- InGenious: motivating students for STEM studies & careers Tackling challenges in Europe Alexa Joyce

Dedicated to Support schools in bringing about the best use of technology in learning Promote the European dimension in schools and education Improve and raise the quality of education in Europe Network of 31 Ministries of 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 Index Vertical 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 studies Tech achievement also low (Eurostat figures)

Find secondary school STEM hard / boring Negative perception of jobs Low interest in tertiary STEM Low motivation in STEM Paradoxes: Many enjoy primary STEM STEM per se interesting Big consumers of “T” products Major factor School experience of STEM  Teacher is the key player

Motivate and recognised teachers Innovative pedagogy and 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 Teachers + industry: Excite students about STEM Demonstrate STEM skills = jobs Refresh school STEM Show STEM in life / society Fight stereotypes Show STEM careers Responsible STEM

Education–Industry cooperation addressing Attractiveness In STEM Supporting and federating national initiatives Offering European Exchange platform Multistakeholder initiative inGenious in a nutshell

Reinforce links between STEM education & careers in private sector Strengthening link between industry & education Lack of interest Future skills gap Challenges Repository of good practice European Exchange Platform Disseminate and stimulate best practices Federate national platforms and support new national platforms Initiatives inGenious in a nutshell

Supporting and federating national initiatives inGenious in a nutshell

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 Europe Intel, 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, 21 st 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 education policy for STEM education? Points for discussion How to better support STEM teachers? What’s the best way to get students excited about STEM and STEM careers? Is there a really successful experience in your region that you want to share?

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