Titles & Abstracts

Prof. Dr. Louise Archer: Supporting more inclusive and diverse participation in STEM: Insights from UK research

Prof. Dr. Franz X. Bogner: From the Ivory Tower to STEM Classrooms – Are Expectations Consistent with Empirical Research?

Prof. Dr. Justin Dillon: Rethinking STEM Education

Prof. Dr. Doris Lewalter: Cognitive and motivational aspects of STEM education in museums

Prof. Dr. Jonathan Osborne: Building Informed Trust in Science: The contribution of STEM education

Prof. Dr. Chris Schunn: Science Activation and its relationship to in-school and out-of-school learning

Prof. Dr. Sandra Simpkins: Fostering youth’s STEM motivation through out-of-school programs: How to make programs most effective and implications for in-school learning

Dr. Gerhard Sonnert: The relationship between in-school and out-of-school STEM educational experiences in predicting students’ STEM career interest and identity

Prof. Dr. Heidrun Stoeger: Alignment of In-school and Out-of-school STEM Education

Prof. Dr. Martin Storksdieck: Field trips/excursions as a bridge between in- and out-of-school learning: New insights into a traditional tool

Prof. Drs. Albert Ziegler: Socio-Ecological Characteristics of Successful STEM Education Projects

Prof. Dr. Louise Archer: This talk draws on evidence from the ASPIRES project, a 14 year study,  based in the UK and funded by the Economic and Social Research Council. The study investigated the factors shaping young people's trajectories into/away from science, computing, engineering and mathematics. It tracked a cohort of young people for over a decade, from age 10 up to age 22, through surveys with over 47,000 young people and over 740 longitudinal interviews with a sub-sample of young people and their parents/carers. The talk presents identifies key factors shaping young people's trajectories into, through and away from STEM, focusing in particular on inequalities in relation to gender, social class and race/ethnicity and interactions of identity, capital and field. Implications for STEM educational policy and practice are discussed.

Prof. Dr. Franz X. Bogner: The SYNAPSES initiative with ten European research partners under the vision of Erasmus+ funding sets the three-year basis for a vision on how (pre-service and in-service) teacher can apply Sustainability Citizenship (SC), in offering a significant European dimension. The wider model of SC originates in the repeatedly confirmed model of Roczen and colleagues (2014) which provides the validity and reliability basis for cultivating agents of change who not only envision, but also enact solutions to sustainability issues. Implementing SC is supposed to stimulate, for instance, an action-including decreasing consumption and demand, developing sustainable food and/or exploring nature-based solutions for the current challenges. Arguing for a paradigm shift in the way we view education, the SYNAPSES Academy is supposed to demonstrate how our education systems can create new levels of awareness and work towards a sustainable future (Baierl & Bogner 2022). SYNAPSES will set-up the Erasmus+ Teachers Training on Teaching for SC to ensure and safeguard the long-term impact of the proposed activities.

The original module was gradually adapted for monitoring SYNAPSES training activities in order to help designing the most effective and engaging lessons. The use of innovative forms of instruction (inquiry-based, project-based, game-based) and tools in classrooms is the working agenda. For more details, see conference.

Roczen, Kaiser, Bogner & Wilson (2014). Environment & Behavior, 46(8), 972-992.

Baierl & Bogner (2023). International Journal of Science Education, TSED-2022-0674-A.

Prof. Dr. Doris Lewalter: Integrating informal learning environments into school STEM education may offer students the possibility to expand their scope of STEM experiences. This is especially the case when these settings convey content in a realistic and experience-oriented manner. The contribution takes the example of science and technology museums to illustrate relevant characteristics of these learning venues that differ significantly from the formal STEM education at schools. Class visits to museums can be designed differently in terms of instruction. One option that may offer the opportunity to utilize the informal learning venue’s potential is the approach of free exploration in small groups. However, this approach sometimes goes along with cognitive and motivational challenges for the students. Studies have shown that these can be reduced with minimal instructional support. The contribution examines the effects of digitally presented instructional prompts to support cognitive and motivational learning outcomes. Thereby, the relation with student characteristics and learning processes is considered.

Prof. Dr. Chris Schunn: Designers of early science learning interventions in and out of school suffer the dilemma of choosing strategic areas of emphasis that could have enduring effects. This talk explores whether science learning activation positions youth for a range of successes in proximal learning experiences that in turn influence activation. Broadly activated and broadly deactivated youth were identified within diverse sixth and eighth grade classrooms. Regression analyses, controlling for demographics and access to resources, revealed that these activated science learners were between three times and twelve times more likely to make choices towards science learning experiences, to have additional science learning experiences in and out of school, to have positive experiences in science learning activities, and to learn conceptual knowledge. Being activated as a whole was a stronger predictor of outcomes than regressions based on components of activation (being fascinated, valuing, feeling competent, and having sensemaking skills). Thus, activation is found to be a strong predictor of successes while also being shaped by these proximal successes in a positive feedback loop that can produce success in distal outcomes (e.g. scientific literacy and STEM careers). It provides new targets for stronger personalized learning that puts youth on pathway towards lifelong engagement with science.

Prof. Dr. Sandra Simpkins: Why do some adolescents maintain their STEM motivation where others’ motivation diminishes over time? What out-of-school factors help adolescents stay motivated to pursue STEM? How do these processes vary for adolescents who are marginalized in society and in STEM? In this talk, Dr. Sandra Simpkins will discuss the complexity of adolescents’ motivational beliefs, how they change over time, and the differential shifts based on adolescents’ gender, race/ethnicity, and social class. Families and organized activities are two out-of-school settings that have the potential to serve as sources of strength for adolescents’ STEM success. Unfortunately, some adolescents feel misunderstood, marginalized, and discriminated against when they are at activities. The quality of an activity is critical, including cultivating culturally responsive practices, to help ensure the positive development of all youth. However, executing high-quality culturally responsive activities is challenging. Dr. Simpkins will describe some of the challenges and best practices they have identified in her work with activities, youth, and families.

Dr. Gerhard Sonnert: There has been a conspicuous surge of interest in, and attention to, out-of-school-time (OST) STEM learning--in hopes that OST activities would play a critical role in strengthening the future STEM workforce and increasing STEM affinity in general. However, there has been little research comparing the influences of OST activities and in-school learning during high school on students’ future engagement with science. Using a large national dataset, we estimated Structural Equation Models to gauge the relative impacts of OST activities and in-school learning on students’ career interest at the end of high school and on their STEM identity, respectively. We found that, while both in-school learning and OST activities significantly predicted students’ career interest at the end of high school and STEM identity, in-school learning, as indicated by doing mathematics and science coursework, had larger effects on both outcomes. We also examined how students’ science interest at the end of middle school boosted their interest in pursuing STEM at the end of high school and their STEM identity. Here we found that students’ prior career interest in STEM moderated the effects of in-school learning and OST activities on career interest at the end of high school.  

Prof. Dr. Martin Storksdieck: School field trips and excursions have a long tradition and have served a multitude of purposes. They can be social outings meant to deepen relations while “doing something together” outside the context of classroom culture; they can introduce students to new ways of relating to the world (and often cultural resources), expanding horizons, and connecting to opportunities for lifelong learning; and they can function as educational “outsourcing” to experts and “expert settings” outside of schools. Often, they are a blend of all the above. I will reflect on the state of field trips and ask what was missing from the conversation, including who has access to them, in what ways, for what purpose and with what result. I will then report findings from a study that used a 15-year field trip program that reached roughly two-thirds of 5th and 6th graders in Maine, USA, to better understand the culture of connected learning within learning ecosystems. I will conclude the talk by discussing the role of virtual field trips within the context of authenticity and realness, pointing to lessons learned during the pandemic and to research findings on the value of authenticity for learning. My parting thoughts will tie together ideas around authenticity, emotion, engagement, and learning with reflections on the value of connected learning across time and space.