The University of Cyprus (UCY) is a public university with approximately 6000 undergraduates, 1000 Master’s and PhD students, and 350 members of the faculty. The Department of Educational Sciences at the University of Cyprus is a large department with 22 members of the faculty, and 35 associate or assistant personnel. It offers two undergraduate (primary and preprimary school education) programs, a pre-service post-graduate secondary education program (across all subject domains taught in secondary education) and seven postgraduate programs at the Master’s and PhD level (including science, math and technology education). The University of Cyprus is the largest teacher training university of the country and the only one responsible for training secondary education teachers right before entering schools. UCY personnel train about 100 pre-service teachers per year, as well as about 100 in-service teachers, and it currently leads the curriculum reform of the country. In Science Education, and especially in our research group ReSciTEG (Research in Science and Technology Education Group), we are active in research into inquiry learning, ICT, computer-supported collaborative learning, Living Labs (open innovation ecosystems), physical and virtual laboratory experimentation, modeling, science (including STEM) curriculum development and assessment, RRI, conceptual understanding, teacher training and professional development, Open Schooling, educational evaluation and informal science education.

The ReSciTEG members have a lot of experience with inquiry learning in formal and informal science education environments, lifelong learning, designing technology enhanced curriculum in science and STEM/STEAM education, as well as training both pre- and in-service teachers on how to use inquiry-oriented environments for science teaching and learning purposes. Additionally, the ReSciTEG members have a lot of experience with evaluating skills related to the cognitive and affective domains. As a result, the group has been actively involved in evaluation/assessments both at an international and a national level. For instance, the group is participating in the team that is responsible for the PISA assessment in Cyprus. Moreover, the ReSciTEG has been involved in a series of teacher training programs concerning a variety of issues (e.g., curriculum design and evaluation, formative and summative assessment, peer assessment, formal and informal/non-formal science learning, computer-supported learning, inquiry-based learning, the use of ICT and other innovative application in STEM education). Finally, the group is taking a leadership role in the efforts of the Ministry of Education of Cyprus to implement its eLearning strategy through a series of projects including the design and use of multimedia environments for science teaching and learning.

Marios Papaevripidou is a Specialist Teaching Fellow in Science Education and a Senior Research Associate with the Research in Science and Technology Education Group (ReSciTEG) at the Department of Education, University of Cyprus. He holds a B.A. in Education, an M.A. in Learning in Natural Sciences, and a Ph.D. in Learning in Natural Sciences, all from the University of Cyprus. His research focuses on utilizing modeling as both a learning tool and an instructional approach in science education. He also specializes in designing and validating educational curriculum materials aimed at fostering teacher professional development in STEAM fields. Dr. Papaevripidou has been actively involved in several research projects, which emphasize enhancing students’ competencies in science through modeling- and inquiry-based activities, as well as preparing teachers to implement modeling-centered scientific inquiry using modern technological tools.

Kyriaki Vakkou is a special scientist in the Research in Science and Technology Education Group (ReSciTEG) at the Department of Education, University of Cyprus. She holds a B.Sc. in Physics (University of Cyprus), a M.Sc. and Ph.D. in “Learning in Natural Sciences” (University of Cyprus). She has been involved in a variety of national and EU-funded projects (e.g., MAKERSPACE, GINOBOT, Bridges, LfE). Her research interests focus on STEM education, maker education and educational robotics for fostering students’ and teachers’ digital competences and literacy. She is particularly interested in the design, implementation, and assessment of Makerspace-based learning environments, as well as in teacher professional development for designing and implementing STEM lessons through innovative approaches such as inquiry-based learning, the engineering design process, and project-based learning.