Designing bridges among european citizen through STEAM Erasmus Project

Project Title

Designing bridges among european citizen through STEAM

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for Schools Only

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2017

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Quality Improvement Institutions and/or methods (incl. school development); ICT – new technologies – digital competences; Gender equality / equal opportunities

Project Summary

“Designing bridges among European citizens through STEAM” (Project reference: 2017-1-ES01-KA219-038176) has been an Erasmus + KA219 educational project consisting of five European educational centers: Spain, Estonia, Romania, Turkey and Italy. The two main Objectives of the project have been: To promote innovative practices using STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics) and to promote equity and inclusion in transnational activities, encouraging the participation of female students to contribute towards gender equality in science and research.

The members of the group have worked in some innovative fields of science, technology, engineering, mathematics and arts and have been interested in partnering to enhance and improve their knowledge and innovative practices. These centers have been: IES Mestre Ramón Esteve in Catadau, Valencia, Spain (coordinating partner), Narva Keeltelütseum, Narva in Estonia, Zübeyde Hanım Mesleki ve Teknik Anadolu Lisesi, Mugla in Turkey, Scoala Gimnaziala “Mihai Voda”, Mihau Viteazu in Romania and ISIS “A. CASANOVA”, Naples in Italy.

All of the partners in STEAM were interested in the promotion and motivation of scientific and technical education in their female students, they were compulsory public schools, post-compulsory and training cycles schools, and they had got students with similar educational levels, 14 to 18 years in all centers, and with diverse socio-economic environments. Both Spanish and Romanian students came from rural and isolated areas, with scarcer means of communication, while Estonian, Turkish and Italian students lived in more populated and better communicated areas.

The project, lasting 24 months, has consisted of several activities that have allowed students to learn and deepen in the knowledge of scientific and technical areas. Each of these activities that have been carried out in three learning mobilities correspond to each of the areas included in the term STEAM: Science: Romania (Interactive Mapping Environment Workshop), Technology: Estonia (Robotics), Engineering: Spain (Drones with social uses), Arts: Turkey (Videogame software), Mathematics: Italy (Algorithms of electronics in arduino and hakeón).

The partnership of the project has dealt with several working groups: a) “Coordinating group”, whose responsibility has been to involve the educational community and been the representative of its center, b) “Activity group”, STEAM specialist teachers who have been responsible for preparing, developing and purchasing materials for the proposed activities. C) “Dissemination group”, through social networks, press, conferences, etc., and d) “Evaluation group” in charge of checking the results of the project and promoting improvement aspects.

The project has included several types of ACTIVITIES grouped as follows:
1. Management activities: suitcase of good practices (video tutorials and web pages), creation of the project in eTwinning, development of the Logo.
2. Transnational meetings: teachers’ meetings in Spain, Romania and Turkey for the planning and organization of activities.
3. Dissemination and Impact: blog, eTwinning platform, conferences, meeting and our website:
https://sites.google.com/iesmestreramonesteve.com/designingbridgesthroughsteam
4. Learning Activities, teaching and training: Design, start-up, development and creation of Robots, Drones, video game Software and Interactive maps with drones and learning in cascade by the students. Mobilities with teachers and students held in Italy, Estonia and Spain.

The Impact of the project has occured both in the participating organizations as well as in the teaching staff and students involved in the project. On a general level, it has improved the quality of teaching, the prestige of the centers and the environment and the acquisition of good practices from other European educational systems. The teachers have improved their competences in STEAM and their linguistic competences especially. And students have improved learning, foreign languages, training and STEAM. The impact has involved three areas: 1. STEAM 2. The linguistic level and 3. The level of internationalization of the centers. For its part, the Dissemination has been done: before the phases of the project, during the development and after the project, by means of bulletin boards, seminars, exhibitions, social networks, talks and competitions.

The Results have been: Promoting equity and inclusion in transnational activities, maintaining contact with partners to generate future joint projects, increasing the prestige of the center in the nearest environment, increasing the quality of teaching at the center, to improve STEAM methodologies in teaching, to acquire good practices from other EU education systems to combat early school failure, to promote inclusion and to improve language skills.

Once we have finished our Project, we have been in contact again (all of the five partnerts) to start a new KA219 project related to “bullying” and “mediation of conflicts in the schools” which has been focused on the sustainability and continuation of the good atmosphere and partnership that we have all created as a common European family.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 114005 Eur

Project Coordinator

IES MESTRE RAMÓN ESTEVE & Country: ES

Project Partners

• ISIS “A.CASANOVA”
• Narva Keeltelütseum
• Scoala Gimnaziala “Mihai Voda”
• Zubeyde Hanim Mesleki ve Teknik Anadolu Lisesi