Abstract:The recent and current discourse on education policy across Europe places great emphasis on the importance of incorporating aspects of Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) in science education. A key aspect of education policy is that citizens should become better equipped to enquire into and understand socio-scientific issues, as well as to apply scientific knowledge and ethical values in order to form evidence-based opinions. The question of how the intentions of policy-makers can be translated effectively into educational practice, however, has yet to be answered. Against this background, the present paper will investigate how aspects of RRI can be embedded in the curricula of science education in various European countries. The framework we will present illuminates both the intentions of policymakers and current practices with regard to RRI within science curricula. It also helps map such policies and strategies in the area of science education across Europe. In the context of the ENGAGE project, this framework has been used as a tool for analysing the RRI components of curricula in the science education of students aged 11-16. The analysis is based on data gathered in 2014, takes into account prospective reforms and covers 11 European countries. The results of the analysis illustrate the potential of this framework as a tool for investigating how RRI can be embedded in science education and for exploring the space for intervention that policy-makers have. They also show that this framework can shed light on how the intentions of policy-makers and current practices with regard to RRI interrelate and on how moving from "words to deeds" can be achieved in a meaningful and constructive manner.

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This paper describes the formative evaluation activities that were designed and implemented during the development of the weSPOT inquiry based learning platform. With the ambition to provide a platform that supports a broad range of inquiry activities in accordance with end-users needs, an agile software development approach was followed as a process of co-design between practitioners, researchers and developers. The paper focuses on the design of end-user centric evaluation activities for fully exploiting the potential of agile development. A detailed overview of several case studies is presented to demonstrate how implementing a continuous evaluation cycle allowed to pinpoint and help resolve arising issues in a process of collaboration between technology development and pedagogy.