On July 17, at the IISA2020 Conference, Natalia Spyropoulou and Achilles Kameas, members of the STEAMonEdu project team of Computer Technology Institute and Press “Diophantus” (CTI), presented the scientific paper “Investigating the role of STE(A)M Educators: a case study in Greece”.

The IISA (Information, Intelligence, Systems and Applications) Conference was the eleventh in a series of international conferences, which offers a forum for the constructive interaction and prolific exchange of ideas among scientists and practitioners from different research fields – such as computers, mathematics, physics, biology, education, chemistry, experimental psychology, social sciences, linguistics, and engineering.

The presented paper summarized a study that compares the outcomes of previous research with the results of a survey of 59 Greek educators, who have implemented STE(A)M-related courses. Based on the responses through the specially designed close-ended questionnaire, the educators’ perceptions were identified and analyzed. Based on these, the authors assessed the importance of different traits and competences that a STE(A)M educator should have. Furthermore, the research showed evidence that there are some differences in educators’ perceptions depending on their academic background, mostly on teaching and professional development aspects.

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 of STEAMonEdu project related to the development of the competence framework for STE(A)M educators and the training curriculum to support their professional development.

By CTI