Paper short abstract:

In response to current challenges, education must adapt. Social Sciences address global issues, emphasizing the need for global citizenship education. Our initiative fosters multicultural collaboration using technology, inviting scholarly dialogue for further improvement.

Paper long abstract:

In light of the latest technological advances, such as AI, it has become increasingly evident that education and didactic techniques need a deep transformation in order to adapt to the needs of younger generations.

Within the field of Social Sciences, practitioners are constantly challenged to create larger, more innovative and more effective solutions to address the pivotal global challenges articulated in the 2030 agenda.

In this context, the cultivation of global citizens within our classrooms assumes paramount importance within the goals of middle and higher education institutions. As professionals in this area, teachers are constantly trying to create new experiences that will provide students with significant emotional learning processes that will allow them to connect in a personal level to the issues their subjects or projects are trying to address. The latter with the objective of bringing knowledge beyond the classroom, inspiring the students to engage and taking their knowledge to action.

This paper elucidates the operational framework and outcomes of our Global Shared Learning Classroom initiative, which has connected students and teachers from all corners of the world in close collaboration to carry out multicultural, collaborative, online critical thinking activities. Interacting with different partner institutions, we have managed to create engaging experiences, providing the students with true multicultural environments facilitated with the use of different technological tools.

Moreover, this discourse invites scholarly engagement on avenues for refinement and enhancement, encapsulating a truly multicultural exchange that embraces diverse methodological approaches.

Paper short abstract:

This paper examines a collaborative online global learning initiative by researchers from Mexico, Ecuador, and Germany. It explores organizational conditions, collaboration ethics, and classroom outcomes, offering insights into its potential for internationalization.

Paper long abstract:

This paper presents a comprehensive exploration of an innovative online global learning experience orchestrated through collaborative efforts between researchers hailing from Mexico, Ecuador, and Germany. It offers a multifaceted analysis, encompassing the organizational dynamics that underpinned the successful execution of this cross-cultural endeavor. By scrutinizing the intricate interplay of factors that facilitated collaboration across geographical boundaries, the study sheds light on the essential organizational conditions requisite for such global learning initiatives.

Furthermore, the paper delves into the ethical dimensions inherent in collaborative endeavors of this nature, unpacking the ethical considerations, collaborative patterns, and techniques employed throughout the process. Through a meticulous examination, it elucidates how ethical frameworks were navigated and upheld, ensuring the integrity and inclusivity of the collaborative learning experience.

In addition to the organizational and ethical aspects, the paper offers a reflective inquiry into the outcomes of the global learning experience within classroom settings. It investigates the efficacy of knowledge dissemination between virtual and physical spaces, probing into the experiences and insights garnered by students and organizers alike. By analyzing the impact of this transference of knowledge, the study provides valuable insights into the effectiveness of global collaborative learning initiatives in fostering meaningful learning outcomes.

Ultimately, the paper positions global collaborative learning experiences as a potent avenue for internationalization, offering an "undercommons" (Harney/Morten) approach that transcends traditional paradigms of cross-cultural exchange. By fostering connections and facilitating the exchange of knowledge and perspectives across borders, such initiatives contribute to the cultivation of a more interconnected and globally engaged educational landscape.

Paper short abstract:

Students of Biochemistry approach life on a molecular level. They often overlook how particular approaches of generation, reproduction or brain research are embedded in discourses of dominance and subordination. The presented course guides them through these entanglements from history to present.

Paper long abstract:

I present a mandatory Gender Studies course of biochemistry and technical chemistry. Students can earn 3 ECTS. I introduce the course by discussing main concepts of Gender and STS and then present eleven topics based on a scholarly paper everyone prepared.

The first topic relates Enlightenment philosophical agitation against wet nursing, promoting normative breastfeeding by mothers resulting in so many cases of infant death that, when in the later 19th century artificial baby food was developed by chemists, it led to a huge market success. Here, the students get introduced to changing gender norms in the past and their relation to scientific innovation, whereby chemistry plays a salvatory role. This counteracts eventual fears that this would be an anti-science course.

The next topic is about the ‘discovery’ of an exotic abortifacient by an exceptional women scientist around 1700, who travelled from Amsterdam to Surinam and learned from indigenous and enslaved African women how they contributed to the struggle against slavery. Here, as well as in the former and throughout the following topics, I discuss with the students, who – and what – is an actor and how are the actors related to each other. On this way they learn how knowledge production in the laboratory is entangled with local and global politics. Who is entitled to decide on questions of life and death? Who is heard? Who is acknowledged?

In the paper I will present a short overview on the topics and then discuss the methodological and didactical approach.

Paper short abstract:

The contribution focuses on two challenges of the current STEM curricula in formal education based on the research conducted within the European project Open Learning for All: the lack of transdisciplinarity, crucial in facing complexity; stereotypes and biases conveyed by educational resources

Paper long abstract:

This contribution aims to reflect on STEM curricula in formal education, debating the findings emerged by the European project Open Learning for All (OLA). We will present two of the dimensions addressed by the project:

- At all educational levels, STEM disciplines are usually managed as silos not preparing learners to engage in ‘wicked problems’, complexity and uncertain reality (Colucci Gray 2017; Funtowicz, Ravetz 1994; Morin 2002; Pennacchiotti e al. 2021); in the OLA research process, the adoption of a transdisciplinary approach to STEM subjects was enhanced through the participatory design and testing (involving students, teachers, researchers from 5 European countries) of educational open scenarios within the STEAM framework.

- As documented by several studies there is a differential achievement in STEM subjects based on gender, economic status, background. The Council of Europe (2020) highlighted that working to overcome stereotypes, especially those that constrain the students’ choices for their field of study, is one of the challenges we must face to reduce these gaps. Educational resources and textbooks have a crucial role in shaping learning and teaching processes (UNESCO 2017) and conveying epistemologies and values, explicitly and implicitly (Caravita et al. 2007). In OLA we fostered the consciousness and capability of teachers and students to detect stereotypes in educational resources, taking into account the plurality of possible points of view and backgrounds, through the development of a theoretical framework, Moocs and guidelines for teachers, and an open repository with more than 200 transdisciplinary scenarios.

Paper short abstract:

Empirical insights from narrative interviews aim to identify factors that contribute to creativity in STEM education. The paper highlights that the inclusion of creative approaches in STEM education could have a positive impact on learners' confidence, self-efficacy and motivation.

Paper long abstract:

In our technologized and increasingly complex world, jobs in the field of STEM play a crucial role in driving innovation and sustainability. The constant search for new solutions and innovative products characterises the STEM field. Creativity is considered essential in driving innovative solutions and an essential skill for future engineers to excel in their careers.

However, women remain significantly underrepresented in STEM in Germany, particularly in engineering. Gender stereotypes and conflicts prevent women from pursuing careers in these fields. The inclusion of creative approaches is seen as a way of tackling this prevailing trend and may help to increase female students' interest in STEM subjects. This would be an opportunity to experience their skills and competences in a more unbiased way and weaken stereotypes. Research has shown how fostering creativity in STEM education positively impacts learners' confidence, self-efficacy and motivation.

To investigate the perceptions of creativity as well as the impact of learning experiences and contextual factors on creativity, empirical data from the mixed-methods study "digiMINT" (grant-no. 01FP22M01), is collected through narrative interviews with female pupils, students and industry representatives, as well as an online survey targeting young professionals in mechanical and plant engineering. The aim is to understand the factors that contribute to participants' creativity.

With narrative interviews on the transition from high school to university, the paper presents first empirical insights into the factors contributing to creativity in STEM education. It sheds light on the impact of learning experiences and shaping contextual factors on creativity in STEM education.