Lower secondary education

The members of the SEER Network will work together to produce state of art knowledge on STE(A)M education,
collect pedagogical resources for teachers and schools, and collaborate to build the foundations
of the SEER Roadmaps.

Emakumeak zientzian is a project promoted by POLYMAT (Basque Center for Macromolecular Design and Engineering) which was set up in 2017 in order to inspire science, technology and engineering vocations among girls and female adolescents, as well as to contributing to combat the gender stereotypes associated with research jobs. The project was launched on February 11 - the International Day of Women and Girls in Science – as a purely promotional activity. However, over time it has become a programme of STEAM activities aimed at different segments of the population and run by Polymat and a further 17 entities from the Basque scientific and technology ecosystem.

Currently the programme involves over 25 activities which are implemented annually. The majority of these activities are directly focused on inspiring science, technology and engineering vocations in girls and female adolescents and for them to aspire to careers in those areas, as well as to contributing to combatting gender stereotypes.

Emakumeak Zientzian’s accolades include:

• Gender perspective mention by STEAM EUSKADI.
• First place in the STEAM EUSKADI Awards.

The main objective of this initiative is to address the problem of gender inequality in the STEM field by introducing the gender perspective throughout the activities programme. In addition, the programme implements two specific STEAM education objectives:

• Inspire professional careers and vocations in STEM
• Improve students’ mathematic and scientific skills

Smartgene is an extracurricular private hobby school that consists of different extracurricular STEAM activities and classes for children in the kindergarten until classes 4-6, including robotics class, electronics class, science class, landscaping & architecture class, and “future skills class”. All the classes take place once a week.

Smartgene also organizes STEAM city camps during school vacations, aimed at children aged 7-13 years. The mission of Smartgene is to be a safe and instructive environment for children to learn STEM subjects through targeted games.

The objective of Smartgene is to encourage children to playfully solve real life everyday problems. Since the demand for STEAM proficiency increases in Estonia every year, Smartgene has developed extracurricular classes to introduce children at early ages science, robotics, and electronic areas. It's impact is measured by the number of kids participating in the extracurricular classes and camps.

The objectives are related to Estonia's broader government strategy to raise the popularity of science and IT as a career choice due to the fact that Estonia is facing a reality, where the demand for such professionals is higher than the supply. In addition, it is associated with the aim to develop a research-intensive economy.

The NPO Robotics programme aims to offer different learning and competition opportunities in robotics. The NPO Robotics has several different projects and outcomes and some of its programmes are connected to international initiatives and competitions:

• Competition RoboMiku - gives pupils the opportunity to build their own robot individually or in teams and put them to the test. The competition has different categories depending on the robot and age of the pupil
• First Lego League - a three-part robotics program meant for different age groups and based on that, have different difficulty levels. The aim is to popularize science and technology in a fun way. With that, other necessary skills and knowledge are being developed.
• School visits - workshops in robotics are offered to the interested schools. In one workshop, 20 students can participate. The necessary tools, equipment, robots and instructors are visiting schools all over Estonia
• Several projects that aim to promote robotics in pupils and teachers. They also offer additional training to teachers so that robotics would be a natural part of the curriculum.

The objective is to give young people practical knowledge about technology and robotics. The main focus is on practical knowledge and opportunity to work with technology that otherwise may not be available in schools. In addition, students have the opportunity to compete with each other.

The objectives are related to Estonia's broader government strategy to raise the popularity of engineering and technology as a career path. The aim is also to develop the STEM teachers so that the teaching quality would be high and the used methods modern and in compliance with the needs of the students.

The KVARK project was grown out of the Rocket69 science TV contest (see related page). The main reason for the creation was to broaden the public knowledge about science and scientific thinking. KVARK concentrates on three main actions:

1. Popularizing science, technology, and engineering
2. Rising the quality of the scientific, engineering, and technological education
3. Adding value to working in the science, technology, and engineering subject fields

The team of KVARK includes undergraduates and graduates from different STEM specialities.  KVARK’s objectives are to popularize scientific thinking and scientific approach in public by offering scientific content for different events, scientific entertainment in a form of science theatre, and by conducting clever workshops for both children and adults. KVARK also produces scientific and educational exhibits for museums and helps organisations to arrange projects that support science-based society, and environment.The objectives also include raising young people's (primary target group) interest in STEM education, professions, and careers in these fields. The objectives are measured by the projects supported; the number of events/workshops carried out. The indirect indication is evaluated based on the statistics of popularity of STEM specialties among the students’ enrolling universities, vocational schools, and hobby education.

Girl Tech Fest is an initiative which aims to increase girls’ interest in science and technology. During Girl Tech Fest girls aged 10-12 are invited to a local library where the girls get to try programming and different technologies themselves. The programme is organised by NCSR in cooperation with IKT-Norway, Oda-network (organization for women working in ICT), TENK - Tech network for women (organization for women to inspire an encourage more girls to choose an education within technology) 

While girls’ interest in science and technology decreases from around age 10-12 the boys’ interest does not decrease the same way (see: Corneliussen, H. G., et.al. (2021) Evaluering av Jenter og teknologi). That is why NCSR in cooperation with the partners listed above want to give the girls a day with only girls, where they can play and learn with technology on their own terms. As part of the programme, the girls meet female role models who work or study within technology, which may help them see themselves in such academical fields.   

Currently, the NCSR is the national coordinator or project leader of Girl Tech Fest. This includes responsibility for the main event in Oslo and contact with, and support of, local libraries all around the country. Even though the coordination is done by NCSR, the project group is a collaboration between people from all four organizations involved.

The main objective of the program is to increase girls’ interest in technology, and in a longer term: increase the number of girls that choose to study and work within technology and programming. On process-level, the programme aims to spread Girl Tech Fest all around the country and increase the number of locations and girls who participate.   

At the core of UCL's 50.50 Engineering Engagement Strategy is the aim to strengthen and diversify the engineering workforce, by encouraging young people from a wide range of backgrounds - especially young girls - to consider career pathways both ‘in’ and ‘from’ engineering. The initiative focuses on sustained, meaningful engagement, designing programmes that are based in engineering’s real social, ethical, environmental and humanitarian contexts. UCL wants young people to appreciate the interdisciplinary nature of engineering. The programme focuses on gender equality and inclusion, both for the course design and pupil participation, and promote diversity in every sense. Through the 50.50 Initiative, UCL has been able to create a step change in the representation of girls, women and ethnic minorities across all our STEM engagement programmes.

The 50.50 UCL Engineering Engagement Initiative focuses on six key priorities

1. Promoting gender equality and inclusion
2. Learning through experimental engineering
3. Inspiring through relatable engineering role models
4. Discovering STEM career pathways
5. Prioritising early intervention
6. Supporting teachers through professional development

The programme is linked to the UK government’s “Girls Education” and “Year of Engineering” programmes, as well as policies to get more girls into science and engineering careers and degrees.

As part of the initiative and partnership with EngineeringUK, Royal Academy of Engineering, Institute of Physics, Institute of Engineering & Technology and Institution of Mechanical Engineers, through the programme UCL co-developeds “Meet The Future You” (see background documents) based on real-life UCL engineers, with an emphasis on intersectionality and representation.

The UCL Engineering Mentoring programme, supports 1000-1500 young people every year, aged 14-19 years old, providing high quality tutoring, mental health support, a safe and quiet space to learn; books and digital equipment; healthy meals; and a personal mentor.

The objectives of the UCL Engineering Tutoring Programme are:

1. To bridge the education attainment gap for those most affected in terms of their access to educational opportunities.
2. To build resilience and self-confidence in young people. Enable, encourage and empower them. Increase their motivation and sense of achievement.
3. To support the most vulnerable children and young people, those in under-represented communities and from disadvantaged backgrounds.
4. To remove all barriers linked to digital poverty including lack of access to internet connection, devices, tools and more.

Access to tutoring is often limited to schools and parents that can most afford it. It is estimated that around 80% of disadvantaged pupils do not have access to quality tuition (Source: EEF).

In partnership with the government’s National Tutoring Programme (NTP) with EEF, Sutton Trust, Impetus Trust and Teach First, UCL offers secondary school pupils from under-served communities, free daily tutoring and mentoring sessions, throughout the school year. In March 2020, in response to the COVID19 pandemic, it was offered also as an online programme, and is now being offered as a hybrid model (both online and face-2-face).

The programme is linked to the government’s National Tutoring Programme (NTP) with EEF, Sutton Trust, Impetus Trust and Teach First and STEM Learning’s mentoring programme.

“The Education test” is a research-based test that aims to inform young people or pupils about educations and professions within STEM.  The test was created by psychologist Helge Brovold (NTNU) and takes 10-15 minutes to complete. Based on four different factors – personality, preferred learning method, personal and professional interests, the test presents occupations within STEM that might be suitable. The test result provides the pupil with information about his or her personality traits, how he or she learns best, and suggest some STEM occupations that fits their personality. After taking the test, the pupils may discuss the result with their parents or friends, and further evaluate different studies, careers and job opportunities. The main target group are pupils in junior high school and students in high school, but the test is also used in some universities to examine the students preferred learning methods and further to adjust the teaching methods.

NCSR (the Norwegian national STEM platform) has done focus groups to learn more about how young people make their choice of education. Its findings show that most youths have little knowledge about careers within STEM and what kind of occupations are eligible after studying STEM.
The education test aims to address this by providing the pupils with new ideas about what one can study and work with within STEM. In tandem to the test, the NCSR runs campaigns in social media throughout the year to inform the target audience about the test and the importance of educational choices.

The main goal of the programme is to make the pupils reflect on their interest, personality and their learning preferences in relation to STEM. Furthermore, the goal is to make the target audience aware of the different educations and jobs within STEM. The programme aims to:

• Inspire youths to choose STEM subjects and careers
• Provide the student with ideas about education choices and occupations within STEM
• Expand their horizon when it comes to their choice of education

These objectives are aligned with the Norwegian Directorate for Education and Training’s STEM strategy – “Close to STEM” (see background documents).

The University of Tartu Youth Academy programme (henceforth UTYA) is one of the longest running STEM promotion initiatives in Estiona (launched in 1965). The aim of UTYA is to create opportunities for the development of pupils who have already shown a deeper interest in science. The programme facilitates enriching a pupil´s knowledge beyond the usual school curriculum and also the resources to spend their leisure time meaningfully.

The UTYA organizes courses in three different levels and a range of subjects, including mathematics, physics, chemistry, life sciences, but also in linguistics, philosophy and other non-STEM areas. Some courses are correspondence courses conducted via ordinary mail and some are carried out using e-learning facilities. Pupils can participate either individually or as a group. There are no entrance requirements, although the programme requires pupils to be motivated and able to work independently.

The instructors of the courses are usually University of Tartu professors, researchers or students. Pupils get feedback on their work as well as after graduation from the course. Upon completion, participants receive a certificate from University of Tartu.

To enhance the pupils’ abilities and learning styles, the UTYA offers some testing facilities. Some of the tests can be taken online. In addition, for pupils who are interested in participating in different kinds of contests, the UTYA organizes national Olympiads in maths, physics, chemistry, informatics, biology, geography and other areas. When students perform well at national Olympiads they are given the opportunity to participate in international contests or Olympiads. Estonian teams have been taking part in such contests since 1992 and each year pupils have won several medals.

Through these activities as well as participation in other projects and events, the programme also contributes to popularising science and technology to the wider audience.

The main goal of the programme is to create opportunities for the development of pupils who have already shown a deeper interest in science. The programme does so by:

• offering optional science courses to pupils, mostly available online for students in grade 7 – 12
• providing financial grants to gifted students to promote studying in Estonia (instead of going abroad) through the ‘Talents to Targu’ sub-programme (since 2020)
• offering teaching resources to teachers that help organize individualized learning in classes and are useful for additional extracurricular activities
• offering teacher-training sessions to schools focused on gifted children's education and psychology.

The objectives of the programme are related to the Estonians' aim to build on a science-based economy and smart specialisation. In order to do that, there is a need to offer gifted pupil opportunities to develop themselves and have good opportunities in the country so that there would not be a need for gifted children to leave for the better opportunities.