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Teachers’ Professional Development (D3.1)
Mentor guidebook
Content
1. Introduction 4
2 Designing ATS STEM implementations 52.1 Defining the starting point 52.2 Overall understanding of the design template 62.3 Defining learning intentions 7
2.3.1 Targeted transversal competencies 72.3.2 Other learning intentions 8
2.4 Defining success criteria for targeted transversal competencies 82.5 Defining formative assessment strategies and digital tools 82.6 Defining implementation schedule 92.7 Reflection 92.8 Designing the following activity rounds 102.9 ATS STEM design principles 11
2.9.1 Problem Solving Design and Approaches 112.9.2 Disciplinary and Interdisciplinary Knowledge 122.9.3 Engineering Design and Practices 142.9.4 Appropriate Use and Application of Technology 152.9.5 Real-world Contexts 152.9.6 Appropriate Pedagogical Practices 16
2.10 Activities with teachers 17
3. STEM competencies 213.1 Collaboration 223.2 Problem-Solving 223.3 Creativity and innovation 233.4 Critical thinking 233.5 Discipline Knowledge and Skills 243.6 Self-regulation 243.7 Communication 243.8 Metacognitive Skills 253.9 Activities with teachers 26
4. Formative assessment in ATS STEM 274.1 Situating feedback 274.2 Feedback categories 284.3 Timing feedback 284.4 Formative assessment as cyclical process 29
4.5 Activities with teachers 30
5 Digital assessment tools 315.1 Recommended features 315.2 Defining assessment strategy and digital tools 325.3 Examples of digital tools 32
6. Integrated STEM - what and why? 366.1 Potential challenges of applying integrated STEM 376.2 Activities with teachers 38
7. Resources 417.1 ATS STEM YouTube playlists 417.2 Inspirational websites 41
1. Introduction
This material is targeted for the ATS STEM mentors, the teacher trainers who guide the
teachers to design and implement the integrated STEM projects in the ATS STEM pilot
schools. Mentors can use this material in face-to-face workshops and/or in online
workshops.
In addition to this guidebook, ATS STEM teacher training material contains
● Slideshow: How to design an ATS STEM implementation
● Slideshow: Introduction to ATS STEM framework
● Slideshow: printables
2 Designing ATS STEM implementations
All schools must respect the same design principles and template to fill in when designing an
ATS STEM implementation.
2.1 Defining the starting point
● Duration of lessons
eg. 45 min
● Number and year level of students
eg. 30 students of year 7
● Teacher(´s) responsible
eg. 1 mathematics teacher, 2 science teachers, and 1 special teacher
● Subjects / topics involved
eg. mathematics, science, arts
● Total amount of lessons during the implementation
eg. 15 lessons
● Artefacts produced during the implementation
eg. PowerPoint presentation
2.2 Overall understanding of the design template
● Design and implement STEM activity 1.
● Reflect on how it went: how well did the students develop the transversal competencies set as learning intentions.
● Design and implement STEM activity 2 that aims to develop the same competencies as the first round. Implement round 2 with the same group of students.
STEM activity 2 does not have to a further developed version of STEM activity 1 - it can be its own independent activity, as long as it promotes the same transversal competencies as the STEM activity 1.
● The template presents two rounds of activities. This is the minimum amount in ATS STEM project. However, if wanted, the schools are allowed to design and implement three or more rounds of activities. Each activity round must be based on reflection of the previous activity round.
2.3 Defining learning intentions
2.3.1 Targeted transversal competencies
● Teachers define the transversal competency-related learning intentions they will be formatively assessing with a selection of digital tools.
● Teachers must remember to not only mention the title, eg communication skills or critical thinking, but in a more detailed way specify what you they expecting the students to learn, and consequently, what is going to be assessed.
● For the best result, it is recommended to choose a moderate amount of targeted transversal competencies (2-3) to be formatively assessed with digital tools.
● There can be several competencies that can and will be developed during the activity, however, it is important to carefully specify the targeted transversal competencies that will be formatively assessed with digital tools.
● As a mentor, you can use the analogy of sports to understand this: When assessing a long jump performance, you have the run up, takeoff, flight and landing. When targeting to assess takeoff, a coach will choose an assessment strategy to pay special attention to takeoff. The coach will choose eg to use video program to record the takeoff, in order to analyse it more carefully. The athlete will still perform all the phases of the long jump, but the coach will focus particularly on assessing the takeoff.
2.3.2 Other learning intentions
● Teachers define all other learning intentions related to the STEM subjects or competencies.
● Teachers must note that all learning intentions must be communicated in a student-friendly way - it is important that both teachers’ and students understand the learning intentions of the activity.
2.4 Defining success criteria for targeted transversal competencies
For example, if teachers choose the transversal competence-related learning intention to be
communication skills, and more specifically “to negotiate and balance diverse views and
beliefs to reach workable solutions”, this is how they might want to create the success
criteria for it.
2.5 Defining formative assessment strategies and digital tools
Which digital tools teachers are going to use to formatively assess students' success in
relation to the targeted transversal competencies set as learning intentions? Name and
place the digital tools in the table. For example, if teachers are planning to use Padlet in
creating classroom discussion, ask them to place the name of the tool as demonstrated
below.
2.6 Defining implementation schedule
Teachers define the implementation schedule as follows.
Lesson no
Date and time
Short description of the lesson
Which step this lesson is related to
Targeted competencies
Formative assessment strategies
Digitals tool(s) utilized
2.7 Reflection
Formative assessment is a cyclical process involving the elicitation of evidence,
interpretation of evidence, and action based on that evidence. After the implementation of
STEM activity 1, teachers must to take time for reflection.
● What is my understanding of the student’s competencies targeted during STEM activity 1?
● How well did the digital assessment tools work in order to assess the targeted competencies?
● How would I better support the development of targeted competencies in the STEM activity 2?
2.8 Designing the following activity rounds
● In ATS STEM activity 2, same transversal competencies are targeted as in ATS STEM activity 1.
● Other learning intentions for STEM activity 2 can, and likely will be, different to those for STEM activity 1.
● The targeted transversal competencies are the same as in STEM activity 1. Hence, teachers can use the same success criteria.
● Different formative assessment strategies and digital tools can be chosen compared to the ATS STEM activity 1.
● And again, a schedule for the implementation needs to be planned.
Remember!
The focus of ATS STEM project is to investigate the possibilities of formative assessment with digital tools in the context of STEM. You can design and implement other types of assessment related to the STEM activities, however, you need to make sure that in each activity you:
● SPECIFY 2-3 TARGETED TRANSVERSAL COMPETENCY-RELATED LEARNING INTENTIONS
● DEFINE SUCCESS CRITERIA FOR THE TARGETED TRANSVERSAL COMPETENCY-RELATED LEARNING INTENTIONS
● CHOOSE SUITABLE FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT STRATEGIES AND DIGITAL TOOLS TO BE UTILISED IN SUPPORTING THE STUDENT LEARNING RELATED TO THE TARGETED TRANSVERSAL COMPETENCIES
2.9 ATS STEM design principles
The implementation design has to also follow the ATS STEM principles. Teachers do not
have to acknowledge all the principles during each activity. However, they need to make
sure that all boxes will be ticked during the two (or more) activities.
2.9.1 Problem Solving Design and Approaches
Integrated STEM should provide student experience activities that include problem solving
through both developing solutions and inquiry.
Teaching can be organised around problems and issues that are of personal and
social significance in the real world. Problem solving design and approaches include the
desire to apply prior learning and life experiences and the curiosity to look for opportunities
to learn and develop in a variety of life contexts.
2.9.2 Disciplinary and Interdisciplinary Knowledge
Integrated STEM education should require students to apply knowledge of mathematics,
technology, science and engineering, design and carry out investigations, analyse and
interpret data, and communicate and work with multidisciplinary teams.
The integration of knowledge areas involves obtaining a final product greater than the sum
of its individual parts. Designing integrated experiences providing intentional and explicit
support for students is important in order to build knowledge and skills both within the
disciplines and across disciplines.
Students’ knowledge in individual disciplines must be supported. Connecting ideas across
disciplines is challenging if students have little or no understanding of the relevant ideas in
the individual disciplines. However, students are often disinterested in science and math if
they learn in an isolated and disjointed manner, missing connections to crosscutting
concepts and real-world applications.
Currently, crosscutting connections remain implicit or can be missing all together. These
crosscutting concepts include patterns; cause and effect; scale, proportion, and quantity;
systems and system models; energy and matter; structure and function; and stability and
change.
The complexities of STEM disciplines’ interrelationships are captured by the following:
● Science is both a body of knowledge that has been accumulated over time and a
process—scientific inquiry—that generates new knowledge. Knowledge from science
informs the engineering design process.
● Technology, while not a discipline in the strictest sense, comprises the entire system of
people and organizations, knowledge, processes, and devices that go into creating and
operating technological artifacts, as well as the artifacts themselves. Much of modern
technology is a product of science and engineering, and technological tools are used in both
fields.
● Engineering is both a body of knowledge—about the design and creation of human-made
products—and a process for solving problems. Engineering utilizes concepts in science and
mathematics as well as technological tools.
● As in science, knowledge in mathematics continues to grow, but unlike in science,
knowledge in mathematics is not overturned, unless the foundational assumptions are
transformed. Mathematics is used in science, engineering, and technology.
During the knowledge construction process, the teacher’s role is as a coach and facilitator
rather than a dispenser of knowledge, as the focus is on problem-centred learning, inquiry-
based learning, design-based learning, cooperative learning and other aspects, such as
project-based and performance-based tasks.
Making crosscutting STEM connections is complex and requires teachers to teach STEM
content in deliberate ways so that students understand how STEM knowledge is applied to
real-world problems. Crosscutting concepts provide students with connections and
intellectual tools that are related across the differing areas of disciplinary content and can
enrich their application of practices and their understanding of core ideas. Locating
crosscutting practices will help students identify similarities in the nature of work conducted
by scientists, technologists, engineers, and mathematicians, and could help students to
make more informed decisions about STEM career pathways.
2.9.3 Engineering Design and Practices
Engineering design should be used as a catalyst to STEM learning. The model presented
below can be utilised during the classroom application process. The steps followed during
the engineering design process are:
1. Groups define the problem, which requires understanding the needs of the “client” and
all of the task constraints.
2. Groups brainstorm potential solutions or solution methods and select an initial design.
3. Groups go through iterative cycles of building, testing and evaluating, and researching,
which often leads to redesign. During the test and evaluate step(s), the task constraints are
continually revisited to make sure that all the conditions have been met and that the
solution adequately addresses the problem.
4. The final step in the process involves some form of public sharing of solutions and
solution methods.
2.9.4 Appropriate Use and Application of Technology
During the STEM integration process, technology can either be viewed as a tool to facilitate
teaching or a product or service produced as part of classroom practices.
Some examples of technology use in the classroom practices include the use of simulations
and 3D technologies, developing robots, virtual reality and programming.
2.9.5 Real-world Contexts
Connecting the discipline matter to real-life makes it more meaningful to students. Instead
of being taught in a vacuum, disciplines should be brought to life through students needing
to use it in order to solve real problems.
The context for school level implementations in ATS STEM is the United Nations Sustainable
Development Goals that direct action on the part of all nations towards improving life on
our planet by 2030. Pilot schools are free to specify and define how they wish to approach
the umbrella context.
2.9.6 Appropriate Pedagogical Practices
A range of appropriate pedagogical and classroom practices can be applied, eg:
● Inquiry-based teaching method
● Project-based teaching method
● STEM-based modelling activities
● Teaching through instructional pedagogy
● Teaching through the engineering design process
● Teaching with grade-appropriate materials and encompassing hands-on, minds-on,
and collaborative approaches to learning
● Using appropriate technologies, such as modelling, simulation, and distance learning
to enhance learning experiences and investigations
● Using authentic learning activities
● Creating products and/or solving problems that can be made or solved using
engineering principles
2.10 Activities with teachers
Introducing sustainable development as a context
This activity supports teachers in introducing the UN sustainable development context to
their students.
The ATS STEM teacher training material provides Agenda 2030 cards that include three
cards for each goal. The first card presents a summary of the goal. The second card provides
a short task related to the goal. It is possible to build a circuit activity with these cards. The
third card presents a broader task related to the goal.
The cards can be found here:
bit.ly/agendacards
Idea refinery
Sometimes it can be difficult to keep up with a hectic conversation and ensure everyone’s
voice is heard. Elaborating on a comment by someone else may be overwhelmed by the rest
of the discussion. The idea mill serves as an orientation and generates new ideas. The
concept of idea sharing is essential and embedded in this activity.
For this activity you need a long table covered with kraft paper (or other paper you can roll
out). Teachers sit at the table with marker pens, so that there is paper in front of everyone.
The mentor times the activity: 2 minutes of writing, followed by changing seats and repeat.
A suitable number of exchanges is 4-6.
1. Teachers begin to write freely about the topic: Sustainable development as a project
theme.
2. After two minutes, the facilitator gives a signal and everyone moves two chairs along.
3. At the new chair, teachers read what the previous author has written and continues with
or elaborates on the previous author's idea until the mentor gives a new signal.
4. After the final seat change, teachers return to their starting positions and read how the
text that they started has evolved during the activity. The facilitator asks the teachers to
pick the most important or inventive points of view from the texts. Discuss interesting
aspects in the texts.
Prioritizing clock
Which aspects and factors are the most important to take into consideration when
designing a STEM project in a school?
1. Independent work (10 min)
Write down specific aspects you think are the most important to take into consideration
when designing a STEM project in a school.
2. Form pairs / small groups (15-30 min)
● Tell each other what you wrote in your paper and why.
● Together, select the five things that were the most important
to you, and write them down on the template.
● Use arrows to prioritize: each box draws an arrow into the
other boxes - the arrow points to the box that is considered
to be more important / relevant / acute in order to plan a
successful STEM project.
3. Join two pairs or small groups together into Double Teams (15-30 min)
● Tell the other team which three things had the most arrows and why.
● Write them down on the new template.
● Again, use arrows to prioritize like in the previous phase.
4. Discussion
What was discovered? How should and could that be acknowledged and addressed when
designing a STEM project in a school?
Appreciative Inquiry
The topic of this activity is the six principles of designing an ATS STEM project.
1. Begin by having teachers form pairs or small groups. Each group creates a specific focus
within the topic. (e.g. appropriate use and application of technology)
2. Ask teachers to recall past successes in this area and discuss the conditions for the
success: What was it, how did it happen, and how could we do more of this in the future?
3. Examples from small group discussions are shared with all, and the facilitator helps the
group move from anticipated simple or “politically correct” examples to those that are
based in a genuine, heartfelt pride.
4. Each group writes “provocative propositions” related to success. The provocative
propositions are affirmative statements about future expectations of success based on past
success that challenge the status quo.
These statements could and should:
● Challenge or interrupt the current day-to-day reality
● Be grounded in past examples
● Be what everyone really wants
● Be bold
● Be stated in the present tense as if the future success was occurring right now.
3. STEM competencies
It is no longer a case of simply knowing some facts in a single domain and/or how to use
tools in order to stay effective and competitive in an increasingly complex society. For future
STEM careers, it is the competencies that students should develop in their schooling years
that matter the most.
It is broadly recognised that integrated STEM education allows students to develop a range
of transversal competencies. A competence is a complex ability that is closely related to
performance in real life situations. The European Commission defines competences as a
combination of knowledge, skills and attitudes, stating that:
● Knowledge is composed of the concepts, facts and figures, ideas and theories which are
already established, and support the understanding of a certain area or discipline.
● Skills are defined as the ability to carry out processes and use the existing knowledge to
achieve results.
● Attitudes describe the disposition and mind-set to act or react to ideas, persons or
situations.
Many countries have established competencies in their curriculas. In ATS STEM, countries
can utilize the country’s specifically defined competencies. However, below you can find a
list of the 8 categories of competencies that are most often identified in STEM research
literature.
The European Commission and OECD have also identified generic competences that are
considered essential for every individual to successfully flourish in life. It is significant to
note that these general competencies have a considerable overlap with the 8 STEM
competencies listed below.
3.1 Collaboration
Collaboration is the most frequently mentioned competence in integrated STEM
education research. Collaboration refers to working with someone to produce something,
and it can be linked to or have an impact on other skills and competences.
There is increasing emphasis on the importance of learning to work collaboratively and
productively with others in groups for participating effectively in society.
Peer collaboration can help students be successful with challenging tasks and move beyond
their current state of knowledge. Furthermore, working collaboratively and team learning,
in a spirit of co-creation, enhances key competences essential for
the 21st century and can lead to benefits that are greater than the sum derived from the
constituent parts. It can support people becoming enthusiastic promoters of inquiry-
oriented learning and portraying positive views of science.
3.2 Problem-Solving
The second most frequently mentioned competency in integrated STEM education is
problem-solving. Problem-solving can be defined as the process of finding solutions to
difficult or complex issues.
Integrated STEM should provide student experiences with activities that include problem
solving through both developing solutions and inquiry. Teaching integrated STEM not only
needs to focus on content knowledge but also to include problem-solving skills and inquiry-
based instruction.
Teaching can be organised around problems and issues that are of personal and social
significance in the real world. Adopting such an approach not only develops students’
problem-solving skills; it also helps to integrate meaningful content and leverages their
ability to contextualise concepts to real-life situations.
3.3 Creativity and innovation
The third competence identified as being central to integrated STEM is creativity and
innovation.
Innovation is a highly interactive and multidisciplinary process and/or product that rarely
occurs in isolation and is closely related to everyday life. Students of all ages should be
inspired to be innovative and entrepreneurial in their approach to generating ideas and
applying them to solving problems and helping develop sustainable responses to society’s
challenges.
Cultivating the development of creativity can help develop literacy, digital competence,
entrepreneurship, cultural awareness and expression competence. For example,
competence in cultural awareness and expression involves having an understanding of and
respect for how ideas and meaning are creatively expressed and communicated in different
cultures and through a range of arts and other cultural forms.
3.4 Critical thinking
Critical-thinking is referred to in the studies as one of the core competencies as often
as creativity and innovation. The importance of learning to think critically, to analyse and
synthesise information in order to solve interdisciplinary problems is an important
competence for participating effectively in society.
3.5 Discipline Knowledge and Skills
Disciplinary knowledge and skills not only refers to each discipline in isolation but also the
combination of these disciplines. Indeed, the European Commission considers STEM
competence which includes knowledge, skills and attitudes of STEM disciplines as one of the
core lifelong learning competences.
Designing learning experiences for students that engage them in authentic, real-world
design challenges enables the development of these core skills and disciplinary knowledge
across and between the combined STEM disciplines.
3.6 Self-regulation
Self-regulation refers to self-management and self-development, which includes the
personal skills needed to work remotely, in virtual teams; to work autonomously; and to be
self-motivating and self-monitoring.
One aspect of self-management is the willingness and ability to acquire new
information and skills. In addition, social and emotional skills, such as empathy, self-
awareness, respect for others and the ability to communicate, are becoming essential as
classrooms and workplaces become more ethnically, culturally and linguistically diverse.
It is noteworthy that these non-cognitive skills serve to promote the acquisition of cognitive
skills early in a child's development but the relationship does not appear to be reciprocal.
3.7 Communication
It is undeniable that communication is an inevitable part of our daily lives. It is not only an
inevitable part of social relationships but also a significant part of work life success, as
employers value the ability to communicate clearly and appropriately.
A skilled communicator selects key pieces of a complex idea to express in words, sounds,
and images as a way to build shared understanding. Skilled communicators
negotiate positive outcomes with others through social perceptiveness, persuasion,
negotiation, instruction, and service orientation. The importance of being able
to communicate skilfully cannot be underestimated. In fact, as our classrooms and
workplaces become more ethnically, culturally and linguistically diverse, the ability to
communicate across these diverse populations is paramount.
3.8 Metacognitive Skills
Metacognition is defined as the scientific study of an individual’s cognitions about his or her
own cognitions. Cognition is a mental process that includes memory, attention, producing
and understanding language, reasoning, learning, problem-solving and decision making. It is
often referred to as information processing, applying knowledge, and changing preferences.
The development of metacognitive skills deserve greater attention when one considers that
metacognition and emotions play a critical role in learners' ability to monitor and regulate
their learning about 21st century skills related to STEM content.
3.9 Activities with teachers
Alias
List the transversal competencies of your country’s curriculum
1. Form groups of 4 teachers, and 2 pairs in each group. Each pair decides who is going to be
the explainer and who the guesser.
2. The explaining teacher picks a competence and tries to explain to the guesser what
teaching and developing that competence means and looks like in practice.
3. After 2 minutes, it is time to let the other pair try. The pair that guesses the most
competencies correctly wins the game.
The activity aims to disclose the thinking of teacher colleagues.
4. Formative assessment in ATS STEM
For formative assessment to be valid, it must lead to further learning. If a formative
assessment does not support student learning, it cannot be said to be valid for its intended
purpose. Thus, attention to student learning that occurs as a result of formative assessment
is an essential part of the assessment’s validity.
Given the importance of consequences for establishing validity in formative assessment, and
the central role that feedback plays in formative assessment, a consideration of what
constitutes effective feedback is warranted. Arguably, the only important thing about
feedback is what students do with it. While there is no way to guarantee that students will
make use of feedback in a given situation, there are some forms of feedback that stand a
greater chance of being effective than others.
4.1 Situating feedback
● Pay attention to articulating ultimate goals for students (“Feed Up”)
● Give students an indication of their progress (“Feed Back”)
● Show students where they should move to next (“Feed Forward”)
Attention to the ultimate goal is essential when providing students with feedback. If
feedback is not focused on advancing students’ progress towards goals, then it cannot be
used to improve student learning.
4.2 Feedback categories
Feedback can fall into one of four categories:
● Feedback about a specific task
● Feedback about a process
● Feedback related to self-regulation
● Feedback directed at the personal self.
Feedback related to process and self-regulation is most helpful in advancing student
learning. Limited task-oriented feedback may also be useful; however, feedback directed at
the personal self is not helpful because it focuses on the student as a person rather than
being directed towards the instructional goal (e.g., “You did a great job!”).
4.3 Timing feedback
Time is also an essential variable contributing to the use of feedback by students. Teachers
must plan for and organise time both to provide feedback, and to help students to make
sense of and use the feedback. If feedback is provided to a student, but the lesson
immediately moves on, there is no real opportunity for the student to learn from the
feedback that was provided.
4.4 Formative assessment as cyclical process
Formative assessment is a cyclical process involving the elicitation of evidence,
interpretation of evidence, and action based on that evidence. There are five strategies
supporting this process:
● Clarifying, sharing, and understanding learning intentions and criteria for success;
● Engineering effective classroom discussions, questions, and tasks that elicit evidence of
learning;
● Providing feedback that moves learners forward;
● Activating students as instructional resources for one another; and
● Activating students as owners of their own learning.
4.5 Activities with teachers
Assessment pie chart
This activity aims to clarify which aspects or methods of assessment are being used. What is
the current practice in your assessment? What would the shared ideal assessment practice
look like?
1. Individual work:
Write down how the aspects/methods of assessment are currently implemented in your
teaching. Place the aspects in the “nutritious assessment pie chart”, according to how big
each slice is of your overall assessment practice.
2. Group work:
Form small groups of 2-4 teachers.
Move forward to the next pie chart and come up with a recommendation of how the
situation should be. In other words, create an ideal “nutritious assessment pie chart”.
3. Discuss:
Which aspect is the most central / important, and why? Compare the individually made
chart and the one produced together. How does the current assessment practice differ from
the shared ideal one? What could or should be done to reconcile these differences?
5 Digital assessment tools
Schools choose which digital tool they want to utilize in their implementations. However,
there are some guidelines to follow.
5.1 Recommended features
Interest in technology enhanced formative assessment has grown rapidly within the past
few decades. One of the main reasons for this is the potential for technology to either
deploy or enable the provision of feedback in a timelier manner. Technology enhanced
assessments may also be able to measure constructs and processes that were previously
inaccessible.
Functional
Supports 1) sending and displaying (eg. a classroom response system where students reply
to items using phones or tablets and results are displayed for the class), 2) processing and
analysing (eg. a data dashboard summarizing student performance), and 3) interactive
environment (eg. software for allowing students to explore geometrical drawings)
Flexible
Supports the assessment of different types of learning
Practical
Requires teacher professional development but is relatively easy and cost effective to use
Useful
Helps to improve learning by facilitating timely feedback focused on learning outcomes and
goals
5.2 Defining assessment strategy and digital tools
As described earlier this guidebook (chapter 2.5), when designing an ATS STEM
implementation, teachers must decide the formative assessment method they are going to
use to assess students success in relation to the targeted transversal competencies set as
learning intentions, and a suitable selection of digital tools to do that with.
This table serves as a template to guide and communicate these decisions. For example,
if teachers decide to use Padlet in creating classroom discussion, they place the name of the
tool as demonstrated below.
Sending and/orDisplaying
Analysing and/orProcessing
Interactive environment
- Sharing learning intentions- Clarifying success criteria
- Questioning- Classroom discussions
Padlet
- Giving feedback- Using feedback
- Self-assessment- Peer assessment
5.3 Examples of digital tools
Name Description Suitable for competencies
Source
TagCrowd Used to create word clouds from a document, URL link or text. Available in several languages.
Problem-Solving, Communication, Metacognitive skills
https://tagcrowd.com
Google Forms Used to design and distribute questionnaires online through a link that can be sent by email or by placing it on a website. You can also extract the results in a spreadsheet for data analysis.
Collaboration, Problem-solving, Communication
https://docs.google.com/forms
Sketch up Used for 3D modeling in architecture, video games, and civil engineering. Possibility of publishing the models.
Creativity and innovation
https://www.sketchup.com
Kahoot Allows students to answer tests and questions in a simple and dynamic way. The answers are obtained in real time creating a playful learning. It allows team working on diverse subjects. Free for Android or iOS.
Collaboration, Communication
https://kahoot.com
Plikers Allows students to answer tests and questions in a simple and dynamic way. The answers are obtained in real time creating a playful learning. It allows team working on diverse
Collaboration, Communication
https://get.plickers.com
subjects. Free for Android or iOS.
App Inventor Intuitive visual programming environment to create Android apps easily. This way the students will be able to become familiar with the development of software and create technology.
Problem-solving, Critical thinking, Creativity and innovation
https://appinventor.mit.edu
Nearpod Gives the option of creating exercises that students can access from their devices and collaborate among them in real-time (through collaboration board). Every answer can be displayed on the teacher's smartboard or projected screen.
Collaboration, Problem-Solving, Self-regulation
www.nearpod.com
Padlet Teachers can create special brainstorm sessions where they invite students to discuss some topics. It has a feedback tool to provide an assessment of students’ work.
Collaboration, Problem-Solving, Critical thinking, Creativity and innovation
https://padlet.com/dashboard
GoLabz Used to create lessons or projects of longer duration. Allows integration of multiple tools serving different purposes (to check their transversal skills development) and give statistical data to the teacher.
Problem-Solving, Critical thinking, Discipline Knowledge and Skills, Communication, Metacognitive Skills
https://www.golabz.eu
Glogster EDU Allows students and educators to create interactive online posters
Critical thinking, Problem solving, Creativity and
https://edu.glogster.com
that include text, photos, videos, graphics, sounds and much more. Students and teachers have the opportunity to use Glogster as a vessel for creative thought, critical thinking, and problem solving by using images and other media to initiate student participation.
innovation
Tiki Toki Free web-based software that allows to create interactive and visually stimulating timelines.
Creativity and innovation
http://www.tiki-toki.com
Screencastify Record, edit, and share videos.
Creativity and innovation
https://www.screencastify.com/
More examples and inspiration of digital assessment tools can be found eg. from
www.toptools4learning.com.
6. Integrated STEM - what and why?
Integrating STEM disciplines (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) is a
central concern of educational policy makers across the world. Different reasons are
provided to justify support to promote STEM education, for example:
● catching up with economic competition,
● social, environmental and/or economic development,
● innovation,
● attracting STEM students for job markets, and
● reducing the gender gap in STEM
There is global recognition within the labour market of the imminent shortages of STEM
workers at all levels, both those working in professional and in other roles. Demand for
STEM professionals and associate professionals is expected to grow more than 2.5 times the
rate of the overall labour market through 2025.
When the traditional barriers between STEM disciplines are removed, integrated curriculum
provides opportunities for less fragmented, and more relevant, stimulating experiences for
learners. STEM integration means simultaneously developing multiple STEM learning
objectives in learning experiences. Context should be the backbone of STEM education. This
requires that the chosen contexts should imply complex phenomena or situations via tasks
that require students to use knowledge and skills from multiple disciplines.
STEM education strengthens student skills for transferring knowledge acquired between
different contexts. Integrating all four STEM disciplines improves student knowledge in the
different STEM disciplines and facilitates their connection.
While this approach has many benefits, it is difficult to implement as the traditional
segmented or ‘silo’ approach to the delivery of curriculum disciplines has dominated
educational systems in many countries. Educational systems currently fail to help students
understand how to solve real-world problems using knowledge gained through STEM
disciplines.
6.1 Potential challenges of applying integrated STEM
The potential challenges that teachers may encounter are:
● lack of time to teach STEM
● lack of instructional resources
● lack of professional development
● lack of administrative support
● lack of knowledge about STEM disciplines
● lack of parental participation
● reluctance of teachers to collaborate.
There are a range of perceived barriers and challenges that seem to be impacting the
implementation of an integrated STEM approach which include:
● pressure to prepare students for exams and tests
● insufficient technical support for teachers
● school space organisation (classroom size and furniture, etc.)
● budget constraints in accessing adequate content and materials for teaching
● lack of pedagogical models of how to teach STEM in an attractive way
6.2 Activities with teachers
Speed dating
Ask teachers to stand up during the activity. Print a list of questions or display the questions
on a screen.
For the first chat round, ask teachers to find a colleague that they don’t usually discuss with
or they don’t work with often.
As a facilitator, time 2 minutes and then ask the teachers to change their chat partner. Repeat.
Questions:
● What is your biggest professional strength related to interdisciplinary teaching?
● What is your biggest professional challenge related to interdisciplinary teaching?
● What aspect of STEM intrigues you the most?
● What aspect of STEM are you the most skeptical of?
● What do you hope to achieve by participating in the ATS STEM project?
● What are your worries about participating in the ATS STEM project?
● What kind of experience do you have of interdisciplinary teaching?
Graffiti
Divide teachers randomly around four tables. Each table has a large blank sheet of paper
with a heading on it, and each teacher has a marker pen.
Headings are: 1) STEM and the future of work life, 2) STEM and real-world contexts, 3)
Disciplinary vs. interdisciplinary learning, and 4) Gender gap in STEM related careers.
1. Silent work for 7 minutes:
Teachers circulate their table slowly and write or draw thoughts, points of view, ideas,
questions and comments about the heading (concrete or abstract).
2. Changing tables, silent work continues for another 7 minutes.
3. Silently inspect the graffiti on different tables for 5 minutes.
4. Ask teachers to choose a table that interests them the most, and then to have a group
discussion about that graffiti.
Negative brainstorm
This activity serves as a tool to dissolve presumptions, doubts and fears regarding
everything that could go wrong when designing, implementing and assessing STEM projects.
1. Brainstorm different ways to fail in designing, implementing and assessing STEM projects.
Use bullet points or numbers when making notes.
2. Now, have another brainstorm where you create solutions to the threats listed in the
previous phase. Aim to be as realistic as possible. So, if the challenge is “insufficient funding
for field trips”, the solution should be more constructive than just “more money”; instead
aim to come up with more creative solutions such as “utilizing online visits”.
7. Resources
7.1 ATS STEM YouTube playlists
Playlist 1: Short videos of teachers, experts, researchers, etc from different countries communicating experiences and knowledge about STEM. Produced by the ATS STEM partners.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5iHr-S9zl0A&list=PLGzhyiftVxIknmfZesaZd7WEAPuucjBNp
Playlist 2: STEM related videos collected in the playlist.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6yYg1BbnWA&list=PLGzhyiftVxIn6k64CbLH0cf59uiupmJKW
7.2 Inspirational websites
● https://www.stem.org.uk/resources
● https://intranet.bloomu.edu/stem-resources
● https://sites.nationalacademies.org/DBASSE/BOSE/Science-Investigations-and- Design/index.htm
