Impressions from the event
INTRODUCTION
The event was opened with an welcome speech by the Dean of the Faculty of Education, Prof. Dr. Janez Vogrinec, and the Head of the Programme and Organising Committee, Prof. Dr. Vesna Ferk Savec. Asist. Ana Duša and AGRFT students, Nace Korošec and Neža Drnovšček, enriched the opening part of the event with an interesting performance entitled “Svoje usode krojač” (The Tailor of His Fate).
1ST PLENARY LECTURE SERIES
In the first plenary lecture, Maija Aksela from the University of Helsinki (Finland) presented the Finnish model of STEAM cooperation between schools, universities and industry. She gave us examples of good practice from the LUMA Centre Finlad network, whose slogan is: “Together we are more!”.
In the second plenary lecture, Hiroki Fujii from the University of Okayama (Japan) reminded us of the importance of integrating climate change education into school education and teacher training institutions.
1ST SET OF WORKSHOPS FOR PUPILS AND STUDENTS
Irena Nančovska Šerbec and Alenka Žerovnik from the Faculty of Education at UL introduced a group of students to digital stories and took them into the world of mythology and artificial intelligence.
Špela Klofutar from the Špelinice Institute and Ana Klofutar from the Biro Gašperič introduced the 1st triad pupils to earth art.
Iztok Devetak, Luka Vinko and their colleagues from the Faculty of Education at the University of Ljubljana organised a workshop for the pupils, where they used water analysis as a starting point for planning sustainable water protection measures.
Mateja Bevčič from the UL Centre for the Use of ICT in the Pedagogical Process and a group of pupils created various multimedia materials using the Canva tool.
Nika Cebin from the Ledina Gymnasium guided the pupils through the workshop on how young people and athletes can contribute to a sustainable and healthy way of eating.
Natalija Sitnikova and Jan Dežan, students from the UL Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, presented to a group of students how to gamify chemistry concepts. The students participated in various activities, including a chemistry BINGO.
Nives Kitanovski from the Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering of the UL, together with students Kristina Božič, Zala Kožuh and Jako Prelog, Ajda Godec, Barbara Derganc and Petra Šporar, held two workshops for pupils and students under the title “Brez kemije ni domišljije” (There is No Imagination Without Chemistry).
In the framework of the Erasmus+ project “Education on climate rules in context”, representatives of the Bridge Academy presented the project activity Climate Rules in their workshop.
WORKSHOPS FOR TEACHERS AND OTHER PROFESSIONALS
Sonja Rajh and Mojca Suban from the National Institute of Education of the Republic of Slovenia presented inquiry as a modern approach to learning and teaching mathematics.
Vesna Ferk Savec and Katarina Mlinarec from the Faculty of Education at the University of Ljubljana held a workshop on Green Chemistry using experimental work.
2ND SERIES OF WORKSHOPS FOR PUPILS AND STUDENTS
Barbara Kavčnik Rogelj and Mateja Šebenik from the Primary School Brezovica Pri Ljubljani tried to introduce Fibonacci numbers to the pupils through a workshop. The pupils explored their own bodies and found out what Fibonacci numbers are on the human body.
Miha Lukšič, Andrej Godec, Bojan Šarac and Črtomir Podlipnik from the Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at UL presented molecular modelling in an interesting way.
Brina Kurent, Primož Pirnovar and Stanislav Avsec from the Faculty of Education at the University of Ljubljana gave the pupils the opportunity to create any product they wanted by hand modelling, 3D scanning and 3D printing.
Students Veronika Koradin, Vesna Podgrajšek and Patrik Završnik from the Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at UL led the students in an experimental research project, where they learned about the culinary process of artificial caviar production.
Sanja Jedrinović from the UL Centre for the Use of ICT in Pedagogical Process worked with a group of pupils and students to create short animations using the Stop Motion Studio tool.
Martina Erjavšek, Barbara Zaman, Francka Lovšin Kozina and Stojan Kostanjevec from the Faculty of Education at UL gave a group of pupils and students a real MasterChef experience in the field of nutrition in science.
Tadeja Nemanič from the UL Centre for the Use of ICT in Pedagogical Process and a group of students created different escape rooms with the Genially tool and addressed challenges from different subject areas.
2ND SERIES OF PLENARY LECTURES
Lučka Kajfež Bogataj from the Biotechnical Faculty at UL raised awareness about how we can use our knowledge to contribute to a healthy and livable planet for future generations.
Uroš Ocepek from the Trbovlje Technical and Vocational Secondary School presented how their school deals with the challenges of vocational education, such as motivating students to learn. He focused on teamwork and working on computer projects.
1ST SET OF WORKSHOPS FOR DIFFERENT PARTICIPANTS
Danica Dolničar and Bojana Boh Podgornik from the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Engineering at UL and Vesna Ferk Savec from the Faculty of Education at UL presented innovative possibilities of computer visualisation of the structure of molecules.
David Rihtaršič from the Faculty of Education at UL presented how electronics can be taught using magic tricks.
Saša Ziherl, Katarina Susman and Jerneja Pavlin from the Faculty of Education at UL presented how the ARphymedes project materials can be used to teach physical content.
ROUND TABLE
At the roundtable, the plenary speakers, together with pupils, students, primary, secondary and higher education teachers and colleagues, discussed the current STEAM challenges through the eyes of young people and looked for common ways forward.
2ND SERIES OF SECTIONAL LECTURES
Nina Kociper from the Waldorf School and Kindergarten Savinja showed us how we can get to the knowledge of multiplication tables through movement.
Katarina Jelenc, a student at the Faculty of Education at UL, continued with a presentation of interesting approaches to teaching mathematics through combinatorial games.
Rok Capuder, Barbi Seme and Miha Majetič from the 404 Institute presented the possibilities of mentoring technology projects in non-formal education.
Ema Bojnec, a student at the Gymnasium Franca Miklošič Ljutomer, and Daša Žuman, a student at the Faculty of Education, University of Maribor, presented a linear structure notation for compounds for the blind.
Miha Slapničar from the Faculty of Education at UL and the Gymnasium and Veterinary School Ljubljana, Petra Ouček and Julija Kronvogel, students from the Gymnasium Franca Miklošič Ljutomer, Mateja Godec from the Gymnasium Franca Miklošič Ljutomer, and Tim Prezelj from the Faculty of Education at UL shared their experimental findings in the context of the socio-cultural environment, with an emphasis on the applied didactic use of inter-subject integration at different levels of education, especially chemistry, biology, history and literature.
Tim Prezelj from the Faculty of Education at UL presented some examples of the interplay and co-creation in the field of art and biology. He focused on examples of inter-subject integration of biology, art and history, and on innovative didactic approaches for learning about each subject from a slightly different perspective.
Matic Jančar, a student from the Biotechnical Faculty at UL, presented his final project, in which he decided to make a functional organ out of wood.
Petra Bezeljak and Andrea Möller from the University of Vienna and Gregor Torkar from the Faculty at UL introduced us to the importance of connecting pupils to nature through a workshop entitled Understanding Nature Connection among Primary School Children: meeting the challenges of the education system.
Veronika Koradin, Patrik Završnik and Vesna Podgrajšek, students from the Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Technology at UL, presented and pointed out the misunderstandings of students in the subject Chemistry in general gymnasiums, namely in the field of Redox reactions and the galvanic cell.
Andrej Demšar from the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Engineering at UL emphasised the reasons for the crisis in our sustainability performance, the stakeholders who can change the current sustainability crisis, possible solutions, and education as the most effective tool to achieve long-term sustainable change.
Petra Golja from the Biotechnical Faculty at UL shared with us her in-depth reflection and experience with the use of H5P tasks in the teaching process for the real-time monitoring of students’ knowledge.
Katja Zdešar Kotnik from the Biotechnical Faculty at UL presented all the ways in which she promotes real-time learning using ICT among students and shared with us the results of the introduction of technologies into the pedagogical process and the advantages or challenges that this way of working brings.
Andrej Lukšič from the Faculty of Social Sciences at UL shared with us a conceptual reflection on ecological modernisation and addressed the question: where is the EU going and where will Slovenia go in the direction of ecological modernisation?
2ND SERIES OF WORKSHOPS FOR DIFFERENT PARTICIPANTS
Miha Ambrož and Samo Zupan from the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at UL demonstrated the basic principles of geometric modelling of objects for production on 3D printers and gave the participants the opportunity to perform the basic 3D geometric modelling process.
Katarina Mlinarec and Vesna Ferk Savec from the Faculty of Education at UL introduced the participants to the organisation of chemical safety in schools, risk assessment and replacement, labelling and storage of chemicals, and waste management, giving them the opportunity to share their experiences.
Gregor Torkar from the Faculty of Education at UL discussed with the participants various issues with the aim of finding collective ideas and solutions for a sustainable future.
ARTISTIC-MUSICAL STEAM CLOSING
The event concluded with two multidisciplinary performances.
First, Michael Gregory, founder of My favourite experiments, presented some interesting experiments that can easily be done at home.
Finally, Matic Jančar, a student of the Biotechnical Faculty at UL, impressed us with a performance on a wooden organ that he made himself at the end of his secondary education. The participants also had the opportunity to try themselves at playing, and some of us were just delighted to admire the result of a multidisciplinary project and the dedication of a high school student, now a university student.
