Periodic Reporting for period 2 - Scientix 4 (Scientix 4)
Reporting period: 2021-07-01 to 2023-03-31
Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) are essential to our lives. In spite of this, there are less students pursuing STEM careers and jobs, and the image of STEM in the media and society is not consistent with the importance they have. To address this, numerous projects are financed to promote STEM subjects, careers and education. To increase awareness of the overall outcome of these “investments”, Scientix: The Community for Science Education in Europe, was created in Dec 2009.
In its first stage (2009-2012), Scientix built a portal to collect and present European STEM education projects and their results. The goal of the 2nd phase (2013 – 2015) was to expand this community to the national level. The 3rd Scientix 3 (2016-2019) consolidated the support of the Ministries of Education. Scientix 4 (2020-2022) aimed to:
• Ensure the continuation/adaptation of Scientix activities;
• Contribute to building and managing Science Education Community in Europe by promoting Inquiry-Based Science Education and other initiatives at national level.
In order to achieve the two objectives, as well as the more general aim to improve the awareness and quality of STEM in primary and secondary education, and thus have better informed and prepared adults in the future, Scientix runs numerous activities.
In its first stage (2009-2012), Scientix built a portal to collect and present European STEM education projects and their results. The goal of the 2nd phase (2013 – 2015) was to expand this community to the national level. The 3rd Scientix 3 (2016-2019) consolidated the support of the Ministries of Education. Scientix 4 (2020-2022) aimed to:
• Ensure the continuation/adaptation of Scientix activities;
• Contribute to building and managing Science Education Community in Europe by promoting Inquiry-Based Science Education and other initiatives at national level.
In order to achieve the two objectives, as well as the more general aim to improve the awareness and quality of STEM in primary and secondary education, and thus have better informed and prepared adults in the future, Scientix runs numerous activities.
Scientix activities can be grouped into four types. We provide here a summary of the work performed and main results achieved between January 2020 and March 2023:
1) The Scientix Portal
• http://scientix.eu has been running for over 12 years. The navigation of the portal, as well as key pages, are available in all 24 official EU languages. To learn about Scientix in 5’ in any of these languages, see: http://www.scientix.eu/languages and teachers can find here: https://www.scientix.eu/home/welcome the Scientix services in 30+ languages.
• The portal is always evolving and continues to be an increasingly popular resource for STEM education and a pillar in the STEM community in Europe and beyond. In March 2023, it included: 784 projects, 1000 news, 1191 events and 3723 teaching materials.
2) Dissemination of Scientix and exchange of practices
• Increased social media presence via its group on Facebook “Science Teachers in Europe”, Twitter account @scientix_eu, Storify page (scientix_eu) and the new Instagram account (@scientix_eu).
• Scientix has been presented in 50+ large-scale STEM and/or educational events.
• 82 new Email Digests were sent out with the latest news, projects, resources, and events.
• Nine thematic newsletters were posted during this reporting period. Visit: http://www.scientix.eu/newsletter/archive
• STEM Discovery Campaigns with the latest one (in 2023) reaching over 360,000 participants
• The STEM School Label is a service of Scientix expanding the outreach of the STEM community further. Visit STEM School Label: https://www.stemschoollabel.eu/home
• Scientix supported the dissemination of 50+ campaigns and events in STEM education (e.g. International STEM Awards; Europlanet Science Congress; European Code League; and a number of MOOCs, EC conferences and events).
• 93 new blog articles were published: http://blog.scientix.eu/
3) Professional Development of Teachers
• By March 2023, 16 Science Project Online Workshops (SPOWs) have been organised by Scientix, with an average of 30 participants per workshop and the 39th Science Projects Workshop in the Future Classroom Lab.
• Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the “Science week-long FCL training courses” were adapted to become two eLearning Events organised in collaboration with eTwinning attended by 151 participants.
• Twelve MOOCs were organised by Scientix in collaboration with other projects. In total more than 14,000 teachers participated in the MOOCs offered during this period, reaching over 170,000 students.
4) Support of national strategies
• Scientix National Contact Points (NCPs) provided the link between Scientix at a European level and national activities. There are two types of NCPs: Ministries of Education (MoEs) and organizations acting as NCP selected through a call for interest. The MoEs are also members of the MoEs STEM representatives Working Group (MoE STEM WG), a platform of discussion and exchange for MoEs regarding their STEM education policies. 26 countries had a NCP, with 14 of them also in the MoE STEM WG, with numerous national workshops and conferences organized with the support of Scientix 4. The MoE STEM WG has 25 Ministries of Education members.
• Scientix Ambassadors (SA) act on a voluntary basis and are selected based on 1) completing two STEM MOOCs; 2) approval by the MoEs; 3) completing the SA Training Course (SATC). Since the end of the 5th SA intake in 20221, the number of SA increased to 1011. This number further increased in May 2023 to 1260 Scientix Ambassadors. Since January 2020 the SA have carried out more than 2500 face-to-face dissemination activities, online and newspaper articles, national webinars or TV and radio interventions about Scientix, all throughout Europe and beyond.
• More information on Scientix at national level: http://www.scientix.eu/in-your-country
1) The Scientix Portal
• http://scientix.eu has been running for over 12 years. The navigation of the portal, as well as key pages, are available in all 24 official EU languages. To learn about Scientix in 5’ in any of these languages, see: http://www.scientix.eu/languages and teachers can find here: https://www.scientix.eu/home/welcome the Scientix services in 30+ languages.
• The portal is always evolving and continues to be an increasingly popular resource for STEM education and a pillar in the STEM community in Europe and beyond. In March 2023, it included: 784 projects, 1000 news, 1191 events and 3723 teaching materials.
2) Dissemination of Scientix and exchange of practices
• Increased social media presence via its group on Facebook “Science Teachers in Europe”, Twitter account @scientix_eu, Storify page (scientix_eu) and the new Instagram account (@scientix_eu).
• Scientix has been presented in 50+ large-scale STEM and/or educational events.
• 82 new Email Digests were sent out with the latest news, projects, resources, and events.
• Nine thematic newsletters were posted during this reporting period. Visit: http://www.scientix.eu/newsletter/archive
• STEM Discovery Campaigns with the latest one (in 2023) reaching over 360,000 participants
• The STEM School Label is a service of Scientix expanding the outreach of the STEM community further. Visit STEM School Label: https://www.stemschoollabel.eu/home
• Scientix supported the dissemination of 50+ campaigns and events in STEM education (e.g. International STEM Awards; Europlanet Science Congress; European Code League; and a number of MOOCs, EC conferences and events).
• 93 new blog articles were published: http://blog.scientix.eu/
3) Professional Development of Teachers
• By March 2023, 16 Science Project Online Workshops (SPOWs) have been organised by Scientix, with an average of 30 participants per workshop and the 39th Science Projects Workshop in the Future Classroom Lab.
• Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the “Science week-long FCL training courses” were adapted to become two eLearning Events organised in collaboration with eTwinning attended by 151 participants.
• Twelve MOOCs were organised by Scientix in collaboration with other projects. In total more than 14,000 teachers participated in the MOOCs offered during this period, reaching over 170,000 students.
4) Support of national strategies
• Scientix National Contact Points (NCPs) provided the link between Scientix at a European level and national activities. There are two types of NCPs: Ministries of Education (MoEs) and organizations acting as NCP selected through a call for interest. The MoEs are also members of the MoEs STEM representatives Working Group (MoE STEM WG), a platform of discussion and exchange for MoEs regarding their STEM education policies. 26 countries had a NCP, with 14 of them also in the MoE STEM WG, with numerous national workshops and conferences organized with the support of Scientix 4. The MoE STEM WG has 25 Ministries of Education members.
• Scientix Ambassadors (SA) act on a voluntary basis and are selected based on 1) completing two STEM MOOCs; 2) approval by the MoEs; 3) completing the SA Training Course (SATC). Since the end of the 5th SA intake in 20221, the number of SA increased to 1011. This number further increased in May 2023 to 1260 Scientix Ambassadors. Since January 2020 the SA have carried out more than 2500 face-to-face dissemination activities, online and newspaper articles, national webinars or TV and radio interventions about Scientix, all throughout Europe and beyond.
• More information on Scientix at national level: http://www.scientix.eu/in-your-country
Scientix started in 2010. From that time until March 2023, it was co-funded by the European Union’s FP7 and Horizon 2020 research and innovation programmes.
The impact of the Scientix key services offered to the European STEM teachers and STEM community following the Scientix 4 contract (Jan 2020 - March 2023) are:
• Over 300,000 people reached through different activities every year (note that in 2023, the number is already 360,000 in May)
• Over 10,000 educators visiting the Scientix portal (>120,000 students reached indirectly)
Overall, one can say that Scientix continued to make breakthrough regarding innovative STEM teaching and online learning, despite in-person meeting restrictions and school closure during the pandemic. The expansion of the Scientix Ambassadors under the Scientix Ambassadors Teachers Panel and the numerous opportunities for training and exchange of practices made available online have supported a genuine and motivated Scientix teacher community influencing STEM teaching changes in classrooms in Europe even during a pandemic.
The second achievement of Scientix is everything that has been done for career advisers in schools. From an economic point of view, it is essential to attract students to STEM jobs. Scientix has continued to contribute beyond the initial situation, thanks to its various training activities to revive the profession of career advisers, providing them with the appropriate tools to make STEM jobs more attractive, and collaborating with industry and public-private partnership initiatives such as the STEM Alliance initiative.
From April 2023, Scientix will continue as an initiative of EUN, supported by Ministries of Education, STEM Alliance Industry partners, Scientix Associate Partners, and in collaboration with different European Commission funded projects.
The impact of the Scientix key services offered to the European STEM teachers and STEM community following the Scientix 4 contract (Jan 2020 - March 2023) are:
• Over 300,000 people reached through different activities every year (note that in 2023, the number is already 360,000 in May)
• Over 10,000 educators visiting the Scientix portal (>120,000 students reached indirectly)
Overall, one can say that Scientix continued to make breakthrough regarding innovative STEM teaching and online learning, despite in-person meeting restrictions and school closure during the pandemic. The expansion of the Scientix Ambassadors under the Scientix Ambassadors Teachers Panel and the numerous opportunities for training and exchange of practices made available online have supported a genuine and motivated Scientix teacher community influencing STEM teaching changes in classrooms in Europe even during a pandemic.
The second achievement of Scientix is everything that has been done for career advisers in schools. From an economic point of view, it is essential to attract students to STEM jobs. Scientix has continued to contribute beyond the initial situation, thanks to its various training activities to revive the profession of career advisers, providing them with the appropriate tools to make STEM jobs more attractive, and collaborating with industry and public-private partnership initiatives such as the STEM Alliance initiative.
From April 2023, Scientix will continue as an initiative of EUN, supported by Ministries of Education, STEM Alliance Industry partners, Scientix Associate Partners, and in collaboration with different European Commission funded projects.