Promoting STEAM education through storytelling to boost girls’ interest in STEAM topics and potentially STEAM careers in the future.
Context
In a world that is constantly evolving, technology and innovation are more important than ever. However, women and girls remain significantly underrepresented in STEM fields, with only 26% of schoolgirls today interested in STEM subjects. In addition, teachers often find it challenging to encourage pupils’ interest in STEM subjects and explain their importance to younger children. In fact, STEM subjects are often seen as highly theoretical and children typically start learning STEM only later in their school years.
To support the early introduction of STEAM concepts, this project promotes the use of storytelling in STEAM education, with the addition of the creative element “A” for Art, as a method of presenting STEM topics in a way that younger children (6 to 9 years old) can easily relate to. The project will equip teachers with new skills and resources, such as ready-to-use lesson plans and hands-on experiments, as well as stories of women role models in STEM, to empower them to teach STEM subjects in a more engaging and stimulating way, creating inclusive learning environments, and encouraging girls of all backgrounds to pursue STEM careers.
Objectives
- Boost girls’ interest in STEM topics and STEAM careers in the future.
- Promote STEM education through storytelling and hands-on experiments.
- Create educational materials, including a guide, inspirational stories of women in STEM fields, and lesson plans with hands-on experiments.
- Empower teachers to enhance their and their pupils’ STEM knowledge.
- Build an inclusive learning environment for the development and excellence of STEM education.
Activities
- Research on the current state of STEAM education, focusing on the empowerment of girls and its relationship to storytelling in STEAM.
- Development of STEAM Tales pedagogical resources, including stories of women in STEAM, lessons and hands-on experiments.
- Three rounds of piloting of STEAM Tales resources and in schools.
Resources
- Introductory guide: “Empowering girls through STEAM: cultivating curiosity and creating opportunities”
- Assessment protocol on the impact of STEAM Tales resources on children
- 12 stories about women role-models in STEAM fields
- 24 STEAM experiments in connection to selected women in STEAM
- 24 STEAM pedagogical lesson plans
- STEAM Tales pedagogical guide on how to use storytelling in the formal learning process
Impact
- Improved quality and quantity of STEAM pedagogical resources available to local education institutions.
- Enhanced capacity of educators in using storytelling in STEAM education to support pupils’ learning and interest in STEAM subjects, while meeting the unique needs of children.
- Improved pupils’ knowledge and interest in STEAM areas.
- Raised awareness of storytelling in STEAM education and its benefits for the inclusion of children with fewer opportunities and those with learning challenges, with an emphasis on the inclusion of girls from all backgrounds, regardless of their religion or race.
- More than 30 primary school teachers from 5 countries involved in piloting phase.
- More than 250 children included in piloting phase.
Partners
- MIND – Mittelhessisches Institut für Nachhaltigkeit und Diversität gGmbHNome (Germany, coordinator)
- GoINNO Inštitut (Slovenia)
- CESIE (Italy)
- Universidade do Porto (Portugal)
- SCS LogoPsyCom (Belgium)
