Charles Bonello is a Senior Lecturer in science education within the Faculty of Education. He started his career as a Physics teacher and has taught at secondary and post-secondary levels. Before joining the Faculty of Education on a full-time basis, he was a senior lecturer in Physics at the Junior College.
His research interests and teaching areas in science education include physics education, pedagogy, classroom talk, technology in the teaching of science, values in science and the history of science.
He is involved in initial teacher education for secondary school science teachers and also teaches on a number of post-graduate programmes. Charles participated in a number of European projects aimed at improving science education in Europe.
Projects 2011 – 2013: Member of the PRIMAS research project group. This project aimed to promote inquiry-based learning in mathematics and science at both primary and secondary levels across Europe. This was an international project within the Seventh Framework Program of the European Union [https://primas-project.eu/about/].
2016 – 2019: Member of the IncluSMe (Intercultural learning in science and mathematics education) Erasmus+ project focussing on intercultural learning in mathematics and science initial teacher education. IncluSMe [https://inclusme-project.eu/project/] offered a constructive contribution for tackling one of Europe’s greatest challenges: education for refugee and immigrant youth.
2018 – to date Member of the EDUCHANGE project [http://educhange.net/], an international project that aims to develop innovative ideas related to climate change and the role of water in cities through innovative place based education and blended learning. Four universities from the Czech Republic, Netherlands, Norway and Malta are participating in this project and the duration of the project was for two years [2018 – 2020]. The project coordinators have applied to continue on this project up to 2022.
2020 – to date Member of the Girls4STEM in Europe [GEM] project. This project is intended to empower girls to embrace their STEM, digital and entrepreneurial potential. The project also encourages girls to pursue STEM and ICT carriers, enabling society to support these endeavours. The duration of the project is for two years [2020 – 2022] and is co-funded by the European Commission. The coordinator of the project is the International Centre for STEM Education (ICSE) [http://icse.eu/].
Chairperson of Local Organizing Committee - GIREP International Webinars 2021-2022 The International Research Group on Physics Teaching - GIREP [Groupe International de Recherche sur l'Enseignement de la Physique] together with the University of Malta, Faculty of Education and Faculty of Science have organized two international webinars entitled: 'Physics Teacher Education - What matters?'. These international GIREP webinars were held on the 16th - 18th November 2020. and the 15th - 19th November 2021. Information about the logistics and themes of the Seminar can be found in the website - ww.um.edu.mt/events/girep/.
