Teach-BEASTs – Teaching to BE Aware STudents

Labor market studies (e.g., the "Human Capital Balance" report in Poland) show that over 70% of employers report competency gaps in graduates. The “Women in IT” report (2020) highlights a strong interest among women in re-skilling for tech careers, but key barriers include lack of accessible entry points and high training costs. This reveals a missed opportunity: non-STEM programs could integrate basic STEM competencies in meaningful, career-relevant ways, especially for women. Another need is the reframing of STEM courses in non-technical disciplines, where they are often seen as academic obstacles rather than valuable tools. This is due to both perceived difficulty and a lack of contextualization by teachers, who struggle to link STEM content with students' career paths. Finally, academic staff lack sufficient training in innovative pedagogical approaches to address these challenges. While many initiatives encourage women in STEM, fewer focus on equipping teachers to adapt STEM education for non-STEM fields.

The aim of the project was to develop and implement an innovative approach to teaching STEM subjects, particularly within technical fields, by transforming the teaching model in the following ways: 1. Profiling STEM subjects: Aligning STEM content with specific fields of study and real labor market demands, highlighting the practical usefulness of the skills and knowledge acquired through STEM courses. 2. Transforming teaching methods: Shifting toward a project-based learning model that engages students in practical, real-life challenges, demonstrating the application of STEM knowledge in real-world contexts. By implementing this approach, the project contributes to bridging the gap between academic content and business needs, helping students acquire relevant skills ready to be applied in the job market.

In the "Teach-BEASTs" project, a range of activities have been carried out, including project management, the development of educational materials, and the implementation of trainings for the target group of these outputs. The "Instructors Manual for Teach-BEASTs Approach" and a set of exercises called "Professional Awareness Pills" were developed and tested. The training programs "Teach-BEASTs" and "DT meets STEM," along with supporting materials, were also prepared and piloted. The project also developed the "DT meets STEM" approach (integrating Design Thinking and project-based learning into STEM subjects or STEM-related challenges that can be addressed in non-technical courses), which resulted in a dedicated manual and additional resources such as a podcast library, sample transformed syllabi, and a step-by-step guide for teachers. As part of dissemination activities, a dissemination strategy was created and the project website was prepared.