About the project

BRIEF PROJECT DESCRIPTION

The project "T.E.S.T.: Technologies for STEAM Teaching" responds to the Higher Education priority "Rewarding excellence in learning, teaching and skills development", by promoting, in line with the Digital excellence in learning, teaching and skills development", promoting, in line with the Digital Education Plan 2021-2027, innovative and quality teaching and learning through new technologies. Education Plan 2021-2027, innovative and high quality teaching and learning through new technologies and digital content for universities and teachers, especially in STEM+A disciplines, whose empirical nature is not compatible with distance learning.

Scientific, technological and artistic education, in fact, is based on students' experimentation in a laboratory, where theoretical models are confirmed, a practical, pragmatic, empirical orientation is provided, creativity and teamwork are stimulated. and teamwork are stimulated.

These aspects require European universities to evolve, in a digital key, the forms, methods and opportunities for teaching/learning and that These aspects require European universities to evolve, in a digital key, the forms, methods and opportunities for teaching/learning and call on the teaching staff to evolve towards the role of the Adaptive Teacher, able to supervise the teaching and learning process. able to control digital teaching tools and introduce teaching methods that combine virtual and laboratory learning (learning to learn). Learning by e-doing, as a testing ground for introducing elements of flexibility, simplicity, accessibility, interactivity and personalisation, which are key indicators of quality in open learning. open learning.

Therefore, the project focuses on the co-development of a Learning Programme, as a didactic framework for training trainers for the development of digital, methodological, design and communicative-relational competences, necessary to design, deliver and evaluate STEM+A students' learning processes conceived, conducted and implemented in virtual laboratories based on doing, communicating and relating. virtual laboratories based on doing, acting and operating.

The partnership will use the DIGCOMPEdu model and the UNESCO reference framework as a standard for teachers' e-skills. UNESCO reference framework.

GENERAL OBJECTIVES

1. Encourage a change in the mindset of university teachers to evolve into the role of the Adaptive Teacher

Allowing the pool of teachers involved to test the TEST (PR1) programme "in vitro", experiencing at first hand its effectiveness in terms of content and methodology in order to influence their mentality. content and methodological effectiveness to influence their mentality, technicality and ability to guide the digital transition of STEM+A courses.

2. To stimulate concrete changes in university pedagogical practices

The pool of mobile teachers will be provided with the teaching tools developed by the TEST project partners (PR2 and PR3). In particular, the teachers will benefit from experimental application sessions for a full control of the teaching technologies through an extensive role playing of the teaching tools.

3. Promote a methodological, technological and didactic alignment of a pool of teachers

The choice of developing, standardising and aligning distinctive didactic-methodological, technical and technological competences in a pull of European teachers will in fact allow to generate a " snowball effect " on the HE STEM+A systems of the partnership's HE STEM+A systems, encouraging the stable adoption of learning by e-doing in order to enhance the scientific and artistic know-how of EU students. scientific and artistic know-how of EU students by exploiting digital leverage to generate opportunities and situations of empirical e-experience of high educational value.

4. Experimenting the methodologies acquired

A key factor in the LTTA is the creation of a EUROPEAN TEACHER NETWORK, which will help to consolidate relationships and operational synergies in the HE supply chain. Teachers are a central element in the effectiveness of teaching and therefore need not only to develop competences in the fields of education and training,  but also to become real experts in learning processes, capable of:

  • transmit culture and values;
  • sustaining people's motivation;
  • accompany the digital acceleration of the range of blended e-learning offerings in STEM+A.

In order to achieve this objective, the LTTA will develop particular sensitivities to contribute to the design of initiatives with a strong innovative content, with a marked characterisation

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES

CO-DESIGN and IMPLEMENTATION of training programme by the partnership, whose teaching structure will be the result of a desk and field analysis process, which will be the first project result (PR1 - TEST Programme: trainers training for Adaptive teaching - Task 1, 2, 3).

DESIGN and IMPLEMENTATION:

  1. OPEN EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES which will support and expand over time the learning of the didactic contents foreseen by the training programme by further investigating issues related to the train-the trainer techniques and the innovative methodologies proposed and which will constitute PR2 - Open Educational Resources for learning by e-doing; 

  2. a methodological innovation TOOLKIT focused on learning by e-doing and on adaptive teaching between virtuality and laboratories, accompanied by case histories related to STEAM and support tools that constitute PR3 - TEST Toolkit: the Adaptive Teacher toolbox.

ORGANIZATION 5-DAY FULL IMMERTIONS LTTA: 

Once the first two objectives relating to the elaboration of the Training Programme (PR1) accompanied by the didactic support instrumentation (PR2-3) have been achieved. During the LTTA, the teachers involved will be the protagonists of a first in vitro testing of the 3 PRs in a fine-tuning perspective. As a result, they will form the first core of the TEACHER NETWORK which will gradually be alimented by the awareness raising and dissemination actions of the partnership through media and non-media channels.

MULTI-LEVEL TESTING ACTION:

Which will allow the partnership to finalize the Tasks 4 and 5 of PR1 - TEST Programme: trainers training for Adaptive teaching . This will take place through: 

  1. the provision by 40 teachers selected by the partnership of virtual laboratory lessons in the partner universities for classes of students to test the effectiveness of the model; 
  2. the conduction of train-the trainer sessions for other teachers to make them evolve in the role of Adaptive Teacher.

As a result of the testing phases, definitive PRs will be released.

EXPECTED RESULTS

Creation of a stable and multi-actor cooperation partnership between universities, consulting and training centres, international networks for quality assurance, to innovate the HE offer system with the systematic adoption of blended learning by e-doing by filling an evident and common didactic gap in response to the needs of students of STEM + A courses and to the current and future needs of the labour market.

Deliverables:

  • Memorandum of Understanding 
  • Map of the opportunities foreseen by regional, national and community calls, to implement and transfer the results in new contexts.

Systematic introduction of the framework developed by the project for the evolution of the teacher to the role of Adaptive Teacher in HE at European level and in teachers' skills reference frameworks

Project Result:

  • 1 Training programme for trainers for teachers of scientific and artistic faculties co-designed, tested and finalized (see PR1 - TEST Programme: train-the-trainer for Adaptive teaching)

Deliverables:

  • 50 teachers involved in the testing of the programme (20IT, 10ES, 5EL, 5HZ, 5AU, 5FR)
  • A further 200 teachers involved in the train-the-trainer actions conducted by the trained teachers
  • 200 students involved in the experimentation of the virtual laboratory teaching sessions

Systematic adoption of a European model of adaptive online teaching between virtuality and flexible, interactive and innovative laboratories

Project Result:

  • 10 interactive video training pills to further investigate the training techniques for trainers and the innovative methodologies proposed, including 2 with narrative branches, dedicated to empowering the relational, communicative and team leadership qualities of the Adaptive teachers essential in running virtual labs allowing them to access one or more branching scenarios, that, thanks to the use of small video clips, shot in first and third person, allow them to make choices that will influence the course of the story, thus being able to verify the consequences of the behaviours enacted/chosen in a cause/effect logic (see PR2 - Open Educational Resources for learning by e-doing)
  • 1 PILOT Toolkit accompanied by case histories related to STEM + A and support tools (See PR3 - TEST Toolkit: the Adaptive Teacher toolbox)
  • 4 Methodological alignment of a pool of teachers on the innovations to be introduced in university contexts

Deliverables:

  • 1 5-day LTTA
  • 1 Network of university teachers involved in STEM + A disciplines
  • Creation, through online socialization spaces, of networking opportunities, to aggregate ideas, experiences and skills