RoboPisces project promotes a powerful transnational collaboration (Italy, Ireland, Latvia, Greece, Malta and Croatia) among international high-level academic institutions and Primary Education schools, triggering dedicated actions in the field of STEAM and digital skills education, incorporating innovative elements in their development and implementation by means of Educational Robotics (ER). ER creates an attractive learning environment by keeping students interested and motivated with hands-on, fun learning activities. RoboPisces aims to create a teaching and learning curriculum based on ER through a constructionist educational approach and the design of a toolkit, called RoboFish, to engage primary school kids, with the purpose to enhance the learning outcomes in STEAM subjects. The RoboPisces project will take advantage of the considerable experience of all the partners involved in identifying, adopting, implementing and monitoring the ER curriculum for primary school education practices, helping educators to understand and improve their STEAM teaching styles and approaches to meet the emerging challenges of the science for citizens. RoboPisces intends to be in line with the EU effort to address challenges in education and training systems, contributing to the improvement of the quality and efficiency, thus boosting the achievement of the EU benchmark of under-skilled students in STEAM subjects. Moreover, by constructing and programming robots, pupils will be encouraged to use their own creative ideas and solutions in their work, thus developing transversal skills like rational thinking, creativity and innovativeness. Teachers of primary schools will be involved in two face-to-face training courses to become familiar with the RoboPisces technological and methodological resources, encouraging a new digital attitude in teachers and making them able to organize technological laboratories practice into regular curricular teaching. RoboPisces therefore envisages to foster a more strategic and integrated use of ICTs and open educational resources (OER) by the involved education systems, with the creation of the Knowledge Transfer Platform and Digital Repository. The RoboPisces project is structured around the following set of specific and operational objectives: Obj1. Improve potential students' achievement and engagement in STEAM and the acquisition of key skills and competences, through effective and innovative teaching, using Robotics kits and implementing innovative assessment strategies; Obj2. Develop transversal skills in pupils by means of Educational Robotics; Obj3. Introduce the marine environment thematic through the RoboFish toolkit, thus introducing students to concepts of sustainability; Obj4. Fostering digital competence provision across the curricula, tailored to specific age groups; Obj5. Improve student’s interest, participation and motivation in order to reduce and prevent ESL; Obj6. Enhance primary school teachers’ skills and comprehension in the field of robotics, enabling them to implement a robotic based curriculum and enhancing their professional development; Obj7. Create specific assessment tools to be delivered along with lesson plans to evaluate the outcomes of lessons (learning outcomes, attitude to learning, learning motivation etc.). The project outcomes and results will be available not only for the target groups who will be directly participating, but also for other potential beneficiaries that will be reached (thanks to the impressive and fruitful networks of each involved partner) in order to build bridges and share knowledge between the different formal and informal education sectors. RoboPisces dissemination will raise awareness on Educational Robotics across Europe, opening the path for new initiatives aimed at reaching different pedagogical goals and facing global challenges. Dissemination will be ensured by a dedicated website and use of social media, press conferences, four multiplier events, newsletters to be distributed in partner countries and over Europe and involvement of partners from the school education institutions.
The RoboPisces project set specific and operational objectives: 1.Improve potential students' achievement and engagement in STEAM by implementing effective and innovative teaching and assessment strategies using robotics kits; 2.Develop transversal skills in pupils using Educational Robotics; 3.Introduce the marine environment using the RoboFish toolkit, thus introducing students to sustainability; 4.Foster digital competence across the curricula tailored to the age groups; 5.Improve student’s interest, participation and motivation to reduce and prevent ESL; 6.Enhance primary school teachers’ skills in the field of robotics and on robotics-based educational methodologies, enabling them to implement a robotic-based curriculum and enriching their professional growth; 7.Create specific assessment tools to evaluate the outcomes of lessons (learning outcomes, attitude to learning, learning motivation etc.). Aiming to deliver innovative ICT-based educational approaches, the project also intended to increase the level of teachers’ and students’ satisfaction and self-efficacy. Tangible achievements of these objectives are the 3 intellectual outputs (IOs): RoboFish toolkit (IO2), Educational Curriculum (IO3), Teachers Training Manual (IO4)
Many Europeans do not have adequate digital skills, and there is a shortage of STEM workers. The RoboPisces project (RP), by adopting Educational Robotics (ER) to teach STEAM since primary school, contributes to developing STEM proficiency. Many Europeans are at risk of ESL, and the EU aims to decrease the share of ESL to 9% by 2030. RP sought to positively impact on the ESL risk by showing students that the learning process can be interesting and meaningful and that the teacher can be a cooperation partner. Many European teachers still lack the competence to use ICT and use it only to a small extent in classrooms. One of the key aspects of the project was teacher training, which aimed at creating independent and creative teachers that use technology to adapt strategies to the needs of students. Despite its many benefits on students’ hard and soft skills development, ER is integrated with school curricula as an optional and seldom activity. Environmental education was identified as an urgent need of our society and one of the main interests of young generations. RP integrated environmental themes, especially the marine environment, to raise students’ interest in Blue careers and to promote ocean literacy.