The project Strengthen the Holistic STEM Education in Technical Vocational Education and Training aims to strengthen vocational school teachers' knowledge and skills in organizing relevant, holistic and coherent STEM education in both EUD and EUX education programmes within the main area of technology, construction and transport, with a special focus on industry education programmes, e.g. blacksmith and industrial technician.
The project's activities focus on the competence development of vocational school teachers, with a particular focus on a combination of technical knowledge, pedagogical/didactic knowledge and education-specific knowledge, which is necessary to be able to organize vocational STEM education. This competence development is organized with teaching days, company internships and the development and testing of teaching courses in our own teaching. In addition, in the project we will work to develop and strengthen the STEM culture at the participating schools and develop communication material that can inspire other schools and subject areas in relation to organizing STEM education.
The follow-up research in the project looks at how working with competence development in vocational education with teachers from different professional and theoretical backgrounds can strengthen a common, professional identity within STEM education.
The expected benefits of the project are:
- Strengthened STEM professional identity among the participating teachers
- Strengthened STEM culture at the participating schools
- Greater insight into the role of STEM subjects in education among the participating teachers
- Increased skills in organizing relevant, coherent and holistic STEM education.
The project is supported by the Novo Nordisk Foundation and is developed and implemented in collaboration between the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) and VIA University College (VIA), where VIA is the applicant and project manager. In addition, the vocational schools TECHCOLLEGE, Roskilde Technical School, EUC Nordvest, EUC Syd and Herningsholm, as well as a number of companies, are included in the project.