Science to the Regions

Stages of program development

Educational Clubs “Science to the Regions”

From 2017 to 2019, the project was aimed at developing centers of additional education in the regions — circles.
The functioning mechanism of the project was as follows:

For potential project participants, the program began with a preliminary selection for one of the thematic areas: physics-mathematics, mathematics-informatics, chemistry-biology. Our foundation sent Olympiad tests to the region to identify the general level of training of schoolchildren. Students from the region that showed the best results became participants in “Science to the Regions” and went to the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology to attend a visiting school (“educational  shifts”).

The theme school program included a two-week stay and training at MIPT for 15 high school students and 2 teachers. During this time, the guys lived in the institute’s dormitories, attended classes at the “Phystech-Lyceum” (Moscow region, Dolgoprudny), in order to keep up with the school curriculum, and additional classes. In the evenings, students listened to in-depth lectures on physics, mathematics, computer science and other related disciplines from practicing MIPT teachers. In addition, the curators of the “Science to the Regions” program organized a cultural and entertainment program: visits to the capital’s museums, film screenings, and board game evenings.

The teachers accompanying the schoolchildren, together with the methodologists of the Physics and Technology Institute, drew up a club program in one of the disciplines for the year ahead. According to the terms of the visiting school “Science to the Regions,” schoolchildren and teachers paid only transportation costs: travel to the school site and transportation in Moscow.

During the existence of the “schools” of the project, the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology was visited by 26 groups from different parts of Russia! Among them are the Astrakhan, Belgorod, Bryansk, Volgograd, Voronezh, Kaliningrad, Lipetsk, Magadan, Nizhny Novgorod, Omsk, Penza, Tambov, Tomsk, Tula regions, Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug, Krasnodar Territory, the Republic of Bashkortostan, the Republic of Crimea, the Chuvash Republic.

In 2018, as part of the “Science to the Regions” project, with the support of the Presidential Grants Fund, additional project shifts were also held in specialized areas: rocket and space shifts and shifts in the preparation of research projects in various disciplines.

At the moment, any school in Russia can launch a “Science to the Regions” club; to do this, it is necessary to sign a cooperation agreement with the Phystech-schools development foundation. Teachers in clubs will receive all the necessary materials for conducting classes, and will also regularly receive tests compiled by project teachers to monitor the level of students. In addition, teachers of clubs get access to a post-class support system: they can attend webinars with MIPT teachers and ask teachers questions about the materials in support chats.

Classes «Science to the Regions»

In the summer of 2020, the second stage of the “Science to the Regions” program was launched — the creation of specialized classes in schools throughout Russia in the fields of physics and mathematics, chemical biology and mathematics and information science. Program implementation includes several processes.

Advanced training courses for teachers

Advanced training courses (ATC) for teachers under the “Science to the Regions” program are held in a distance format for teachers who will teach classes in specialized classes. There is a competitive selection for advanced training courses based on teachers’ portfolios and a short test in the subject.
The courses are taught by teachers from MIPT and “Phystech-Lyceum” according to programs approved by MIPT. Course participants who successfully complete the programs are issued state-issued certificates of completion of advanced training courses.

Creation of teaching materials, work programs and video lectures

The project’s methodologists are teachers from MIPT and the “Phystech-Lyceum”. Methodologists create working curricula for specialized classes and teaching materials that accompany work in the classroom.
Methodological materials cover all material from grades 8 to 10 of the profile; they include theoretical material, practical tasks and example solutions.
The video material includes analysis of problems and demonstration of experiments, as well as analysis of the most difficult theoretical points. It is designed to prepare students for lessons.

The materials are designed for mastering the program in an in-depth format, which requires a certain number of hours of class work.

Profile class in mathematics: 8th grade — 8 academic hours per week, 9th grade — 8 academic hours per week, 10th grade — 9 academic hours per week;
Profile class in physics: 8th grade — 4 academic hours per week, 9th grade — 5 academic hours per week, 10th grade — 6 academic hours per week;
Profile class in chemistry: 8th grade — 4 academic hours per week, 9th grade — 5 academic hours per week, 10th grade — 6 academic hours per week;
Profile class in biology: 8th grade — 4 academic hours per week, 9th grade — 5 academic hours per week, 10th grade — 6 academic hours per week;
Profile class in computer science: 8th grade — 4 academic hours per week, 9th grade — 6 academic hours per week, 10th grade — 6 academic hours per week;

Profile class support

As part of the project, support for a specialized class is organized. For teachers who have completed the ATC and launched specialized classes at their school, a mentoring system is provided by project teachers: regular webinars for teachers will be held, at which project teachers will answer complex questions and discuss topics of an in-depth course.

Online platform

An online project platform is being created, through which the entire educational process of Science classes in the regions will be conducted, on which students will do homework and solve tests.
In addition to testing students, the platform also provides the functionality of a webinar calendar for teachers, as well as the ability to download reports on class success.

Class control

Control of classes by the Foundation will be carried out by tracking student results by conducting regular tests of class students (tests will be compiled and checked by MIPT teachers), as well as collecting reports on the teacher’s attendance at webinars and any information related to the educational process in the specialized class.
Travel to classes is provided.

Project prospects

Currently, more than 50 regions of the country are participating in the project. The plans are to expand the program throughout the country so that it becomes available to all children interested in physics, mathematics, computer science, chemistry and biology.

“Regional schools need a strong methodological base, but now it is lacking. They use outdated programs,” says Andrei Bogdanov, director of the Phystech-schools development foundation is a foundation, MIPT graduate. “It is important to “ignite” children, show them the prospects of engaging in scientific and technical activities, and immerse them in the atmosphere of Physics and Technology. We focus not on geniuses, but on ordinary good and excellent students.

Our main goal is to make in the near future, on the basis of the “Phystech-Lyceum” and MIPT, one of the main centers of Russian school education in the natural sciences — the school cluster “PHYSTECH XXI”.