1. Irina Kudenko Research and Evaluation Lead, National Science Learning Centre, Myscience co ltd inGenious: understanding the body of evidence in relation to STEM education Lessons from the EU project ECB- inGenious

2. Workshop Outline  ECB-inGenious at a glance  Students’ attitudes to STEM education and industries across Europe and in UK  Workshop activity 1  Factors that influence STEM career choice  inG outcomes and impacts  Workshop activity 2  ‘Best practice’ in STEM learning  Key lessons from inGenious

3. ECB- inGenious (2011-2014) to address economic and political concerns about the future of the European STEM workforce European Schoolnet and European Roundtable of Industrialists  Initiated by Video- inG A multi-stakeholder European programme in STEM education  Bringing together educators and businesses: 17 multinational companies 5 industry associations 18 public bodies and universities  focusing on STEM careers and industry-school collaboration  co-financed by the EC and industry partners (€ 8.3 M - 50/50)

4. Project Aim and Objectives To increase young Europeans’ interest in STEM education and careers by… coordinating, leveraging and building upon existing school/business/industry partnerships in the field of STEM education across Europe. Because education industry links benefit…  Organisations – schools, companies, charitable foundations, governments ;  Individuals – students, teachers, employers, employees;  Society – economy, citizenship, democracy

5. Because school/industry/business partnerships….  Subject specific knowledge and skills  Generic learning skills including: –literacy and numeracy  Employability skills including: problem-solving, decision making, communication, self-direction, teamwork, building relationships and leadership.  improve the links between STEM education and careers  support the development of: But …. How productive are these links? Can we make them more effective?

6.  Researched a)School – Industry partnerships (Theory /Practice/ Needs Analysis) b)views and attitudes of students and teachers + factors influencing career aspirations  Tested and evaluated existing innovations in STEM education  Created new innovative activities in STEM education, career advice and teacher development (face-to-face and online)  Created a European repository of educational activities and programmes in STEM subjects developed by industry partners (http://www.ingenious-science.eu/web/guest/practices )http://www.ingenious-science.eu/web/guest/practices  Developed a broader network of inGenious community inGenious has Pilot school network Practice example

7. What have we learnt from inGenious? What makes school-industry partnerships more productive and effective? How could teaching and learning of STEM subjects in schools be improved and enriched with industry expertise? So ….

8. research findings: pupils’ interest in STEM All pupilsGirlsBoysGender Gap 52%44%59%15%

9. research findings: Interest in STEM and age differences

10. research findings: how UK pupils compare to the rest?

11. Students who Agree or Strongly Agree with each statement (%) All students in the project UK only GirlsBoysALL Lessons in science and technology are among my most favourite subjects at school 48%64%56%54% I like mathematics more than most other subjects at school 40%49%45%42% I think school mathematics will have practical use in my daily life 66%67%66%81% School science and technology will help me with everyday practical problems 59%64%62%71% research findings: student views on STEM in school

12. research findings: teachers’ and students’ perception of STEM industry Choice of words from a pre-drawn list of attributes to describe:

13. research findings: STEM career aspirations Students who Agree or Strongly Agree with each statement (%) Project Overall GirlsBoysALL I would like to get a job related to science or technology 44%63%54% I like learning about jobs in industry, science and technology 57%72%64%

14. research findings: stereotypes in Primary school

15. Teacher Comments :  I teach in a lower secondary school in Italy and there's not many differences between boys and girls about interest in STEM even if girls prefer maths and boys prefer technology.  It´s not easy to engage pupils in STEM subjects. One of the reasons must be the difficulty they seem to have with maths. I am a secondary maths teacher in Portugal, and most of my students look at maths as a very big problem to solve, and to escape from as soon as possible.  I am teaching maths, electricity and electronics in a technical secondary school for more than 15 years. Every year I'm very glad if 1 girl has the courage to study industrial sciences in the 3rd year in our school. I'm sure that boys and girls react different to stimuli. Our school has done a lot of effort to introduce science and technology in the primary schools in our town. Both boys and girls are very interested, but parents are very important when they have to make a choice for STEM. online forum for the inGenious MOOC CPD course on Innovative approaches to teaching of STEM ) ( Workshop Activity 1: GROUP DISCUSSIONS followed by GENERAL DISCUSSION

16. Teacher Comments :  I teach in a lower secondary school in Italy and there's not many differences between boys and girls about interest in STEM even if girls prefer maths and boys prefer technology.  It´s not easy to engage pupils in STEM subjects. One of the reasons must be the difficulty they seem to have with maths. I am a secondary maths teacher in Portugal, and most of my students look at maths as a very big problem to solve, and to escape from as soon as possible.  I am teaching maths, electricity and electronics in a technical secondary school for more than 15 years. Every year I'm very glad if 1 girl has the courage to study industrial sciences in the 3rd year in our school. I'm sure that boys and girls react different to stimuli. Our school has done a lot of effort to introduce science and technology in the primary schools in our town. Both boys and girls are very interested, but parents are very important when they have to make a choice for STEM. online forum for the inGenious MOOC CPD course on Innovative approaches to teaching of STEM ) ( In groups : Reflecting on the results of the inGenious student attitudinal surveys, the below comments of the inGenious teachers and your own teaching experience discuss: −How similar or different is the situation with student attitudes to STEM in your school / your country? −What are the possible reasons for differences in student attitudes to STEM learning and careers?’ −State 3 main reasons/factors that affect their career aspirations and 3 possible solutions/ways to improve (10 min) Sharing of group discussion results (5 min) Workshop Activity 1: GROUP DISCUSSIONS followed by GENERAL DISCUSSION

17. Theory: What shapes student career choice? A. Students’ engagement in learning STEM subjects in school B. Information about careers and job opportunities C. Self-efficacy beliefs i.e. awareness of how one’s own knowledge, skills and personality traits fit requirements for STEM careers D. Social perception of the STEM careers and personal science capital* A D C B *Archer, L., DeWitt, J. and Willis, B. (2013), Adolescent boys' science aspirations: Masculinity, capital, and power. J. Res. Sci. Teach.. do: 10.1002/tea.21122

18.  41% of students said that they DO NOT learn about jobs and career opportunities in school (49% in UK!)  79% of teachers said their pupils knew little about job opportunities in STEM subjects  97% of teachers believed in the necessity of teaching STEM in a real- life context  96% felt that they need to know more about recent scientific discoveries and industrial applications  During 3 years preceding the project 45% of schools had no experience in running a hands-on activity provided by industry while 58% said that did not carry hands-on activities in which an industry representative participated Reality: before inGenious

19. I would like to get a job related to science or technology n=14141 disagreeagree I don’t learn about STEM careers in school 57%43% I learn about STEM careers in school 37%63% +20% Interest in STEM  Interest in STEM subject and enjoyment of lessons is a necessary pre-condition for career aspirations, yet it is not sufficient and many young people, especially girls, who generally like STEM, don’t think of it as their future career choice  School experiences of learning STEM subjects and receiving career advice are very important in moving STEM interest into career aspirations research findings: what explains career choices? Learning about STEM careers

20. Industry educational initiatives Theory: Types of industry initiatives: I.Provision and support for use of STEM learning resources II.First-hand communication of students with STEM professionals III.Access to industry premises or industry resource centres IV.Students’ first-hand experience of working on industry project However … Reality: Most existing industry initiatives in Europe and over 90% of activities piloted in inGenious focus on learning resources with only some of them suggesting other learning activities to accompany these resources. inGenious showed that most impact was achieved when different types of school –industry collaboration were integrated (e.g. use LR and invite industry experts for a debate)

21. Evaluation results : inGenious achievements Long-term impact on pupils' interest in STEM careers

22. Continuous and multi-dimensional school-industry engagement:  classroom practices developed by industry partners Classroom activities, learning resources, e-practices and e-chats with STEM industry experts  networking and professional development opportunities for teachers:  Face-to-face Teacher Summer Schools/ Academies/ Workshops with industry partners and colleagues  Online: Teacher communities of practice / chats / databases of resources / Online CPD courses / STEM ambassadors database How did we do it?

23. Project outcomes: teacher learning By the end of the project: -98% of teachers reported improvements in their ability to provide contextual teaching and to teach STEM careers. For over 80% the reported impact was high/medium -97% started regularly using industry resources in teaching -Majority of participating schools reporting establishing/improving their collaboration with local business and industry as well as increasing their engagement in international educational projects, e.g. Erasmus+ (former Comenius) school to school partnerships

24. What a typical industry initiative in STEM education looks like? Objectives To enthuse/motivate students to STEM by showing its attractiveness Target group Mainly SECONDARY and HIGH school pupils Implementation One-off project; school-based, a few hours long Evaluation Mostly focused on numbers and satisfaction Learning outcomes / impacts are rarely evaluated

25. Shortcomings of a typical S-I collaboration Objectives To enthuse/motivate Target group Mainly SECONDARY and HIGH school pupils Imple- mentation One-off project; school-based, a few hours long Evaluation Is often neglected and/or focused on numbers and satisfaction Liking science is not enough! Need to affect Psychological and Career information Factors Focus on Secondary school may be too late: Need to address both, primary and secondary levels Educational choices are not static Need long-term relationship for long-term impact Evaluation is important and needs to focus on intended objectives (industry and school objectives should be aligned BUT…

26. 1. Discuss the following question: What are the elements/characteristics of STEM learning activities that make the ‘best practice’ i.e. make activities effective, popular and impactful for STEM education and career learning? 2. List 5 key features that make an educational activity ‘best practice’ –from the point of view of teachers and –from the point of view of students Groups discussion 10min General discussion 5 minutes Workshop Activity 2: ‘Best practice’ GROUP DISCUSSIONS followed by GENERAL DISCUSSION

27. Overall, learning activities are more successful and achieved more sustainable impact on students, teachers and schools, when they are: Having a bank of well tried and tested materials and resources is not enough. Most of all, best practice takes place within a community of teacher learning and sharing – where a culture of continual improvement is the key feature of teacher advancement in that community.  well integrated with other activities and linked to school curriculum  providing different types of learning to challenge the range of students with a variety of student tasks, most essentially hands on /practical activities and interactive learning  flexible (i.e. could be used with a variety of abilities and age ranges)  challenging stereotypes and stimulating creativity and inquiry  with clear guidance (re: learning objectives, conditions of use, available resources, technical specs and prior subject knowledge required of the students)  in students’ native language Evaluation results: ‘best practice’ But…

28. ingenious-science.eu Key messages…..  Interest and enjoyment of STEM subjects are necessary pre-conditions for STEM career motivation of students, but learning of STEM careers and real-life applications of knowledge are crucial for raising student aspirations towards STEM careers, especially among girls.  STEM education has to be contextual (with real life examples and career learning) and multi-dimensional (with different types of industry initiatives supporting the learning)  inGenious helped teachers recognise that collaboration with industry partners is a catalyst for change  To provide high quality learning of STEM subjects and careers schools need external support from industry and business as part of long-term collaborations  This support has to include not only learning activities and resources, but opportunities for professional learning and networking for teachers and industry experts.