducted by teachers trained during the RBPT workshop held in March 2016 at IISER Pune.

3. Series of Pedagogy Workshops for Undergraduate Science Teachers, in collaboration with Newton Bhabha Fund, British Council and DBT/DST, Govt. of India

This series of workshops is designed to introduce teachers of UG/PG science courses to Research-based Pedagogical Tools (RBPTs), that focus on process of science rather than information, and help students develop analytical and critical thinking, and problem-solving abilities. During the 3-day workshops, participants prepare RBPTs in their own subject, which are reviewed by their peers and the experts. The workshops also give teachers a platform to network with peers and to get information on funding opportunities.

Over three years, COESME plans to take this pedagogical tool to all parts of the country through workshops carried out at 3levels:

Level 1 workshops: National workshops for about 150 participants at a time, conducted by a team from Sheffield Hallam University, UK along with experts from India.
Level 2 workshops: Train-the-trainer modules for selected participants from Level 1, conducted by the team from Sheffield Hallam University. The focus is on enhancing participants' knowledge and on making them capable of training others.
Regional RBPT Workshops: Workshops for smaller, regional groups of 50 teachers of all science disciplines, all over India, conducted by teachers trained at Level 2, with special emphasis on regions where innovations in teaching have not yet reached.
Writers' Workshop: To support participants in producing resource material for using RBPTs in the UG classrooms. RBPTs resources on topics from UG science/maths curricula will be prepared and circulated widely among the teachers' database .

Locations and dates of workshops conducted so far as part of this series, are as follows:

Level 1:

IISER Mohali, Punjab; January 23-25, 2017
University of Tezpur, Assam; January 28-30, 2017
IISER Pune, Maharashtra; February 26 - March 1, 2017
Pandit Ravi Shankar Shukla University, Raipur, Chhattisgarh; October 6-9, 2017
Sacred Heart College, Kochi, Kerala; October 11-14, 2017
IIT Gandhinagar, Gujarat; December 10-13, 2017
Kolkata, West Bengal; September 23-26, 2018
Jaipur, Rajasthan; September 28 - October 1, 2018

Level 2:

IISER Pune, March 1-4, 2017
INSA, New Delhi, December 6-8, 2017
IISER Pune, January 17-19, 2019

Writers' Workshop for generating RBPT Resources

IISER Pune, January 20-23, 2019

Regional Workshops:

Global College of Engg. & Tech, Ropar, Punjab; June 1-3, 2017
Kashmir University, Srinagar, Kashmir; July 3-5, 2017
Chalapathi Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Guntur, Andhra Pradesh; July 19-21, 2017
North Eastern Hill University, Shillong, Meghalaya; July 27-29, 2017
Lakhimpur Girls' College, Lakhimpur, Assam; August 3-5, 2017
Jawaharlal Nehru College, Pasighat, Arunachal Pradesh; August 7-9, 2017
SRM University, Chennai, Tamil Nadu; September 7-9, 2017
St. Joseph's College, Bangalore, Karnataka; October 4-6, 2017
NISER, Jatni, Odisha; October 27-29, 2017
Banares Hindu University, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh; November 17-19, 2017
SPK Mahavidyala, Sawantwadi, Maharashtra; January 9-11, 2018
Bhavan's Vivekananda College, Hyderabad, Telangana; January 17-19, 2018
Nitte University Center for Science Education and Research (NUSCER), Mangalore, Karnataka; February 14-16, 2018
Jiwaji University, Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh; March 20-22, 2018
Central University of South Bihar (CUSB), Patna, Bihar; April 10-12, 2018
Shri Shivaji Science College, Amravati, Maharashtra; June 26-28, 2018
Kumaun University, Nainital, Uttarakhand; July 31 - August 2, 2018
Nirmala College, Ranchi, Jharkhand; September 6-8, 2018
Integral University, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh; October 23-25, 2018
Jawaharlal Nehru National College of Engineering Shivamogga, Karnataka; June 3-5, 2019
Oriental University, Indore, Madhya Pradesh; June 26-28, 2019
Sri Pratap College, Srinagar, Jammu & Kashmir; July 16-18, 2019
IISER Pune, Maharashtra; August 20-22, 2019
Dinhata College, Cooch Behar, West Bengal; September 18-20, 2019
Scott Christian College, Nagarcoil, Tamil Nadu; January 30 - February 1, 2020
Sri Padampat Singhania University, Udaipur, Rajasthan; February 17-19, 2020
IIT Delhi Sonipat Campus, Haryana; February 28 to March 1, 2020
Parvatibai Chowgule College of Science and Arts, Margao, Goa; March 5-7, 2020
Online Workshop on RBPTs, in collaboration with Wilson College, Mumbai; May 18-23, 2020

Locations of past RBPT Workshops

RBPT Resources for College Teachers

One of the outcomes of the Research-based Pedagogical Tools (RBPT) project was a set of resources created by selected participants of the workshops, for other teachers. We encourage you to browse through these resources and try out inquiry-based teaching in your own classroom using them.

See the Resource Packages here. We welcome any feedback and comments on these Resource Packages at coesme@iiserpune.ac.in

4. Workshop on LaTex

October 10-14, 2017

LaTeX is a document preparation system widely used in academics. It is used not only to write documents in mathematics but also physics, computer science, engineering, etc. The workshop, introduced and taught LaTeX to non-math and non-physics people also. Starting from the ABC of the programme, advance techniques were also introduced. Staying loyal to the birth-purpose of LaTeX, important techniques for LaTeX mathematics were discussed. LaTeX for Indian languages is another area which is not popular in India itself; LaTeX for Indian languages was also taught.

5. Workshop on Green Chemistry for College Chemistry Teachers

November 6-8, 2017

The workshop oriented teachers of undergraduate and postgraduate Chemistry courses towards using environment-friendly practices and processess in the Chemistry laboratory. It was conducted Prof Ram Mohan from Illinois Wesleyan University (IWU), USA and lab sessions were conducted by Dr Neeraja Dashaputre, IISER Pune.

6. Intertwining Strands of Pysics and Mathematics: Workshop for Undergraduate Teachers in Mathematics and Physics

The deep relationship between Physics and Mathematics, where ideas from one have give important insights and applications in the other, is often not adequately emphasized in B.Sc./M.Sc. level teaching of these subjects. The aim of this workshop was to expose Indian teachers in mathematics and physics to these shared grounds. Physical context of mathematical ideas, and vice versa, are discussed by using various concepts as examples.

1. Fourier Analysis: January 19-23, 2018

2. Symmetry and Groups: January 14-18, 2020

7. Induction Programme for College Teachers

This full-time 4-week residential induction programme for newly recruited teachers of undergraduate courses in basic sciences aimed to orient participants on various aspects of teaching-learning, instructional methodologies, assessment and evaluation techniques, and ICT enabled teaching learning and equip them with knowledge of University rules and regulations, basics of governance and administration which is essential for their teaching career.

Batch I: May 1-27, 2018

Batch II: November 12 to December 8, 2018

Batch III: May 1-25, 2019

Batch IV: October 30 - November 23, 2019

8. Workshop on Experimental Physics for undergraduate Physics Teachers

The workshop aimed to introduce instrument building, experimental work with technically ingenious but straightforward solutions to contemporary UG teaching. Through this workshop, UG teachers were introduced to some landmark experiments from different topics in Physics, many of wchich experiments have been developed in-house. Participants carried out experiments by themselves, recorded data and presented results, with hands-on exposure to the construction of apparatus. It is envisaged that the participants will be able reproduce these experiments in their respective colleges in due course.

Date: July, 8-10, 2019

9. Workshop on Machine Learning for Biology Applications

Many questions in science are now being addressed using Machine Learning tools. This Workshop was aimed primarily at college teachers who would like to get a rapid introduction to this field. It particularly focussed on applications in biology and medicine, areas that are ripe for analysis of 'big datasets'. Topics covered included support vector machines, classification and regression trees, decision trees, neural networks and more.

Dates: July 24-26, 2019

Activities for School Teachers

1. Inquiry and Integration in Education (IIE) 2015

December 12-20, 2015

Conducted by Prof KP Mohanan, IISER Pune

2. National Teacher’s Science Congress

December 17-19, 2015

Organized in coordination with the National Council for Science and Technology Communication (NCSTC), DST and Marathi Vidnyan Parishad for about 250 school teachers from across the country

3. Workshop on School Science Education

March 5-6, 2016

Organized by Dr Bbhas Bapat, Dr Aditi Deo and Dr Nishad Matange, IISER Pune

4. Internships for Science Teachers Summer 2016

Summer 2016

Internships with various faculty members at IISER Pune for selected participants of the National Teachers’ Science Congress

5. Video Production Workshop for School Teachers

May 30-31, 2016

Organised by the Science Media Centre at IISER Pune for teachers interns (see #4 above) and other school science teachers to give them an orientation on how to prepare, plan and execute videos and introduce them to the tools and techniques of video production.

6. Pedagogy Workshops for Maharashtra State High School Science Teachers, organised under the Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan, Maharashtra State through the State Institute of Science Education (SISE), Nagpur. The participants were introduced to Enquiry Based Pedagogical Tools (EBPTs). About 360 people (250 school teachers from various districts of Maharashtra and 2 representatives from DIET of each district) were trained over four batches of 4-day workshops each.

Dates: Batch I: October 4-7, 2016; Batch II: October 18-21, 2016; Batch III: November 2-5, 2016; Batch IV: November 20-23, 2016

7. State School Teachers' Science Congress organised in association with the Marathi Vidyan Parishad.

The Congress provided a platform to science and mathematics teachers to share their ideas and new teaching methodology with their peers.

I. November 20, 2016 (Theme: Learning Science by Doing)
II. December 8-9, 2017 (Theme: Innovative Methods for Evaluation of Science Learning in Classroom)

III. December 26, 2018 (Theme: Innovative Methods for Evaluation of Science Learning in Classroom)

IV. December 24, 2019 (Theme: Developing and evaluating capacity of original thinking among students)

8. Preparatory Pre-workshop for Maharashtra State Teachers' Science Congress, in association with Marathi Vidnyan Parishad

This one-day workshop oriented school teachers on how to write research papers in education and pedagogy and encouraged them to participate in the state-level teachers' science congress where they can present their research.

Round 1: May 2, 2017

Round 2: June 2018

Round 3: May 10, 2019

9. One-day Workshop for School Science and Mathematics Teachers, in association with NIE, Sakal

The workshops were organised for school teachers of science or mathematics. Teachers got an opportunity to interact with IISER Pune faculty. There were talks, demonstrations and a hands-on session on making science toys. Various branches of sicnec like Physics, Chemistry, Biology, and Mathematics were touched up on.

I. September 16, 2017 (on occcassion of Teachers Day)

II. February 24, 2018

III. September, 2018 (on occcassion of Teachers Day)

10. Hands-on Workshop for Rural School Teachers

The workshop was organised exclusively for science and mathematics teachers from rural schools. There were talks, demonstrations and a hands-on session on making science toys.

June 7-9, 2018

11. Hands-on Physics Workshop for KV Teachers, in collaboration with Indian Association of Physics Teachers (IAPT)

Two workshops, each of 3 days, for selected Physics Post-Graduate Teachers of Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan were conducted. They focused on deeper understanding of the principles of physics and making participants feel the excitement of physics. Short but interesting low cost experiments, open house, linking of research activities at IISER to what is taught in schools, were some of the important aspects of the workshops.

Dates: Batch I: July 4-6, 2018; Batch II: July 9-11, 2018

12. Pedagogy Workshops for School Mathematics Teachers

Two 2-day workshop for school mathematics teachers were organised to develop mathematical thinking through problem solving and technology. The first workshop was for Middle School Teachers and included problem solving, algebraic thinking, fractal geometry, visual thinking, tiling symmetry, dynamic geometry software. The second was for Secondary and Senior Secondary School Teachers and the sessions were on topics like geometrical inquiry through DGS, playing games, calculus, proof without words, modelling and applications, analysing the mathematics classroom. Dr. Jonaki Ghosh, a senior mathematics educator from Delhi, conducted the workshops.

Dates: Workshop I: August 7-8, 2018, Workshop II: August 9-10, 2018

13. Workshop for School Teachers on Computational Thinking (CT) and Scientific Inquiry (SI) in collaboration with Sugat Dabholkar from Northwestern University, Chicago, USA.

The workshop introduced high school teachers to computational thinking and its use in conducting scientific inquiry in the classroom. Relevance of computational thinking tools for modern science and its pedagogical application were discusssed, along with hands-on sessions on inquiry as well as computational thinking. Teachers designed plans for CTSI modules for their own classrooms, along with representatives from Northwstern University and IISER Pune. Selected participants from this workshop got an ooportunity to co-design actual CT-SI modules with representatives from IISER Pune and North-Western University and implement these modules at their schools.

Dates: October 10-12, 2019

Activities for Students

1. Workshop on enquiry based learning for School Children Conducted by Prof KP Mohanan, IISER Pune

December 12 – 20, 2015

2. Mentorship Camp for Winners of the Initiative for Research and Innovation in Science (IRIS)

I. January 17-22, 2016

II. February 2017

III. February 3-4, 2018

IV. February, 2019

3. Student Visit from Kashmir University

February 11-16, 2016

4. Camp for Students from GS Gawande College, Yavatmal

June 22-24, 2016

Orientation camp for S.Y. BSc students from rural Maharashtra to give them exposure to current research areas and high-quality facilities and motivate them to continue their education and pursue science and research.

5. Workshop on Learning Science through Innovation for school teachers and students of IX, organised in collaboration with Vigyan Asram, Pabal.

July 4-8, 2016

The aim is to motivate students to think like innovators and come up with solutions to the problems in their surrounding world.

6. INSPIRE Science Camp through the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Govt. of India for students studying in 11^th standard.

The camps are designed to attract and retain a large number of students in basic sciences and to promote research and innovation, by exposing students to the excitement and methods of science, research and innovation, just prior to the time when they make their career decisions.

I. July 18-22, 2016

II. December 17-22, 2017

III. December 24-28, 2018

IV. January 7-11, 2020

7. Little Scientists Conference organised in association with Moving Academy of Medicine and Biomedicine, and INSA

July 28-29, 2016

The conference provides a platform to school children to present their research project carried out with support from the Moving Academy during the previous summer vacation. The idea is to motivate young students to engage in research and introduce them to research methods and the process of peer review.

8. Ishan Vikas Camp funded by the MHRD (renamed Ministry of Education in August 2020).

December 12-19, 2016

This 10-day camp is designed to provide students of IX to XI standard from the northeastern states of India the exposure to a scientific ambience. The camp had lectures, demonstrations, hands-on practicals in various disciplines with an aim to generate enthusiasm and excitement for science among the students.

9. The Salters' Chemistry Camp in collaboration with the Royal Society of Chemistry.

December 14-16, 2016

This 3-day residential camp for class IX students from rural/ government schools is supported by a donation from Dr Yusuf Hamied. It gives students hands-on experience of practical Chemistry in IISER Pune labs, along with interaction with scientists, exciting demonstrations, and the chance to meet like-minded students. It is meant to inspire and excite students about science, particularly, chemistry.

10. IRIS National Science Fair in collaboration with IRIS and IUSSTF.

December 21-23, 2016

In this a national-level science fair, students from class IX-XI presented innovative science projects. They were judged by a jury comprised of top scientists and researchers. The winning teams from the fair participated in the Intel International Science Fair in the USA as official entries from India.

11. Science Exhibition on occasion of Children's Day in collaboration with Sakal NIE and Agastya Foundation

November 18, 2017

Celebration of children’s day by conducting a one-day science exhibition for children and general public, with about 60 science experiments, lectures, demonstrations, etc.

12. Summer Camp for Rural Students, in association with VidnyanVahini

May 21-25, 2018

The camp was for selected class VIII students from rural parts of Maharashtra and included talks and interactions with scientists, hands-on lab sessions and viists to IISER Pune labs and other places of scientific interest.

13. Orientation Camp for Girl Students under Vigyan Jyoti Scheme (supported by Department of Science and Technology)

May 21 to June 9, 2018

This was an intensive three-week long orientation camp for girl students studying in class XI (science) from rural regions of Maharashtra, which aimed to generate excitement and interest about science & technology among these girls, who are on the verge of making career choices. It provided an overview of various career paths and opportunities available in science in India and also an opportunity for the girls to interact with scientists, doctors, engineers, etc. working in diverse areas. There were hands-on sessions in various branches of science as well as sessions on newer career paths like entrepreneurship, IPR, science communications, etc.

14. Vidnyan Jidnyasa Science Exhibition by Students, in collaboration with Agastya Foundation

December 14-15, 2018

This science exhibition by selected 80 teams of students from all over Maharashtra had science exhibits and models made by students of class V-X. The teams were selected from entries received in reponse to an open call and got an opportunity to schowcase their models in an open-to-public exhibiton over two days.

Activities for Educators and Scientists

1. Designing school curricula for education

April 4, 2016

2. Training Programme on Science Policy

March 31-April 2, 2016

Organized jointly with the British Council

Conducted by team of experts from University College London, UK

3. Brainstorming Meeting on Environmental Education

November 11, 2016

This one-day seminar brought together experts from various fields such as earth and climate science, life science, citizen science movements, etc. The objective was to design a curriculum on climate change and environmental issues, such that learners understand the earth system as an single entity and impact of various factors on it.

4. Fame Lab Master Class and Finals in collaboration with NCSTC and British Council.

February 20-22, 2017

International science communication competition where participants talk about their favourite area of science to a non-specialist audience within 3 minutes, without any digital aids. The participants from the regional rounds participated in the 'Master Class', a 3-day training programme and the national grand finale, both of which were hosted at IISER Pune.

5. Workshops on Science Administration & Management, and Science Journalism for Women (Level 1 & 2), in collaboration with Newton Bhabha Fund, British Council

These workshops were conducted by teams from Coventry University, UK. The Level 1 workshops were preceded by a one-day orientation by Indian experts. It aimed to open up new career avenues to retain trained women in science and generate a trained workforce to take on emerging roles in the growing scientific enterprise. Up to 50 selected participants were involved in each of the two Level 1 workshops which included in-depth discussions and assignments that gave participants a feel for careers in science administration & management, and science journalism respectively.

Selected 20-25 participants from each Level 1 workshop were selected to participate in respective Level 2 workshops. These 2-day workshops were an advance training in science administration & management, and science journalism and were conducted by the same team from Coventry University, UK

Sci. Admin & Mgmt

Round I. Level 1: February 15-17, 2017; Level 2: March 16-17, 2017

Round II. Level 1: September 18-21, 2017; Level 2: January 8-9, 2018

Round III: Level 1: November 26-29, 2018; Level 2: January 10-11, 2019

Sci. Journalism

Round I. Level 1: March 5-7, 2017; Level 2: March 24-25, 2017

Round II. Level 1: November 13-17, 2017; Level 2: January 8-9, 2018

Round III. Level 1: November 12-15, 2018; Level 2: January 7-8, 2019

6. Workshop on Evidence-based Science Policy Making, in collaboration with Newton Bhabha Fund, British Council

The workshop wasaimed to provide an exposure to various areas of science policy with focus on how policy afftects practice of science, and vice versa. It gave an overview of elements that go into science policy making. It gave participants an understanding and many skills and techniques required to write policy documents that are well evidenced and informed from all relevant perspectives, and well worded & communicated. The workshop had in-depth discussions and assignments to give participants a feel for careers in this field. It was conducted by a team of trainers from Dialogue Matters, UK.

Dates: February 25 to March 1, 2019

7. Training of Trainer Workshop for UGC Faculty Induction Programme, in collaboration with University Grants Commission

The workshop oriented representatives from Category I and II Universities, HRDCs, and Faculty Development Centres / Teaching Learning Centres under PMMMNMTT scheme about the Faculty Induction Programme (FIP) planned by the UGC. FIP is a 30-day training for newly recruited college teachers wchich will be implemented by the above centres. The workshop will provide orientation to organisers of FIP about the broad philosophy, approach, contents, preparation, and implementation of the FIP.

Dates: March 27-29, 2019

8. Technology and Innovation in Math Education (TIME) Conference 2019, jointly organised by IIT Bombay, IISER, Pune & BATU, Lonere

TIME 2019 was nineth in the series of Biennial Conferences of Mathematics Department, IIT Bombay. The conferences served a dual role - as a forum in which mathematics educators and teachers came together to discuss and probe major issues associated with the integration of technology in mathematics teaching and learning, and as a place where they could share their perspectives, personal experiences, and innovative teaching practices.

Dates: December 26-28, 2019