The Ss. Cyril and Methodius University is the first state University in Macedonia, founded in 1949. At the moment, the University represents a functional community of 23 faculties, 5 research institutes, and 12 various associate members. The Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics is one of the oldest educational and scientific institutions in Macedonia with a tradition of educating young researchers and skilled professionals in the areas of physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, and geography. This faculty pays great attention to the education of future teachers in primary and secondary schools in these subjects.
My name is Marina and I am an associate professor at the Institute of Chemistry, Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics in the field of chemistry education. I am born in a country where peaceful ethnic coexistence is one of the most important goals of society, so it is necessarily reflected in the educational process.Understanding diversity and bridging differences between individuals should be started from an early age and incorporated into the educational activities, unobtrusively and naturally, sometimes even through play. In my many years of work, I try to bridge the gap that sometimes exists between different students at the university but also by participating in a number of activities aimed at popularizing the natural sciences among school students, such as various events for students, chemical spectacles and creating educational games, but also nurturing competitive students’ spirit through competitions and Olympiads. In addition, it is especially important for teachers to have a developed methodology with which they can bring students closer and encourage them to cooperate, so I participate in their professional development, designing different materials for students and teachers and providing support in their daily teaching practice. I sincerely hope that with this project I will expand my horizons and I am especially glad that I will broaden the cooperation with colleagues from all over the world.
My name is Vladimir and I am a professor of chemistry education and physical chemistry at the Institute of Chemistry, Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics. My research interests comprise lecture experiments, demonstrations, and (to a lesser extent) models, analogies, and animations, as well as molecular spectroscopy and structural chemistry. I am involved in the organization of national chemistry competitions and Olympiads for primary and secondary school students, chemistry spectacles, and seminars for chemistry teachers. A real challenge for me is the popularization of natural sciences among students, so I focus on creating educational materials designed to increase students’ knowledge and interest in the natural sciences. I believe that this will be of great importance for the project and will enable the exchange of ideas and experiences.
My name is associate Jasmina and I am a professor of Analytical chemistry at the Institute of Chemistry, Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics. My scientific focus is development and application of chromatographic methods for separation, characterization and quantification of different types of compounds in complex matrices. Also, I am involved in the organization of national chemistry competitions and Olympiads for primary and secondary school students, and science teachers’ training. I also enjoy in the teaching classes with my students and I am trying always to implement some new teaching methods and ides. In my participation in this project, I see an opportunity to meet students who may differ in their culture, language, religion or ethnicity, but all will have an equal desire to know the secrets and beauties of the natural sciences.
My name is Katerina, an associate professor at the Institute of Biology, Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics. I am working in the field of mycology and biology education. For more than a decade, I am involved in the pre-service biology teacher education. Furthermore, I am a part of the team for professional development of science teachers. Also, I actively participate in various activities for promotion of natural sciences and mathematics in our country, by evaluation of students’ experiments or organizing educational games for students. I am pleased to be a part of this project, developing the knowledge in different teaching methods.
My name is Lambe and I am an associate professor at the Institute of physics, Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics. My scientific interest is focused on nuclear physics, environmental protection and physics education. For many years I have been actively involved in activities in the field of education in physics and natural sciences – competitions and Olympiads for students, various events for students, trainings and conferences for natural sciences teachers. I am dedicated to popularizing the natural sciences, creating educational materials for students, as well as providing professional support for teachers. I’m happy to be part of this project and to have the opportunity to develop educational materials for natural sciences.
My name is Slavica, I am a teaching assistant at the Institute of Biology, Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics. My main fields of interest are mycology and biology education. In the last 5 years, I’ve been involved in the professional development of pre-service biology teachers during their formal academic education. The purpose of the practical teaching classes is for the students to acquire skills for conceptualization and implementation of experiments that will encourage deductive reasoning. I find it very important to develop skills in future teachers on how to engage students and how to encourage them to cooperate. I’ve taken part in the team for realization of the national competitions for primary school students in natural sciences and biology, as well as in organizing workshops in science (biology and mycology) for primary and secondary school teachers, students or mycology amateurs and collectors. I’m happy to be part of this project, to expand my knowledge and to practice new teaching methods.
My name is Ivanka, a master of science in chemistry education with 20 years’ work experience in the field of education. Since 2008, I am employed as an advisor for teaching chemistry at the Bureau for Development of Education, at the Ministry of Education and Science. The main focus of my job is professional advisory work with chemistry teachers in primary and secondary schools, supervision of chemistry classes and teacher training, as well as creating and improving chemistry curricula for primary and secondary education. I used to work as a chemistry teacher in an upper secondary school for 10 years, so I am familiar with many challenges that teachers and students are faced. Also, I am very interested and involved in promoting and supporting education for democratic citizenship and human rights education, especially as a national EDC HRE coordinator at the Council of Europe. I will focus my many years’ experience as a teacher and advisor on the realization of the goals and activities of this project.
This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.