www.europeanschoolnet.org - ingenious: motivating students for stem studies & careers tackling...

www.europeanschoolnet.org - www.eun.org

InGenious: motivating students for STEM studies & careersTackling challenges in Europe

Alexa Joyce

www.europeanschoolnet.org - www.eun.org2

Dedicated to

Support schools in bringing about the best use

of technology in learning

Promote the Europeandimension in schools

and education

Improve and raise the quality of education

in Europe

Network of 31 Ministriesof Education in Europe

What is European Schoolnet?


• Europe is training too few scientists, technology experts and engineers– Asian countries train twice as many scientists

compared to European member states, and three times as many engineers.

• Europe’s highest scientific achievers – Finnish students – outperformed by Chinese students in Shanghai and Hong Kong

• Downward trend in choice of scientific higher education and career paths: Need for structural change

Why focus on STEM education?


Horizontal axis: Human Development IndexVertical axis: Scores on questions designed to measure positive attitudes towards studying science

Svein Sjoberg, University of Oslo: Project ROSE

Low interest in STEM

But lots of jobs in STEM: critical when 1/3 under 30s in

Europe are unemployed


Pisa 2009 scores

Insufficient proficiency in STEM

Concerns:European countries continually falling

in successive PISA studiesTech achievement also low (Eurostat figures)


Low motivation in STEM

Paradoxes:Many enjoy primary STEMSTEM per se interesting

Big consumers of “T” products

Major factorSchool experience of STEM Teacher is the key player


Motivateand recognised teachers

Innovative pedagogyand creative curriculum

• In-service training and support• Access to new resources and contents

•Embed actions in the curriculum.•Identify and promote transferable good

practice.

Schoolnet’s Approach

Industry engagement

Assess how industry can help:•Better understanding of science studies

and jobs (role models, visits, ..)

•Motivation: link to real life/societal issues

•Decision making on career choices


From good practices to structural change

InGenious - European Coordinating Body for STEM Education

8.3 M Euro investment – 50% public, 50% private•Federate key players at national and international level •16 multi-national companies via European Round Table of Industrialists + 10 Ministries/national science education platforms/universities/federations & associations•New partners can join any time


inGenious objectives


Education–Industry cooperation addressing

AttractivenessIn STEM

Supporting and federating

national initiatives

OfferingEuropeanExchange platform

Multistakeholder initiative

inGenious in a nutshell


Supporting and federating

national initiatives



Policy and Practices observatory

Core network of pilot schools for validation

Dissemination and engagement of extended network

Experts and teachers scientific committee/ Strategic group

Associate Partners

Immediate actions


Some examples of practices

• Xperimania chemistry workshops

Chemistry experiments designed by 12 year olds in Xperimania competition with CEFIC – chemical industry federation – taught to primary school children across Europe.

• Jet Net national platform

Pioneering national partnership between businesses and education system in Netherlands, acting as model for InGenious


“Student motivation and interest remains relatively low because they struggle to link school STEM experiences to their lives.”

Intel White Paper - Science, technology, engineering and mathematics education: Overcoming challenges in EuropeIntel, InGenious, Engineering UK & European Schoolnet

Latest publication: white paper


• Outlines state of STEM education in the EMEA region and reasons why the region’s future competitiveness in innovation is in peril

• STEM skills gap in European EMEA countries compared to other regions across the globe is widening: in Asian countries STEM students can account for up to 20% of the student population, whereas in Europe, this percentage is only around 2%.

Latest publication: white paper


• Proposes a systemic approach based on partnership to address multiple and complex factors at stake

Addressing range of factors


Why partnerships are so important


• Suggests steps locally and across participating countries in order to benchmark

• Highlights the role of science fairs and events in stimulating interest in STEM topics and careers , and the importance of equipping teachers in the context of a fast changing STEM industry and research scenario

• Outlines key priorities and successful models for scaling up STEM activities within the informal field as well as the formal education system

• Formulates a set of 5 recommendations to mainstream islands of innovation and deploy a systemic approach

Key priorities


• Recommendation 1: Establish and enhance multi-stakeholder partnerships to tackle the challenges of STEM education

• Recommendation 2: Enhance and reform STEM curricula, pedagogy and assessment

• Recommendation 3: Embed science fairs and festivals in the mainstream of school activity

• Recommendation 4: Offer more support to STEM teachers

• Recommendation 5: Learn from and build on excellent approaches

Recommendations


Sustainable multi-stakeholder partnerships to combine forces to tackle the challenges of STEM education

Recommendations

•The answers are scattered among many players…•Tackling STEM education challenges needs resources!•Local to international partnerships needed•Integrate objectives and goals at every level•Share common benchmarks and indicators


Enhance and reform STEM curricula, pedagogy and assessment

•STEM curricula get heavier and need revision

•Teachers need time and space to try out new methods

•Teach scientific method and competence, not only facts

•Need to include cutting edge topics that are relevant for society of the future

•Bridge the gap between formal and informal (museums, science fairs…)

•Be more inclusive

Recommendations


Embed science fairs and festivals in mainstream of school activity

Recommendations

•Science fairs should be for every student•Independent research project should be part of STEM curricula to develop autonomy & own interests•Help students who are not STEM enthusiasts to participate too•Build mentoring / coaching schemes for equal opportunities•Celebrate the winners more widely!


Give more support to STEM teachers

•STEM teachers need more training than the average teacher: STEM changes quickly!

•STEM teachers in Europe are demanding more training in innovative pedagogy (inquiry-based, collaborative, 21st century) and tools/resources to support it (ICT)

•Need for training on how to adapt pedagogy to excluded groups & attract wider group of students to STEM

•Support in reaching outside expertise: industry, museums, etc.

•Need for more rewards and mechanisms for peer learning

Recommendations


Learn from and build on excellent approaches

•There are lots of great ideas out there – but how to share them?

Recommendations

•Networking events for teachers and educators need to be more frequent & financially supported

•Online networking & sharing tools: communities, practice databases, mentoring, collaborative projects, video…

•Make sure that policy makers listen to great approaches – give them convincing data


Ideas… over to you!

•What would be the number one thing to change about educationpolicy for STEM education?

Points for discussion

•How to better support STEMteachers?

•What’s the best way to get students excited about STEMand STEM careers?

•Is there a really successful experience in your region that you want to share?


http://www.europeanschoolnet.orghttp://www.ingenious-science.eu

Contact: [email protected]

Thank you.

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www.europeanschoolnet.org - ingenious: motivating students for stem studies & careers tackling...

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