Secondary Education

The STEM Olympiads (Olympiades de sciences de l'ingénieur) is the biggest STEM competition organised in France. During 6 months, students create technological innovations. They present their innovations to a jury, who judges the innovative aspects, the engineering approach to do it, the capacity to work in group, and the scientific developments of the research. The best projects receive a grant from different industrial partners, and are sometimes patented.

"Rocket 69“ is an educational scientific entertaining TV contest for young people with the purpose to show that STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) can be fun and show that everyone could perform the tasks that are given during the contest, while offering excitement and new knowledge. The name of the show comes from the fact that on 1969 the first man stepped on the Moon. All students starting from age 15 can apply for the show (until university students from 1st or 2nd year of studies). 15 contestants are chosen through casting and the casting process makes up the 1st episode of the show. From 2nd to 9th episode contestants solve the assignments in 3 competitive groups and from 10th episode individually. In the end of each episode one contestant has to leave after 1:1 scientific duel. All assignments require creativity, theoretical scientific knowledge and ability to use it in practices.

In the Grand Finale 2 finalists have to solve complex assignment that will show all their abilities. In the past 3 years the assignment has been to create and build Rube Goldberg machine. There is 1 personal winner who wins a EUR 10.000 scholarship to support his/her studies. The panel of judges consists of host of the show (young scientist) and 3 main judges who are also researchers. The first 9 episodes are shot in a studio specifically built for the show. Starting from 10th episode the locations vary and include science labs and research organizations, STEM companies etc.

All assignments and solutions of the contest are explained with a voice-over, by graphical illustrations during the show and also commented by judges. In addition, the Science Editor offers deeper explanations online for each assignment that can be used as STEM teaching material at school. The show is supported by cross-media approach combining radio, newspapers, internet, Facebook and other social media channels.

Rocket 69 is initiated by the Estonian Research Council in co-operation with Estonian National Broadcasting. The TV contest has been runnning for 10 seasons and will continue its course at least 2 more seasons (until 2022). The ultimate objective of the TV contest is to raise young people's interest in STEM education, professions and career in these fields. The aim of the show is also to engage parents, teachers and public in general (secondary target groups). There are no direct means for measuring the achievement of the objectives though indirect indication is evaluated based on the statistics of popularity of STEM specialties among the students enrolling universities, vocational schools and hobby education. Additionally, feedback from career specialists and consultants is gathered regarding the of (young) people’s interest towards STEM specialties.

The TV contest is produced within the science communication program “TeaMe+” that is developed based on the Estonian Research and Development and Innovation Strategy 2014-2020 “Knowledge-based Estonia”.

Coding Summer School is an intensive week-long event that immerses primary- and secondary age students in the world of coding and app development. The hands-on programme is taught by industry professionals and organised by ThinkYoung in cooperation with Boeing. By giving students a week-long immersive experience that culminates in students creating their own app, the programme aims to enthuse students for STEM subjects and kick-start their education in this field.

StarT is the flagship programme of the LUMA Centre Finland (Finnish STEM platform). Launched in 2016, the programme's main objective is to bring science, mathematics and technology closer to children and youngsters through interdisciplinary, project-based collaborative learning. The programme is implemented by LUMA Centre Finland (network between 13 regional STEM education centre within Finnish universities) through 'learning communities', supported by collaboration partners including the Finnish National Agency for Education and companies in the field of science and technology like IBM.

The StarT programme is implemented on three levels:|
 

1. Local level: kindergartens, primary schools, high schools, and extracurricular activity groups participating in StarT
    
2. Regional level: StarT festivals organized all around Finland by the LUMA centers together with local partners (does not apply to non-Finnish participants)
    
3. National / International level: the LUMA Centre Finland organizes the StarT Gala, where teams chosen by the StarT jury – also non-Finnish teams – are awarded
    

In these levels, the StarT programme supports project-based learning in the local learning communities, StarT festivals and a national/international StarT gala.

STEM Teacher Academy is a programme of the Dutch national STEM platform aimed at improving the content of STEM courses (and the way it is taught) in secondary education through cooperation with industry. The programme was launched in 2014 for a three year period and contributes to objectives set in the Dutch national Technology Pact and several government programmes aimed at reducing teacher shortages. 

The programme's main ambition is to provide the most up-to-date teaching tools to STEM teachers in secondary education, now and in the future. This ambition is implemented through various activities, including guest-lectures by industry professionals and short-term 'internships' for teachers in technology companies. The programme is structured to build lasting links between technology companies and classroom and builds on existing regionalised networks and programmes, including the VO-HO netwerken (pre-university secondary education) and Toptechniek in Bedrijf (VET).  

The VO-HO Netwerken (Secondary-Higher Education Networks) were set up in 2004 as part of the Deltaplan Bèta Techniek (Dutch national STEM strategy). The main goals of the networks are the professional development of secondary education teachers and principals, the continual innovation of courses and curricula and the improvement of the connection between secondary education (VO) and higher education (HO). The networks offer a wide pallet of activities for students, teachers, technical teacher assistants and heads of schools with a focus on STEM education. Currently there are are ten regional networks that consist of universities,  higher education institutions, (pre-univeristy) secondary schools and business and societal institutions. The specific objectives are set by each regional network independently, in alignment with the regional context and objectives. 

Jet-Net & TechNet (JNTN), or "Youth Technology Network Netherlands" is a flagship programme of the Dutch National STEM platform (PTvT). It's main objective is to increase STEM uptake in secondary education by providing context to the curriculum. This is achieved through one-on-one partnerships between leading tech companies and secondary schools. 

The programme was founded by five Dutch technology companies (Shell, Philips, DSM, AkzoNobel and Unilever) in 2002 and currently involves more than 90 technology companies and 180 pre-university secondary schools (aprox. 40% of total). In close collaboration with secondary schools, 'Jet-Net companies' develop an educational environment with practical content for the science curriculum and provide students with experiences that show that technology is challenging, meaningful and socially relevant.

Each of the school-company partnerships is supported by the national bureau and its regional coordinators in the development of an activity programme. These activities are supplemented by larger-scale regional and national events (e.g. Innovation Challenges, Career Days, debating competitions, etc.) as well as activities focused on specific target groups (e.g. female role models, activities focused on parents, etc.). An overview of the most commonly used JNTN activities can be found in the 'background documents' tab at the top of this page. 

JNTN activities are based on the 'BètaTechMentality-model' (see 'publications' section for English-language version) which provides a comprehensive framework for targeting students based on their intrinsic motivation ('drijfveren') to study STEM subjects. More information about the BètaTechMentality-model (including English version) and underlying research can be found on the publication page (accessible via the 'publications' tab above). 

In 2012 a version of the Jet-Net programme was launched in Denmark by the Danish House of Natural Sciences (Naturvidenskabernes Hus) under the label 'Jet-Net.dk' (rebranded in 2018 as the 'TekTanken'-programme). In 2020 the Basque Innovation Agency (InnoBasque) in Spain launched a pilot Jet-Net programme inspired by the Dutch Jet-Net model for school-company collaboration. More information about this initiative can be found in the taskforce dossier.