How to stimulate young people to choose careers in the STEM field? How to innovate teaching of the STEM subjects? The CHOICE project brings multidisciplinary and collaborative approach to the STEM education by involving students, teachers and other stakeholders in the development of STE(A)M-based Open Educational Resources (OER). The co-production workshops are just in progress!
Following the first research phase and the international training of over 30 teachers from Italy, Cyprus, Greece and Spain, innovative CHOICE OERs are being developed by teams of students, teachers and STEM experts in the implementing countries. The resources are based on the STE(A)M approach, which combines scientific, mathematical and technological disciplines with arts (A for Arts) and other academic disciplines (A for All). This approach, together with the co-productive methodology involving teachers, students and experts from business and academic field, makes it possible to create innovative resources, stimulating young generations’ interest in the STEM subjects.
The CHOICE resources deal with the following macro-areas:
- Arts and STEM disciplines
- Experiential projects
- Language teaching in the study of the STEM disciplines
- Using technology in social sciences
- Turning sport and physical activity into a STEM learning experience
In Palermo, the co-production workshops have been held at the Liceo Benedetto Croce since March 2021.
The first co-production team developed a resource combining Art and Math which is inspired by and called after the famous painting by Vincent van Gogh “The Starry Night”. This resource uses origami to bring Mathematics to life, and to link it with art and creativity while getting students actively involved in learning by doing. The students reproduced some elements and shapes of the famous Van Gogh‘s painting with origami forms, while deepening their understanding of some complex mathematical and geometrical theorems and principles.
The second co-production team took part in an experiential project focused on physics, chemistry and their application in ecology. The students carried out a series of laboratory experiments set in the context of an “Ecological House” that allowed them to explore and understand the production of energy from alternative sources (solar and wind energy), energy collection, storage and savings.
The third team worked on the resource applying technology in the social sciences, entitled “The winning strategies” and is focused on economics, mathematics and sociology. The students applied the theory of games and the theory of rational choice to solve the “prisoner’s dilemma” and to analyse the tactics chosen by an opponent and reasoning about their own tactics in a team play. In the process, they used digital tools such as spreadsheets to analyse and evaluate data.
Active participation of the students in the educational resource production was crucial in order to ensure that these could be of interest to their peers and in line with their own background knowledge.
In the following months, the last two resources will be developed, focusing on robotics and coding, and the role of STEM in sports and healthy lifestyle.
The CHOICE Open Educational Resources will be available for teachers and students on the CHOICE MOOC from September 2021.
About the project
CHOICE – Increasing young people’s motivation to choose STEM careers through an Innovative Cross-disciplinary STE(A)M approach to education is an Erasmus+ project, Key Action 3: European Forward-Looking Cooperation Projects in the fields of Education and Training
Partners
- CESIE (Italy, coordinator)
- Liceo scientifico Benedetto Croce (Italy)
- GrantXpert Consulting Ltd (Cyprus)
- Grammar school Nicosia (Cyprus)
- ΕUROTraining (Greece)
- Regional Directorate of Education of Western Greece (Greece)
- Blue Room innovation (Spain)
- Institut de Maçanet de la Selva (Spain)
- Lifelong Learning Platform (Belgium)
For further information
Read more about CHOICE see the project website and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Linkedin.
Contact Cecilie La Monica Grus: cecilie.lamonica@cesie.org.
