13th Scientix Projects' Networking Event:

STEM IN PRIMARY EDUCATION

The 13th Scientix Projects' Networking Event (SPNE) on "STEM in Primary Education" was held at European Schoolnet in Brussels, Belgium, on 27 June 2018, from 9:30 to 15:30 Central European Summer Time (CEST).

Research shows that interests influence future career choices and attitudes to science acquired in school impact a person’s relationship to science and technology in adult life. Therefore, it is crucial to ignite that interest in pupils at an early age. According to the European Commission (EC), science teaching at the level of primary schools has a strong long-term impact, which corresponds to the time of construction of intrinsic motivation, associated with long-lasting effects.

The 13th SPNE brought together project and organisation representatives activating in STEM education to discuss these concerns and explore best practices in encouraging STEM teaching at the level of primary schools. The event ran in conjunction with a week-long training for primary school teachers, co-organised by Scientix, on the topic of “Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics in primary school classrooms”.

20 participants joined the 13th SPNE, including experts, and project and organisation representatives working on the topic, as well as researchers, teachers, policy makers, SMEs and other interested education practitioners. Additionally, 21 primary school teachers, who were attending a week-long course at the Future Classroom Lab by European Schoolnet about STEM in primary education, participated in the first section of the programme.

The main aims of this 13th Scientix Projects Networking Event, co-organised by Scientix, GFOSS – Open Technologies Alliance, Cell EXPLORERS and NUI Galway, were at:

• Sharing experiences and initiatives addressing innovative STEM teaching in primary schools.
• Reflecting on the role of STEM training for primary school generalist teachers.
• Explore a set of good practices in motivating students into science from early ages.
• Defining a set of recommendations of follow up actions in the area of STEM in primary education.

The organisers collected ideas, comments and general conclusions agreed between participants during the workshop. The results of the discussion will be published in a Scientix Observatory article co-authored by all participants. For more information on Scientix observatory papers, please see: http://scientix.eu/observatory

Presentations:

Welcome presentation by Scientix

Presentations by the co-organisers

• GFOSS – Open Technologies Alliance: Open Technologies and STEM education
• The Cell EXPLORERS programme

Guest presentations

• Augmented reality, coding and robotics in primary school
• STIMEY: STEM for Primary Education with Socially Assistive Robotics
• Research on Internet safety and personal data concerning young people at schools
• Stories of Tomorrow: Students Visions on the Future of Space Exploration
• STEM Programme at Anatolia College Kindergarten and Elementary School
• Teaching with Space: Universe in the Classroom
• Saturdays of Science: promoting STEM education in primary schools

Disclaimer:

This event is supported by the European Union’s H2020 programme project Scientix 3 (Grant agreement N. 730009), coordinated by European Schoolnet (EUN). The event is the sole responsibility of the organizers and it does not represent the opinion of the European Commission (EC), and the EC is not responsible for any use that might be made of information contained. GFOSS – Open Technologies Alliance is a non-profit organization founded in 2008, including 36 Universities and Research Centres.