1. To gain an understanding of what STEM education looks like in other countries 2. To gain an understanding of what best practice is in relation to STEM education 3. To develop 21st century problem solvers 4. To devise a whole school STEM action plan 5. To establish a STEM champion in all of the participating schools 6. To establish a community of professional practice focused on STEM education in Ireland
We completed our first Erasmus project in 2019/2020, it was titled The Introduction and Promotion of Effective STEM Instruction in Limerick DEIS Schools. It allowed our schools to explore what STEM education is and to introduce it to our schools. We developed and promoted a positive whole school attitude towards STEM education and engaged in professional training and development to introduce & improve our knowledge of coding languages and robotics. Upon completion of the project, we realised that we needed to explore the pedagogical applications of programming further – how it is applied to other curriculums and to explore possible challenges and practical applications. We applied for this project to gain an understanding of what STEM education looks like in other countries and to gain an understanding of what best practice is in relation to STEM education. We aimed to devise a whole school STEM action plan to support teachers and also to establish a community of professional practice focused on STEM education in Ireland.