OrganKits - A new material for STEAM education based on plastination

OrganKits is an Erasmus+ educational project that promotes STEM learning in secondary education through the use of plastinated organ kits, digital tools, and challenge-based teaching resources. It connects science education with health, sustainability, inclusion, and wellbeing, offering teachers innovative materials to foster meaningful and motivating learning experiences

Basic information

Research information

Teacher information

Description

OrganKits is an Erasmus+ project designed to promote innovative STEM education in secondary schools through the use of real plastinated organs, digital resources, and challenge-based learning methodologies. The project was created to help students engage more deeply with topics related to health, anatomy, wellbeing, sustainability, and scientific inquiry, while also supporting teachers with high-quality, ready-to-use educational materials.

At the core of OrganKits is the idea that meaningful STEM learning can be greatly enhanced when students interact with authentic physical specimens and connect them with curricular content, social issues, and real-life challenges. For this reason, taking the plastinated organs in the center of each learning unit the project developed six thematic educational kits, each addressing a relevant dimension of health and wellbeing: CardioHealth & Emotions, NeumoHealth & Environment, NutriHealth & Wellness, MentalHealth & Mindfulness, SportsHealth & Dependence, and ReproHealth & Gender. These kits combine plastinated organs with pedagogical activities and digital support materials, enabling students to approach science in a more tangible, engaging, and interdisciplinary way.

The project also contributes to several Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being), SDG 4 (Quality Education), SDG 5 (Gender Equality), and SDG 15 (Life on Land). Through its educational approach, OrganKits encourages students to reflect on the relationship between science, personal health, social responsibility, environmental awareness, and inclusion. In this way, the project places STEM learning within a broader framework of citizenship and sustainable development.

OrganKits was implemented by an international consortium including schools and organisations from several European countries, which enabled the educational model to be tested and refined in different educational contexts. Through a design-based research approach, the project was validated in real classrooms, allowing partners to improve both the physical materials and the pedagogical model on the basis of evidence gathered from practice.

In addition to the physical kits, the project generated a broad range of outputs, including Educational Guides, Teacher Guides, open educational resources, an open digital library, and a teacher training MOOC. These outputs were designed to facilitate transferability, teacher empowerment, and wider educational impact beyond the original project partnership.

Overall, OrganKits offers a transferable and highly motivating educational model that combines hands-on learning, STEM integration, health education, and socially relevant themes, helping schools bring science closer to students in a more meaningful, innovative, and responsible way.

The European Commission support for the production of this publication does not constitute and endorsement of the contents, which reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

Basic information

Coordinator

Octavio López Albors, https://www.um.es/web/anatvet/quienes-somos/personal

Partners

Programme

Erasmus+ (programme-erasmus-plus)

Project Acronym

Target groups

policy makers, secondary school students, teachers, other

Topic

Biology, Biotechnology, Computer science, Ecology, Engineering, Environmental sciences, Gender in STEM, Maths, Medical sciences, Technology, Education

Start year

2022

End year

2025

Url

https://organkitsproject.eu

Contact person

Octavio López Albors, albors@um.es

OrganKits was developed and evaluated as a design-based educational intervention aimed at testing the feasibility and educational value of using plastinated anatomical specimens, structured teaching guides, and interdisciplinary STEAM activities in secondary education.

The model was implemented in two cycles across schools in Spain, Greece, Italy, and Turkey, combining quantitative and qualitative evaluation tools.

Quantitative evaluation included student motivation and satisfaction measures, together with teacher feedback on usability and pedagogical value. In the first implementation, 241 pre-questionnaires and 195 post-questionnaires were collected to analyse changes in student motivation.

The most relevant result was a statistically significant increase in intrinsic motivation: after the intervention, more students reported studying “because it is fun” (t-test p = 0.001). Additional significant improvements were also observed in items related to enjoyment, self-perception, participation, and the perceived importance of engaging in class activities. By contrast, no significant change was found in external motivation linked to avoiding trouble (p = 0.968), suggesting that the intervention mainly strengthened intrinsic rather than extrinsic motivation.

Student satisfaction with the materials was also high. In the first cycle, the plastinated-organ questionnaire included 152 students from four schools; in the second cycle, it included 201 students. Across both cycles, students consistently reported that the activities were engaging, that handling plastinated organs helped them understand body systems better, and that the resources made learning easier and more memorable. The second cycle confirmed the same positive pattern, reinforcing the internal consistency of the findings.

Teacher evaluation was similarly favourable. The kits were used repeatedly, in some cases more than five times, with the Cardiohealth, Mentalhealth, and Neumohealth kits being the most frequently used. Teachers reported high satisfaction with the plastinated specimens and the Educational and Teacher Guides. Reported benefits included increased student attention, curiosity, and improved understanding of complex or abstract concepts through direct 3D manipulation.

The qualitative evidence from four national focus groups involving 14 teachers further supports these findings. Across countries, teachers highlighted improved engagement, stronger interdisciplinary teaching, and better comprehension compared with textbook- or image-based approaches alone.

The project also identifies realistic limitations. The most frequent challenges were limited curricular time, logistics in large classes, and the need for more kits to allow simultaneous small-group work. Teachers also recommended additional support materials, especially descriptive organ cards, more digital resources, editable templates, real classroom videos, and collaborative spaces for teachers.

Overall, the project supports OrganKits as a promising and transferable model for hands-on STEM education, health education, and interdisciplinary school innovation, while also making clear that successful scaling depends on teacher support, curricular integration, and sufficient material availability.

Papers

OrganKits provides teachers with a complete classroom-ready educational package for implementing interdisciplinary STEAM projects in secondary education. The project combines real plastinated organs, structured teaching guides, and digital resources to support active, inquiry-based, and socially relevant learning. The materials were designed for secondary school students, although they can be adapted to different subjects, levels, and school contexts.

The core teaching materials are the six OrganKits: CardioHealth & Emotions, NeumoHealth & Environment, NutriHealth & Wellness, MentalHealth & Mindfulness, SportsHealth & Dependence, and ReproHealth & Gender. Each kit is delivered in a durable aluminium briefcase and includes several plastinated organs of animal origin such as pig stomach, heart and intestine, cow brain and elbow, sheep lungs, leg dissection, and male and female reproductive organs. These resources allow students to explore anatomy through direct observation and manipulation, making abstract concepts more concrete and engaging.

For teachers, the main pedagogical supports are the Educational Guides and Teacher Guides. The Educational Guides provide project maps, driving questions, interdisciplinary sequences, timing, grouping suggestions, resources, and rubrics, while the Teacher Guides offer methodological advice, safe handling recommendations, assessment guidance, and inclusive teaching strategies. Teachers in the evaluation report consistently described these guides as clear, useful, flexible, and easy to adapt, including for non-science teachers and for interdisciplinary work across several subjects.

The project also includes a Library of Open Educational Resources (OER) and a teacher training MOOC. The OER repository contains videos, interactive presentations, infographics, quizzes, and other materials that help teachers extend classroom activities, support student autonomy, and connect the physical plastinated materials with digital learning. The MOOC was conceived as a practical entry point for teachers who want to implement the model with confidence, even if they have limited previous experience with anatomy or problem-based learning.

In classroom practice, the activities were highly varied and adaptable. Teachers used the kits for guided observation, anatomical exploration, dissection-related analysis, bronchoscopy simulations, body painting, comparative anatomy, health campaigns, interactive quizzes, creative projects, and interdisciplinary tasks linking science with mathematics, literature, art, geography, and physical education.

The evaluation showed that these activities were especially effective in increasing student attention, curiosity, participation, and understanding, particularly because students could handle real specimens and relate learning to everyday life, health, and wellbeing.

OrganKits - A new material for STEAM education based on plastination

Description

Basic information

Papers

Teaching materials