On 30 April, at the IEEE EDUCON2020 Conference, Natalia Spyropoulou and Achilles Kameas, members of the STEAMonEdu project team of Computer Technology Institute and Press “Diophantus” (CTI), presented the scientific paper “STEM Educator challenges and professional development needs: the educators’ views”.

The IEEE EDUCON2020 conference was the eleventh in a series of conferences that rotate among central locations in IEEE Region 8 (Europe, Middle East and North Africa). This year, the conference focused on “Engineering Education for the Future in a Multicultural and Smart World” and took place online, due to the pandemic. EDUCON is the flagship conference of the IEEE Education Society.

The paper summarized preliminary results regarding the challenges and professional development needs of STEM Educators based on a survey that was conducted using an online questionnaire. The data was collected across 19 different cities/regions of Greece, including remote islands and included 59 respondents (26 women), who at the time of the study had implemented STE(A)M-related courses through formal and non-formal education in preschool, primary and secondary education.

The preliminary results show that educators need support with appropriate equipment, infrastructure and resources alongside with a reform of the education system in order to support STE(A)M education. In addition, professional development of educators is considered necessary, however, there is a need to understand in-depth the skills and competences that a STE(A)M educator should possess.

The presentation led to a fruitful exchange of ideas during the discussion that followed, also causing strong interest of the participants for the activities and future actions related to STEAMonEdu project.