Promoting Digital Learning in STEM Subjects

The objective of the project was to increase digital and pedagogical competence of HEI educators and availability of digital resources in STEM subjects on a large scale to achieve long-lasting eff...

The overall aim was to increase HEI educators' digital and pedagogical competence and availability of digital resources in STEM subjects on a large scale to achieve long-lasting effects in everyday activity on the project partners and other European HEIs. By increasing such competences of educators, it should give them tools and knowledge to produce and implement digital resources and activities (e.g. learning analytics, digital languaging, screencasts, visualisations, and intelligent assessment) for different personalised learning scenarios in pedagogically meaningful ways. This is expected to increase digital competence and skills among the secondary target group (students), to motivate and engage students. The focus was on the combination of pedagogics and technology.

The project implemented the DigiSTEM methodology, which encapsulates innovative pedagogies, best practices, and concrete examples for implementing digital learning and teaching of STEM and similar subjects. Following this methodology, the project planned and produced learning materials for STEM educators and has published two MOOC courses under the Moodle platform: Teaching STEM Subjects Digitally and Pedagogy for Teaching STEM Subjects Digitally. The materials were created by STEM educators from each of the partners, and further modified by experts in accessibility in order to make them more useful for different types of learners. Another concrete form of implementation was the organisation of Learning, Teaching and Training activities (LTTs) aimed for STEM teachers in the partner countries to test and learn about the materials being created. Altogether 3 LTTs were organised, and the feedback gathered from the participants was used to further develop the learning materials and MOOC courses. The project also carried out other multiplier events to increase awareness of the project, its methodology and the up-coming materials. The final event of the project was The DigiSTEM International Conference: Innovating Education through Digital Transformation (ICIEDT 2024) organised by the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science at the Technical University of Civil Engineering Bucharest. It brought together HEI STEM educators from different European countries – also outside the project partners – to give presentations about topical subjects in the field of STEM education. The event also invited local university students to present their projects, enabling them to both showcase their own work as well as to learn from the expert presenters.