Hosted by , contributed by Kyriaki_Vakkou on 15 September 2023
As the Romanian school system is still well anchored in the past and is widely recognized as a traditional educational system, it is left up to the individual schools and local communities to find necessary resources for development, research, extra-curricular activities, etc. These circumstances have driven the school to seek new ways of self-development, to take initiative and to modernize the school by increasing the quality as well as the quantity of educational services offered to students. School’s management is dedicated to further stimulate students’ interest, to enhance the skills and abilities of teachers, as well as to further engage parents and local community members in school activities, as well as in extra-curricular activities. The school wants to as an educational institution in order to ensure that our students, when graduating our school, are individuals aware of their potential, capable of integrating in society with ease and capable to follow and eventually achieve their own aspirations in life.
The school deemed it is necessary to develop non-formal activities during classes and also outside of school curricula and one of the approaches in this respect is through an integrated STEAM method (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics). STEAM was used as an alternative educational method in their on-going internal project we call ’STEM HUB’. STEM HUB was running for the entire school year and had a minimum of one activity per week (outside school hours). There were minimum 10-15 students taking part regularly in this project whom have been selected based on a school questionnaire.
In order to involve the community in the school life and have numerous indirect beneficiaries as active members, the STEM HUB activities were shared with colleagues and families. During our weekly STEM HUB sessions, students work individually and also in a collaborative manner (in teams) as we aim to educate them both in self-development and team work. LfE funding proved to be extremely lucrative as through the acquisitions made we are now better equipped to tackle various STEAM activities and to involve more teachers and this has brought more credibility to our STEM HUB internal project. Furthermore, the LfE acquired educational materials are already being used by some of the professors as teaching aids during formal educational hours, hence the equipment reach is not only restricted to STEM HUB itself.
LfE funding has been used to procure educational electronic kits, tablets, a seismometer, programmable robots, a 3D printer and consumables and this has added value to our school and we have further encouraged all our colleagues to integrate these new tools into their daily teaching routines.
Eventually, the school management, following the LfE equipment acquisitions, has managed to find a location within the school itself in cooperation with the local authorities. A classroom which was not in use has been overhauled and repurposed and is now the location where STEM HUB activities are being held. School has also purchased storage cabinets for the newly acquired equipment, where it can be kept safely when not in use by students and where teachers have also access to it when needed for classes.
The impact of the project in our school’s day to day activities is bold and visible. Teachers have more tools to narrow the gap between theory and practice as now some of the technological solutions acquired are being used to put theory at work. The STEM HUB also has now more means to develop even more interesting subjects for its participants. There is more equipment available, more individuals can personally experiment with it.
Some of our colleagues are very enthusiastic, e.g. our school does not have a dedicated Physics Lab and very little specific teaching aids were previously available so more of theory was taught in classes. Presently, the Physics teacher is using the educational electronic kits together with students during classes as these are very helpful tools to demonstrate theory.
ICT classes have become also very entertaining since there are programmable robots available for students to practice on. There are not so many robots, however there are sufficient to organize team sessions. Programming of robots is being done from acquired tablets.
The most visible impact is amongst STEM HUB participants. New tools are available for both teachers and students to experiment with. There are permanent participants and the club is open to whomever is willing to join the activities.
During Math and Physics classes, students were introduced to seismology concepts and used the data provided by school mounted seismometer.
The presence of seismometer fitted in their own school had a significant impact both on teachers as well as on students. Together, they have decided to run a school activity called ‘’Seismologist for a month’’ in order to familiarize students with these topics and to increase general awareness on seismic associated risks.
Seismometer
3D Printer
3D printer consumables
Tablets
Electronics Kits:
Snap Circuits Motion Electronics Kit
Snap Circuits “Arcade” Electronics Exploration Kit
Elenco Snap Circuits My Home Electronics Building Kit
Programmable robots (Robobloq Qoopers, Q-Scout): https://www.robobloq.com/product/Qoopers
Programmable robots LEGO compatible (Robo Wunderkind education Kit):
Already implemented by the following schools
Hartop Secondary School
This practice was implemented by our school!