Research Projects

SHINE - mainstreaming Systems tHinking In Natural sciences and Environmental education

Prepare future citizens to face climate change challenges by promoting the introduction and mainstream of Systems Thinking (ST) skills in natural science education. Specifically: educate in-service teachers on ST principles and how to apply them in natural science; support students in developing ST approach via game-based learning and innovative didactics approach in science education; sustain scientific skills and deep learning of complex topics; promote collaboration among different school grades 8-16 years.

Serious Games for Building Resilience Through Nature Based Solutions

BuildAsNature aims to develop a digital learning invention for building multidisciplinary digital skills among higher education students, developing their capacity to become the problem-solvers of tomorrow by applying nature-based solutions (NBS) address environmental, social, and economic challenges through practices inspired by nature. It further aims to build the capacity of educators to build NBS skills through emerging technologies and innovative learning design.

MODINA - Movement, Digital Intelligence and Interactive Audience

The project Movement, Digital Intelligence and Interactive Audience (MODINA) aims to expand the creative possibilities for contemporary dance performances, and augment the experience for the audience, using digital technology – with an emphasis on exploring artificial intelligence (AI) and audience interaction, on-site and online. This aim has two interconnected approaches, targeting dance artists, media artists (creative technologists) and audiences. The first approach is to build capacity for dance artists and media artists regarding new digital and AI-based approaches in dance – for preparing, performing, distributing and re-purposing dance works (including online) – through collaboration between artists, technologists and our team. The second approach is to allow audiences to engage with performances in an augmented way: enhancing the stage context with technology; using audience interaction strategies; through online channels; or a combination of these. The project partners will be 3 academic institutions and 5 dance centres, across 6 countries. The dance centres will be the main interface with the artistic community and audiences. The universities will provide technical and theoretical knowledge and solutions. The outcomes of the project will be: new dance pieces; performances, workshops and seminars; new software tools for contemporary dance performances; new theories and best practices for dance and technology; increased experience, knowledge and opportunities for artists; enhancing and expanding the audience for dance.

Model-based Learning Analytics for Fostering Students’ Higher-order Thinking Skills

Students need instructional scaffolding to develop higher order thinking skills (HOTS). The project will propose pedagogical-psychological models and learning analytics infrastructure for supporting teachers to scaffold development of students’ HOTS using model-based analysis of students' traces. The project follows design-based research methodology involving teachers in two intervention contexts. In the first phase the focus is on instructional methods in mathematics to validate the models. In the second phase integrated science education in outdoor learning settings will be included. In the final stages, we aim for large-scale field evaluation involving 1000+ students to evaluate the impact of pedagogies and model-based learning analytics technologies on the development of students' HOTS. Based on a national level digital learning resource infrastructure and together different stakeholders, the project will spearhead widespread adoption of model-based LA technology in Estonia.

AI-Mind: Intelligent digital tools for screening of brain connectivity and dementia risk estimation in people affected by mild cognitive impairment

More than 10 million Europeans show signs of mild cognitive impairment (MCI), a condition intermediate between normal brain ageing and dementia. The evolution of MCI differs from person to person; some remain stable or return to normal, but 50% progress to dementia within five years. Current practice lacks the necessary screening tools to identify those 50% at risk. The patient’s journey typically takes many years of inefficient clinical follow-ups before a conclusive diagnosis is finally reached.  AI-Mind will radically shorten this journey to 1 week through a digital solution that is able to provide a fast and accurate (>95%) prediction for the individual dementia risk. Our AI-Mind platform service can be easily integrated into existing clinical practices and contains 2 new artificial-intelligence-based tools. The AI-Mind Connector identifies dysfunctional brain networks. The AI-Mind Predictor assesses dementia risk using data from the Connector, advanced cognitive tests, genetic biomarkers and important textual variables. Our aim is to set up a European clinical network that will upload patient data to the AI-Mind European cloud platform.

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SEEDS: Stakeholder-Based Environmentally-Sustainable and Economically Doable Scenarios for the Energy Transition

Urgent efforts to cut energy-related greenhouse gas emissions in the EU are hindered by the limitations of the methods used to inform the design of national energy transition pathways. The techno-economic worldview of cost minimization embedded in these methods means that resulting scenarios remain disconnected from the many challenges to their implementation, driven by the concerns of real stakeholders — both citizens and policymakers. Such concerns are often environmental (e.g. land and resource use) or social (e.g. acceptance of infrastructure for local residents). So far, no solutions exist to integrate both of these into the techno-economic energy system modelling methods used to design future energy scenarios. We address this by developing and testing a novel computational workflow to actively engage humans in scenario design while accurately modelling the relevant technical, economic and environmental constraints. With this project, we plant the seeds for a publicly desirable, environmentally friendly and technically implementable energy transition.

HYBOT - Enhancing hybrid teaching in higher education through chatbots

Project aims at creating specific learning spaces through interlinking physical and digital learning environments. In these spaces, various teaching 
and learning scenarios can be implemented, with variety of time, place, number of students, collaborative and individual tasks. HT seems be a solution, which could greatly support on-campus universities when designing their post-Covid teaching and meeting the needs of post-Covid students.

DITECH - Developing and Implementing Technology-Enhanced Teaching and Learning at Georgian HEIs

iHub4Schools - Accelerating Digital Innovation in Schools through Regional Innovation Hubs and a Whole-School Mentoring Model

iHub4Schools will propose mechanisms to accelerate whole-school digital innovation in and across schools through establishment of Regional Innovation Hubs. Our aim is to support a minimum of 75 European schools and 600 teachers to implement project approaches by establishing regional innovation hubs as sites of establishing and multiplying school-to-school mentoring structures. This will be achieved, firstly, through different support mechanisms that will focus on supporting the collaboration between digitally advanced and less advanced teachers and schools through a variety of peer learning approaches and engagement structures. Secondly, iHub4Schools will develop a whole-school mentoring model that is locally, methodologically and technologically adaptable. It embraces both inter- and intra-school levels, and integrates a continuous monitoring methodology by including novel evaluation approaches and the Learning Analytics Toolbox. Regional Innovation Hubs will be established in 5 European countries and the mentoring model will be piloted with 600 teachers in 75 schools. Long-term sustainability will be ensured by a systematic stakeholder engagement strategy that will integrate initiatives and partners on a local level, such as local municipalities, school boards, teacher associations and network, for these activities to be carried out on the long term. Regional impact will be sustained by the upskilling of the teachers to implement technologies meaningfully to teaching and school heads to scale and sustain the innovation in and across the schools.

TEACH4EDU4 - Accelerating the transition towards Edu 4.0 in HEIs

TEACH4EDU4 project activities are designed to enable the creation of the environment for implementation of new learning and teaching approaches in various disciplines. The project includes higher education institutions joined in the partnership to enable its teachers and students a unique exercise in acquiring new skills and new teaching methods in line with the developments in Industry 4.0. The project will tackle skills gaps and mismatches. With the unique concept of Joint Creative Classrooms this project is expected to offer mobility from home experience and a significant increase of knowledge in the field of education.
The project will result in a series of tangible and intangible results: Catalogue of new forms of teaching, learning and assessment in Edu 4.0 and related teachers’ skills and competences, Learning design models, Collaborative Teaching Methods for Joint Creative Classrooms, Guidebook on the use of learning data to create evidence-based learning design decisions and Partnership Manifesto - Transferability of the developed models.

MIL - Medical information literacy

The aim of the Project “Medical Information Literacy ” is to develop innovative international, professional continuing education programme based on the methods used by andragogy and to develop methodological materials (e-book) addressed to lecturers

SHERPA: SELFIE HElpeR & Pedagogical innovation Assistant

SHERPA is a two-year Erasmus+ project with a mission to strengthen the adoption and systematic use of SELFIE across Europe. SELFIE is the European Commission’s free, customisable self-evaluation tool helping schools to better understand their progress on digitally-enabled teaching and learning. SHERPA will provide schools with vitally-needed scaffolding for on-boarding SELFIE and will help them gain full benefits from their SELFIE report in terms of both strategy and practices.

SHERPA will develop and deploy two key outputs:

1. SELFIE HELPER, a chatbot system that assists schools to use theSELFIE platform, providing them with real-time help in resolving their specific user issues;
2. SELFIE PEDAGOGICAL TOOLKIT, a comprehensive package to help schools transform their SELFIE results into concrete innovation strategies and actions for employing digital technologies more effectively in teaching and learning.

Both services will be field tested with schools in each of the SHERPA partner countries and will be made available in five different languages: English, Estonian, Finnish, Greek and Italian.

HUM@N - Digital Transformation in Humanities

The project aims to develop a set of tools and guidelines addressed to higher education educators/professors in the field of humanities (literature, history, geography, philosophy etc.) with the goal to improve their ICT skills, teaching performance and consequently the attainment of their students and motivation. Ultimately the project seeks to renovate the classic ways of teaching humanities subjects which are the least likely to be affected by the digital transformation, yet are those that can benefit the most, bringing our cultural heritage to a stake of European economy in different field

Linda Helene Sillat

2019 - 2021

INOS - Integrating open and citizen science into active learning approaches in higher education

The project is piloting open and citizen science activities in higher education context and develops learning resources, project contributes in increasing public engagement of HE students and staff to the society.

TeaEdu4CT  - Future Teachers Education: Computational Thinking and STEAM

TRU19146

Mart Laanpere

2019 - 2021