Enlivened Laboratories within STEM Education (EL-STEM)
Inspired by the emerging technologies of Augmented and Mixed Reality (AR/MR), the Enlivened Laboratories in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (EL-STEM) project aims to develop a new approach, integrating these technologies into school laboratories, for encouraging secondary school students’ STEM engagement. In particular, EL-STEM’s main objectives are to attract students who might not be interested in STEM-related studies/careers, enhance the interest of those who have already chosen these fields of studies/careers, and improve students’ performance in STEM-related courses. Moreover, EL-STEM provides teachers with high quality professional development opportunities to acquire knowledge and skills to effectively embed AR/MR in teaching and learning. This book chapter aims to provide an overview of the EL-STEM project and describe use cases of Augmented Reality in STEM education.
Enlivened Laboratories within STEM Education (EL-STEM)
Inspired by the emerging technologies of Augmented and Mixed Reality (AR/MR), the Enlivened Laboratories in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (EL-STEM) project aims to develop a new approach, integrating these technologies into school laboratories, for encouraging secondary school students’ STEM engagement. In particular, EL-STEM’s main objectives are to attract students who might not be interested in STEM-related studies/careers, enhance the interest of those who have already chosen these fields of studies/careers, and improve students’ performance in STEM-related courses. Moreover, EL-STEM provides teachers with high quality professional development opportunities to acquire knowledge and skills to effectively embed AR/MR in teaching and learning. This book chapter aims to provide an overview of the EL-STEM project and describe use cases of Augmented Reality in STEM education.
Augmented reality in laboratory-based education: Could it change the way students decide about their future studies?
Several studies have focused on the different types of laboratories arising with the evolution of technology and their influence within all educational levels concerning Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Education. Augmented Reality (AR) is receiving increased attention and interest in recent years, within not only the commercial and the entertainment sectors, but also the educational field. In this paper, some current trends are identified after a brief overview of the state-of-the-art concerning Laboratory-based education. Moreover, challenges are discussed and potential future areas of research are identified. Finally, an outline of a methodology is suggested aiming to identify how the use of different types of labs may affect students' enrollment in STEM-related studies.
Editorial for the Special Issue on Advances in Augmented and Mixed Reality in Education
Augmented Reality in Lower Secondary Education: A Teacher Professional Development Program in Cyprus and Greece
The current article provides an overview of a Teacher Professional Development (TPD) program that has been designed, pilot tested, and implemented to investigate the impact of augmented reality (AR) on: (a) Teachers’ level of technology (AR) acceptance, adoption of inquirybased instructional approaches, and confidence towards teaching twentieth-first century skills in STEM-related courses; and (b) students’ potential enhancement of specific twentieth-first century skills and motivation and interest during a STEM- (science, technology, engineering, mathematics)- related course supported with AR. This article focuses on the teachers’ points of view concerning the impact of their STEM-related interventions on their students’ motivation and learning, as well as the factors that influence the teachers’ technology acceptance. The TPD program has been implemented in Cyprus and Greece with twenty-five lower secondary school teachers (20 in Cyprus and 5 in Greece). The research methodology applied is Educational Design Research (EDR), including an initial phase of the TPD program and a second (improved) phase. The data collection tools consisted of questionnaires, interviews, and observation of classroom interventions. Initial findings and their implications for teaching and future research are discussed, indicating the potential benefits and challenges surrounding the integration of AR within the educational process.
Engineering Attractiveness in the European Educational Environment: Can Distance Education Approaches Make a Difference?
The recent phenomenon of worldwide declining enrolments in engineering-related degrees has led to the gradual decrease in the number of engineering graduates. This decrease occurs at a time of increasing demand in the labour market for highly qualified engineers, who are necessary for the implementation of fundamental societal functions. This paper initially presents a survey of practices, which are currently employed by academic institutions in Europe in order to increase the attractiveness of their engineering studies. It then provides a detailed analysis of the benefits and proliferation of distance education to increase attractiveness of engineering studies based on a set of interviews. Results of this study, highlight a lack of a distance-learning dimension in the implementation of engineering studies in the European Area and discusses in detail ways in which distance learning can be utilised in engineering studies for the benefit of increasing their attractiveness. It has also been noted that institutions employing distance learning as part of their engineering studies, see this as highly beneficial for their students but also for the academic institution itself with some reservations in terms of the pedagogical adequacy of materials and instructional approaches used in distance education courses.