WHAT IS ATS STEM?

Assessment of Transversal Skills in STEM (ATS STEM) is an innovative policy experimentation project being conducted across 8 EU countries and involving a partner network of 12 educational institutions and government organisations.

It aims to enhance digital assessment of students’ transversal skills in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics). The project aims to provide teachers with a range of digital assessment approaches in development of students’ transversal skills in STEM education.

New approaches are being developed, implemented and evaluated as part of a large-scale classroom pilot project that will lead to policy recommendations at both national and European levels for further transformation of education.

ATS STEM is co-funded under the Erasmus+ Programme Key Action 3 - Support for policy reform - Initiatives for policy innovation European policy: Experimentations in the fields of Education and Training led by high-level public authorities. The project aligns closely with the Digital Education Action Plan of the European Commission and specifically priority 1, MAKING BETTER USE OF DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY FOR TEACHING AND LEARNING. The outputs from this policy experimentation will help ministries of education to better understand what STEM Education looks like in action and how digital technologies can support a range of formative assessment strategies that ultimately improve learning experiences and outcomes.

What are we doing now?

Overview of the key current activities of the ATS STEM project:

1. 1. An extensive review and synthesis of the research literature on STEM Education with particular respect to schools has been carried out and a number of reports have been drafted including:
      • • Deliverable 1.1 Report: STEM Education in Schools: What Research Tells us which explores:
          • different definitions of STEM education;
          • key characteristics of integrated STEM education;
          • core STEM skills and competence and what an integrated STEM curriculum looks like and its links to the real world;
          • teachers’ beliefs towards integrated STEM education, the challenges in developing teacher understanding of STEM education and how teachers can be supported as they build their understandings around learning design for integrated STEM education and
          • how STEM education is assessed
        • A combined report for Deliverable 1.4 Review of digital assessment approaches: Digital Assessment of Learning of STEM Skills and 2.1 Formative Assessment Design: Building Critical Skills in STEM: How Digital Assessment Can Give Learners Feedback. The document highlights best practice in digital assessment of core STEM Skills and competencies and provides a review of relevant digital assessment approaches to determine which contemporary technology enhanced approaches are best suited to the teaching and learning of STEM.
        • A further report which sets the preliminary groundwork for the Architectural Implementation of the Tool Platform for Formative Assessment of Key STEM Skills
   2. A CPD Design Team has been set up comprising STEM, CPD and technical experts from across partner countries. The team is now working on the design of the transnational training session for Mentors which will take place in Tampere, Finland in December 2019.
   3. Two Mentors were selected in each piloting country who will take part in the field trials
   4. Development of teacher supporting materials in STEM which include sample integrated STEM activities under the umbrella theme of sustainable development as well as expert STEM videos.
   5. Design of promotional materials for project visibility and promotion (webpage, logo, poster, roll-up).
   6. Preparation for the Second Partner Meeting on 4th and 5th December 2019 in Tampere, Finland.

ATSSTEM in public

International and national events:

• Follow our activities in Twitter #atsstem where ATS STEM experts present project’s activities
• Visits project webpage www.atsstem.eu.

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We thank you for your interest for the project ATS STEM.