Based on Environmental Education, STEM4Change focuses on Climate Change with particular reference to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, 7 (Renewable sources of energy) and 13 (Climate Action). Structuring a wealth of resources into four modules of study material, the project provides the necessary learning context for the students to explore environmental issues, engage in problem-solving, and take action to improve the environment. It aims at students' developing a deeper understanding of environmental issues, acquiring the necessary problem-solving skills to make informed and responsible decisions and developing their research, communication and collaboration skills so that they share knowledge online, cooperate in 8 creative project activities and produce 6 collaborative results.
STEM4Change addresses the 2020 eTwinning theme of Climate Change and Environmental Challenge and encourages the students to reflect on climate change and understand its implications.
Project information including language, objectives as well as competences to be developed.
Project overview
The importance of environmental education is stated and discussed and the project is collaboratively designed by project teachers (Project Plan) so as to fit the teaching and learning situations of project partners and to adapt to the new conditions that emerged due to school closures in the 1st half of 2020.
After setting the rules of conduct (Netiquette and more), project students participate in a series of icebreaking tasks that give the Project Partners the opportunity to get to know each other better.
From sharing to collaboration, project students cooperate through researching and studying project topics-study material, meeting experts, and sharing knowledge with their partners.
Besides sharing, students also interact with their partners. They are given opportunities to communicate about topics of interest either asynchronously (in the Forums Games & interaction, voting for and discussing the project logo) or synchronously at the Final Online Meeting when, despite the difficulties posed by the school closures due to COVID- 19, they meet online and discuss their findings and newly acquired knowledge. They test the knowledge they acquired throughout the project by playing an environmental game of Kahoot the project teachers have built working asynchronously and synchronously using all the resources contributed to the Project topics - Study material.
Getting inspired by new knowledge, the students create works of art that include dramatization, drawings, sketches & posters, 3D designing & printing, digital works with web 2.0 tools, traditional craftwork (bookmarks, collages, artistic food or wood creations). In addition, they make the most out of the 3D printing equipment of one of the partner schools by co-designing and printing Christmas ornaments (Christmas STEM) and fashion accessories (Fashion STEM). Making the most out of technology, the project partners use plenty of Web 2.0 tools, software and applications (Use of technology)to work synchronously and asynchronously on 8 (eight) creative activities and create seven (7) collaborative products.
Despite the circumstances due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the project partners organise a successful online meeting (Final Online Meeting) where students and teachers from Croatia, Greece and Poland (i) discuss instances of renewal in the project countries (and the world) caused by the global lockdown, (ii) play an assessment Kahoot game to consolidate knowledge (Assessment) and (iii) evaluate the project in terms of what they like and what they have learnt.
The project is successfully disseminated and evaluated by students, teachers and headteachers.