NEWTON FAB LAB INITIATIVE: ATTRACTING K-12 EUROPEAN STUDENTS TO STEM EDUCATION THROUGH CURRICULUM-BASED FAB LABS

Abstract

Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) are foreseen to be the true drivers of the Europe’s future economy. Indeed, an increasing number of jobs will come to depend on STEM skills, and such careers are among the fastest growing worldwide. Unfortunately, the gap between the job market demands and the availability of these skills keeps growing. One of the key factors contributing to this situation is the drop in the number of graduates in STEM-related studies, often perceived as too difficult or too boring. This has to do with the poor academic preparation for college, which begins in grades K-12. Indeed, traditional teaching methods considering the educator as the only source of information are often seen as dull and obsolete. Moreover, STEM concepts are usually taught independent of one another and are not associated with any of the practical skills required by STEM occupations. As such, boosting students' interest in STEM from young age is key to ensure long-term STEM pipeline outcomes, enabling Europe to remain globally competitive. Several studies have indicated that in order to inspire students to learn STEM, there is a need for both rigorous K-12 education curricula and innovative learning/teaching practices. In this regard, various technology-based learning techniques have been proposed to improve students’ attitude toward learning STEM-related subjects. They integrate novel learning and teaching practices designed based on innovative technologies such as flipped classrooms, gamification, virtual labs, adaptive multimedia, multi-sensorial content, augmented and virtual reality and fabrication laboratories (Fab Labs). These approaches have demonstrated promising results in terms of improving learners’ (i.e. from primary school to third level education) knowledge gain in STEM-related subjects. This paper presents NEWTON Fab Lab Initiative, an educational platform which is part of the EU Horizon 2020 NEWTON project. The NEWTON Fab Lab Initiative aims at dispelling the belief that STEM-related subjects are hard or boring through promoting concepts such as “learning by doing” and “enjoying while learning”. This is achieved by enabling students to learn complex theoretical concepts in subjects such as geometry, design and engineering by fabricating small to medium size prototypes using Fab Labs technologies (i.e., Fab Labs here are used as an in-class supporting tool to the teacher-based approach, hence the name curriculum-based Fab Labs). To evaluate the benefits of the NEWTON Fab Lab Initiative on students’ motivation and affective state, 39 students took part in two small-scale pilots that were carried out in two schools (i.e., an Irish primary school and a Spanish secondary school) which consisted of modelling and fabricating 3D ceramic vases. Results show that the NEWTON Fab Lab initiative can foster students’ interest in science classes even if they have negative or impartial attitude toward learning STEM. In addition, students felt more engaged, happier and less bored while learning with the NEWTON Fab Lab Initiative compared to the classic teacher-based approach. Finally, the NEWTON Fab Lab initiative can boost students’ confidence when solving STEM-related problems; however, this result was of no statistical significance.