Education to science and technology through controversy mapping methods

FORCCAST is structured around three pedagogical axes, which call up to cognitive postures rarely used in current education:

• Exploring knowledge in debates on the web (axis 1)

• Contributing to the enhancement and the tracking of knowledge under current semiotic formats such as web, multimedia and video (axis 2)
• Debating in realistic simulation of negotiation situations and collective decision-making, by mobilizing arguments and proofs collected and organised in the 1 and 2 axis (axis 3).

This education project, as it also contributes to new forms of democratic debate, is based on:

• An experimental learning method (known as mapping controversies)
• Scientific work that has already been recognized (European projects Macospol and Emaps)

Various education experiences already carried out by members of the consortium bringing together Sciences Po, Paris Diderot University, Les Mines Paris Tech, Telecom Paris Tech and 19 other institutions worldwide (the University of Manchester, MIT, etc.), but not fully equipped and formalized.

The FORCCAST project plans the creation and development of different digital tools and contents, which will be reciprocated between the partners and reproducible for a reuse in diversified environment.

Pedagogic goals

• Make students from social as well as science studies understand how scientific knowledge is built and how it is updated in discourses (scientific literature, political debate, etc) and subject fought by the public, the scientists or the decision-makers;
• Train students in digital methods of exploration of arguments, knowledge and available opinions;
• Lead them to produce, edit and publish validated content using digital tools in their present and future daily and professional lives;
• Make them experiment public speaking, debate, negotiation and collective decision-making in realistic environment;
• Prepare students to orientation and decision-making in an uncertain environment.