3DIPHE – Three Dimensions of Inquiry in Physics Education

Dates Active: 2017 - 2020
Project Members:

James Lovatt, Eilish McLoughlin, Paul Grimes

This ERASMUS+ project  is focused on different levels of inquiry relevant for physics education.
a) Inquiry based learning for pupils; b) Practitioners’ inquiry for teachers;  c) Inquiry of coaching for partners
d) Educational research design of 3DIPhE. The goals of the project are to establish professional learning communities (PLC) of teachers practitioners and train them to inquire their own practice of inquiry based learning (IBL).  In regular PLCs’ meetings, we will discuss the inquiry problems, modes of inquiry, methods, evidence, and conclusions. We will reflect on improvement of the IBL in classroom. PLCs from different countries will exchange their experience, discuss their problems and reflect on methods, evidence etc.  Results of these process will be presented at national and international events. Good examples of IBL praxis will be presented in a written, publicly available form.  Based on the experience we will develop a course on practitioner inquiry. Based on the experience we will develop a course on coaching PLCs.  Regular accompaniment and inquiry of all processes within the project will result in an extensive educational design research study.

Please note: Due to the COVID-19 situation we have decided to cancel our 5 day course on coaching professional learning communities originally scheduled for March 30th to April 3rd 2020. We apologise for any inconvenience.

3DIPhE Events

Event 1: National Showcase (Friday the 28th and Saturday the 29th of February 2020)

This will be held in DCU, St. Patrick’s Campus on Friday the 28th and Saturday the 29th of February 2020. This event will showcase the experiences of Irish and international science teachers that have completed inquiries into their classroom practices and teacher coaches that have completed inquiries into their teacher education practices.

Participation in this event will help to develop an understanding of:

  • 3DIPhE project principles and approach
  • Inquiry Based Learning and its use in the second level science and mathematics classroom
  • Practitioner Inquiry and how it enables teachers to examine their own practice
  • Education Design Research as a framework for design and evaluation of professional learning

Please register your attendance by Tuesday 25th Februaryusing the link.

Event 2: 5 day course on coaching professional learning communities (March 30th to April 3rd 2020)

This course will be held in DCU, Glasnevin Campus from Monday March 30th to Friday April 3rd 2020.  It will specifically focus on coaching professional learning communities (PLCs) in schools and other educational settings. The course has been created from the learnings of the 3DIPhE project to date. It will be hands-on with many practical examples . The main aspects will be:

  • What is a PLC?
  • How to build and guide it a PLC?
  • How to inquire into your practice of coaching a PLC.

A full programme will be circulated closer to the starting date. All participants will receive a certificate of participation.

Tea, coffee and lunch is provided. Travel, dinners and overnight stay are not included.

Please register at the following eventbrite link. Places are limited. Please contact us if you have no financial support and we will consider a reduced fee where possible.
Please register your attendance by 23rd March 2020.