Author Archives: Agueda Gras

Avatar

About Agueda Gras

I am the Science Programme Manager of European Schoolnet. As Head of the Science Education Department at European Schoolnet, I am in charge of overseeing and coordinating all the STEM education projects in which European Schoolnet is involved, including day-to-day management of Scientix, the community for science education in Europe. I have a PhD in Astrophysics from Trinity College Dublin, which I carried out at the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies in Ireland.

Thank you for your support to the STEM Discovery Week!

Posted on by

Evita and I were very happy to participate in a Scientix webinar about the STEM Discovery Week campaign with hundreds of educators in STEM education on 28 February 2018.

We enjoyed answering the large number of questions we received from the participants.. The main questions were about what kind of activities they could organise for the STEM Discovery Week, how they could disseminate the campaign and how to participate in its associated competitions.

A few teachers also asked us for examples of activities of previous campaigns. Well, this is the third time the STEM Discovery Week is organised so, if you want to get some inspiration, you can of course have a look at the winners of our competitions in 2016 and 2017.

One teacher also asked us how she could organise the best week. There is no golden rule or a formula for success, it all depends if your activity meets your intentions and the learners’ expectations. If you need some ideas for getting started, though, you can have a look at a recent blog by Evita Tasiopoulou here.

We are over one month away from the STEM Discovery Week of 2018, and we have already exceeded the number of events we had last year. That’s very exciting news for the campaign! Our aim is to reach 500 activities by 23 April and we look forward to reaching this target with you!

Watch the recording of the Scientix webinar about the STEM Discovery Week to learn more about the campaign and how you can participate.



A growing STEM Discovery Week campaign every year

Posted on by

This is the third time the STEM Discovery Week is organised. This year, one of the main aims is at bringing projects, organisations and schools together to raise awareness about studies and careers in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). And it is fun to see how more and more partners are joining the campaign every week!

Thanks the initiative and support from the Scientix project, which is funded by the Horizon 2020 framework of the European Union for research and innovation, and SYSTEMIC, which is funded by the Erasmus+ programme, it is now possible to have a platform where various partners can share their activities in STEM education. Thus, the various projects, organisations and schools that are running initiatives in STEM education, can better learn from each another and pool their resources.

A campaign like the STEM Discovery Week is very important for increasing and strengthening collaboration in the field of STEM education. The hope is that this year, the STEM Discovery Week can facilitate 500 activities in STEM education, reaching 10,000 schools. For this to happen, a support from partners is essential. Already we can see how more and more such activities are being added to the map. So, in this one place, the STEM Discovery Week partners and anyone else who is following the campaign can find and/or add information about STEM activities all across the world!

Right now, the STEM Discovery Week is proud to present a diverse mix of partners that come from many different countries in Europe and beyond. All the partners agree to jointly disseminate the campaign through their networks, hence creating a multiplier effect that goes way beyond their area.

The lesson from this campaign so far is that projects, organisations and schools can achieve much more in partnership. Hopefully, the STEM Discovery Week can become a sustainable model for raising awareness about STEM topics as an integral part of our annual calendars. Download the call for projects and organisations to find out how you can become a partner here.