First, Achilles Kameas of CTI presented our STEAMonEdu project and emphasised the importance and potential of collaboration and synergies among our three projects.

CHOICE project was presented by Chiara Venturella of the co-ordinating organisation CESIE. CHOICE, which has the same timeframe as our STEAMonEDU for 2020-2021, aims to promote and improve STEM education at schools by designing innovative Open Educational Resources (OERs) collected in a MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) that will increase the professional competences of teachers by equipping them with a STE(A)M approach of teaching.

The main outputs of CHOICE include:

• State of the Art study, Reflective practice case-study compendium, Framework for reforming STEM curricula & Comparative Piloting Analysis.

• Working guidelines “Non-formal education for promoting co-production of educational resources”, OERs & MOOC.

• Good practice tool CHOICE@SCHOOL, Policy recommendations.

Then Evita Tasiopoulou of European SchoolNet, coordinating organisation of the STE(A(M) IT, talked about their project, which started a bit earlier than the other two – in November 2019 and which already has had first results and is preparing to launch their MOOC.

STE(A)M IT project aims to strengthen the educational landscape by promoting innovative and cross-disciplinary approaches to STE(A)M teaching in education. The outcomes to promote innovative integrated STE(A)M practices at school level include:

So what do we have in common and what differentiates the three projects?

STEAMIT and STEAMonEdu both strive to define the competences of STE(A)M educators by investigating and engaging educators of formal and non-formal education. CHOICE differentiates by taking into account the needs of the students in STEM and STE(A)M Education and actively involves them along with educators in Creative Leadership Teams keeping them close to the labour market and STEM/STE(A)M career oriented approaches during the implementation of the project. Many common elements were also identified under our common goal, and partners discussed how the three projects complement each other. For example, all the three projects will create MOOCs, however, STEAMIT MOOC is aimed at  educators and starts in October of 2020, STEAMonEdu’s MOOC for educators is planned for 2021, and CHOICE MOOC will address students, so all interested  participants will be able to follow all of them.

We discussed the outcomes of our projects so far, our very first impressions regarding the future of policy reform in STE(A)M education, and our common findings regarding the continuously arising interest of all education professionals and policy makers across Europe.

We also had an extensive conversation on possible future synergies, potential collaboration, and how our projects complement each other something that unites us under the main common goal – to boost STEAM education!

We look forward to working together! Our highly regarded researchers’ team strongly believes that Team Work makes the Dream Work.

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You have a CHOICE to STEAMIT with STEAMonEdu!!!

Stay tuned – a lot of interesting things are being planned for the near future!

By RDWG and ALL DIGITAL

The handover of the funding certificates by Federal Education Minister Anja Karliczek on May 18 marked the start of the establishment of the central “MINTvernetzt” office. MINTvernetzt is intended to bring together the numerous initiatives and players working to promote STEM education in Germany and to pool research findings. In addition to the MINT clusters, another central project of the MINT action plan is thus entering the implementation phase. The Federal Ministery of Education is providing 12 million euros for a period of up to eight years to finance the STEM-networking-center.

“MINTvernetzt” is being set up by an alliance of the Körber Foundation, the National MINT Forum, the Stifterverband, matrix gGmbH and the Chair of School Education at the University of Regensburg. The associated office will be located in Hamburg.

“MINTvernetzt” for more effectiveness in STEM education

There are numerous initiatives and actors that are implementing projects to strengthen STEM education in Germany with great commitment. “MINT-Vernetzt” offers a common platform to all already active and future actors in STEM education. To share their knowledge, to network with other partners from science, business and politics, but also from school education. The knowledge gained is shared with the general public in the sense of an open innovation project. This results in new impulses, more sustainability and more effectiveness for STEM education.

Gender sensitization

“MINTvernetzt” also aims to support the realization of even better educational opportunities for children and young people, addressing more diverse target groups. One focus of the STEM-networking-center is therefore on gender sensitization, i.e. the targeted sensitization of STEM-activists and -engaged persons for the special needs of girls and young women. To this end, MINTvernetzt continues the networking of partners in the “National Pact for Women in STEM Professions” and develops the work further together with the partners.

Networking with STEM Clusters and STEM Research

The STEM-networking-center will also involve STEM clusters in its networking work. With around 40 STEM clusters, the Federal Ministery of Education is supporting the nationwide expansion of extracurricular STEM education opportunities for children and young people. 22 regional STEM alliances have already started their work. Details can be found at: The STEM Clusters.

MINTvernetzt also aims to promote the transfer between science and practice. With this in mind, the networking center will process findings from STEM research, which the Federal Ministery of Education is intensifying with further funding.

STEM E-Platform

MINTvernetzt will set up a demand-oriented e-platform to enable IT-supported networking of STEM actors and digital forms of collaboration. A STEM-Data-Lab within the e-platform will provide statistical data, studies and research results.

Source: Press Release, 18.05.2021 MINT-Vernetzungsstelle

Picture credits:

@ Federal Ministry of Education and Research, Germany

@ Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung, Deutschland

By Helliwood

Participants to the event gain knowledge on the latest achievements, EU positions and action plans to support and facilitate an increase adoption of integrated STE(A)M within the educational system. They learn more about the activities promoted by STEAMonEdu project, its aims and outcomes related to the community of stakeholders, the professional development of educators, and the tools and training developed.

Stakeholders and partners’ projects promote the enhancement of STE(A)M education, activating the audience in exchanging ideas online and over the panel discussion.

Integrated STE(A)M sounds like the next urgent goal within the field, where disciplines can be merged with a balance between them. STEM and STE(A)M is one of the priorities of the 2030 Digital Compass supported by a variety of initiatives announced as part of the European Skills Agenda, European Education Area and the Digital Education Action Plan with the aim of upskilling educators, facilitate women in accessing STEM careers and train professionals to solve real-world problems.

EU policy officer Anusca Ferrari, DG EAC, through her keynote speech, shed light on the EU objectives and initiatives: “We set STEM as a priority for cooperation projects in Higher Education in the Erasmus+ 2021 Work Programme.”

Professor Anastasios Mikropoulos, University of Iannina, highlighted the need for and importance of combining STEM and STE(A)M education to stimulate citizens in being able to solve real problems, introducing the circular process needed to facilitate the integration.

Educators feel the need to tune into a STE(A)M mindset where integrate approaches, blend skills and knowledge into a more dynamic and flexible way of teaching and supporting learners in developing skills. During the panel discussion, it has been stressed the strategic understanding of the field to avoid educating only some generations. On the opposite, STE(A)M education should refer to all generations.

By ALL DIGITAL