Background The success of the Erasmus+ Project KIKS (Kids Inspiring Kids in STEAM, 2015-1-HU01-KA201-013611) was owed to the enthusiastic and expert contributions of dedicated teachers. This underlined the vital role of educators, emphasizing the necessity to engage not only those who were already confident about STEAM education (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) but also those who might have been less so. Objectives As a result, the STEAMTeach (STEAM Education for Teaching Professionalism) project placed its primary focus on educators, delving into collaborative efforts with teacher trainers and various stakeholders. The aim was to formulate a comprehensive Transcultural STEAM Professional Development Programme tailored for both in-service and pre-service teachers. Specifically, the project aimed to achieve the following objectives: • Identifying innovative and effective STEAM-related tools, learning methodologies, and EU key competencies that can be enhanced through the STEAM approach • Identifying key obstacles in STEAM Teacher Training • Developing a Transcultural STEAM Teaching Development Framework • Iteratively refining the transcultural framework through the design and implementation of multiple courses and STEAM projects in classrooms • Designing Cross-cultural Course Programs for trainers, in-service, and pre-service teachers • Evaluating the design and implementation of Cross-cultural STEAM Course Programs • Recruiting trainers and teachers for participation in the Cross-cultural Course program • Designing, supervising, and evaluating teachers’ Implementation of STEAM projects in the classroom with their students (Phase 1 and 2) • Analyzing and integrating the results for attaining a coherent project assessment, which involved instruments’ design • Conducting a global evaluation of project satisfaction and offering recommendations for future STEAM projects Implementation To design the STEAM professional development program, we interviewed 26 trainers and experienced secondary education teachers in STEAM education. Our emphasis was on scrutinizing their current educational practices to explore the challenges encountered in implementing STEAM activities and gathering recommendations for overcoming these challenges. This information was subsequently incorporated with insights from existing research, culminating in establishing our initial comprehensive framework: the STEAMTeach Transcultural Professional Development Framework. This framework underwent primary evaluation with in-service secondary education teachers across the five participating countries (Spain, Greece, Austria, Finland, and Hungary) through an iterative process. The evaluation unfolded in two phases: (1) teachers underwent training on the STEAM education approach, and (2) selected teachers implemented a STEAM project in their regular lessons. Insights from this initial testing, gathered through observations, interviews, and questionnaires, guided refinements to our framework. This refined framework was then applied to teachers during both training and implementation phases. Approximately 300 teachers benefited from our training phase, and around 100 implemented STEAM projects with their students during the subsequent phase. While the teachers expressed comfort with the approach implemented in the STEAMTeach project, they still perceived difficulties in executing projects without external support. The project was disseminated from the beginning through 35 presentations in online and face-to-face events and various press releases. Our results were presented at multiplier events in all participating countries. Results The project generated the following intellectual outputs: • State of the Arts on STEAM Teacher Training Toward a Transcultural Professional Development Framework (report) • Designing and Implementing a Cross-Cultural Course Programme for Preparing Professional Trainers, In-service Teachers and Pre-service Teachers on STEAM (report and toolkit) • Teachers implementing STEAMTeach in their classrooms with their students (report and toolkit) • Project Multi-disciplinary Learning Evaluation (MDLE): Course programme, design, training, teaching implementation, and international collaboration (report) In addition, eight open-access publications in journals and conference proceedings were produced. Further details: https://www.steamteach.unican.es/publications/
In this project, our primary goal was to design, implement and test a transcultural professional development programme to provide teachers with the essential skills to effectively educate students for the future. In particular, we set the following sub-objectives: • O1: Designing a theoretical framework for delivering STEAM education • O2: Designing and implementing a Cross-cultural training course for preparing trainers, in-service teachers and pre-service teachers on STEAM • O3: Implementing STEAM activities in regular lessons • O5: Evaluating the project
As highlighted by various researchers, particularly those involved in the STEAMTeach project, secondary education teachers often encounter challenges when attempting to incorporate integrated STEAM education within their classrooms. These teachers typically specialize in one subject and may lack training in integrated teaching approaches, which leads to feeling unconfident in applying such approaches in their teaching practices. In line with recommendations from the European Union and various national curricula, educational systems are increasingly recognizing the need for a STEAM teaching approach that equips students to address the demands of contemporary society. Current society is heavily influenced by technology, necessitating the ability to interpret and synthesize information from diverse disciplines. This underscores the importance of learning not only for knowledge acquisition but also for skill development, enabling students to seamlessly integrate concepts from various fields and apply these skills across different contexts. As a result, there is a pressing need to prioritize the promotion of integrated teaching approaches. The STEAM approach offers numerous benefits. It allows students not only to engage with technology but also to comprehend abstract aspects of STEM subjects. Moreover, the incorporation of Technology and Art fosters the acquisition of new digital art skills, encourages creativity and innovation, and enables the transformation of abstract ideas into tangible products. Furthermore, the STEAM approach facilitates the integration of Science and Math concepts, enabling students to address engineering challenges that are prevalent in contemporary society. These skills are pivotal for future employment opportunities and global progress. Despite substantial investments in equipping schools with resources like laboratories, materials, and technology, the application of integrated approaches such as STEAM remains limited within mainstream education. We recognize that the efficacy of modern-day learning is contingent upon equipping teachers with the competence to seamlessly integrate STEAM learning approaches. Hence, in the context of the STEAMTeach project, we have proactively tackled the challenge of enhancing teacher training for the seamless implementation of integrated approaches. To this end, we have meticulously crafted a comprehensive professional development program, which underwent rigorous testing through training courses and the practical execution of STEAM activities in classrooms across five countries—Spain, Austria, Finland, Hungary, and Greece. Moreover, our project has also indirectly contributed to the imperative task of preparing students for the demands of contemporary society. This has been achieved through the implementation of STEAM lessons into the students' learning experience.