According to the benchmark set by the European Union, the percentage of fifteen years old young people with insufficient abilities in mathematics and science should be reduced to 15% by 2020. Teachers must be given all the support they need in order to reach this common goal for Europe and improve pupils' performances in mathematics and science. Hence it is essential that schools, teacher education institutions, universities and educational authorities support and stimulate the teachers' innovation and experimentation in the classroom. GENERAL OBJECTIVE of the STEM project is to develop a methodology for teachers/educators and to develop and implement innovative pedagogies and methods for teaching and assessing STEM in the classroom, making it more attractive in the eyes of young people and students. SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES: SO1: Boost a Europe-wide collaboration among STEM teachers as well as education researchers, policymakers and other STEM education professionals, exchanging inquiry-based and other innovative, effective and engaging approaches to science and maths education. SO2: Transfer of innovative STEM teaching methods to a large number of teachers, an e-Learning Area that will be developed in order to help individuals exploring and sharing innovative tools and techniques to make STEM subjects attractive in the eyes of the students. SO3: Explore the use of ICT in STEM education, to enhance its introduction in traditional teaching methods and create technology-rich learning environments for students. SO4: Helping students to develop important transversal skills such as creative thinking, problem solving, etc., that can be utilised by young people in the labour market. The partnership was built with 6 organisations: Academy for International Science and Research (AISR-UK), Technological Centre (VITECO-IT), Higher education institute ( UCLL,Belgium) , Secondary School ( Scoala Gimnaziala Gheorghe Magheru-RO) , NGO (The Institute of Entrepreneurship Development (iED)-GR), NGO (21. YY Eğitimciler Derneği -TR) that perceive STEM in 6 different aspects and various professions, which makes our project more stronger. The activities : There will be 4 Transnational Meetings, 3 LTT Events, 3 Intellectual Outputs and 6 Multiplier Events during the project. Also, surveys will be carried out, Needs Analysis, STEM Strategy Action Plan, Workshops, Multilingual project website, creating social media accounts, STEM Events, STEM materials, 3 edition of newsletters, case studies, seminars, conferences are among the activities that will be held. The methodology used according to the steps of the project: Cooperation, team work, brainstorming, effective communication, collaborative working, leadership,Project based /Task Based/ Inquiry Based Learning, learning by doing, student centred Learning Methods will be used during the project cycle. After 2 years duration of the project, the most important results expected: -Teachers understanding of STEM Education in European Context will be enhanced -Teachers competences and skills developing STEM activities and materials in different STEM disciplines -Teachers understanding about using Web2 tools and ICT in education -Teachers competences and skills in developing STEM strategies&organising STEM teacher training courses -Teachers and students enrolment and interest in STEM will be enhanced -Students engagement, interest and enjoyment in STEM subjects will increase -Students understanding of STEM concepts, improve their practical skills and help them to develop employability skills such as teamwork, problem solving, communication and independence will deepen and extend -Participating organisations understanding of developing STEM strategies into schools/education centres/training institutions will improve The most important expected impact of the project: Teachers: -Increased awareness of STEM education, improved skills and competences -Improved quality of STEM Education -Improve teachers' STEM subject and pedagogical understanding, their confidence, motivation and ability to teach STEM subjects, as well as their leadership skills Students: -Deepen and extend students' understanding of STEM concepts, improve their practical skills and help them to develop employability skills such as teamwork, problem solving, communication and independence. -To increase students’ achievement and their awareness of STEM related-careers, which in turn increases the number pursuing STEM careers and progressing into STEM-related careers Participating organisations: -Improved understanding of developing STEM strategies into schools/education centres/training institutions and integrating it into the curriculum The longer term benefits of the project will be: -The State of Art, Multilingual project website including intellectual outputs, STEM Development Action Plan, STEM Activities&Training Materials, e-learning area & e-courses and mentoring scheme will be the sustainable longer term benefits
The partners wanted to address all of the above mentioned needs, to carry our research and develop relevant, up-to-date, high-quality content in order to address our target groups' needs. Therefore the following objectives were set, which we wanted to achieve by implementing the project: 1) Support STEM educators so they can empower students to be problem solvers and innovative thinkers through STEM 2) Implement new teaching methods and materials that will encourage STEM teaching 3) Raise awareness of the key role STEM educators play in increasing the number of students pursuing STEM careers 4) Increase the levels of achievement and interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics 5) Boost a Europe-wide collaboration among STEM teachers 6) Explore the use of ICT in STEM education 7) Help students to develop important traversal skills All project activities were developed and implemented in line with the above objectives. Objectives were set with the SMART technique, so we can measure the success of the activities, outputs and all project related processes
Partners are passionate about: • High-quality STEM pedagogy • Contributing to closing the STEM skills gap & to teachers’ professional development • Increasing diversity in STEM We applied for this project to research the current needs of STEM teachers in an international environment, so that we can develop high- quality & engaging teaching materials that are not readily available, along with teacher CPDs. Continuous professional development (CPD) is crucial for teachers to stay current with their knowledge & skills. As CPD is not compulsory in most of the countries, we wanted to find out which topics most teachers would like to get training on. We addressed the following needs of teachers: • Innovative teaching methodologies • Student engagement & motivation • STEM careers advice • Educational technology We also addressed the needs described in the Expert Group on Science Education's report published by the European Commission, which declares, that inquiry-based science education has to be a key component of people's learning continuum & efforts need to be made to improve the quality of teaching. We also addressed students’ needs with the STEM Mentoring Scheme, to promote the wide range of STEM careers, and qualifications needed.