Hybrid Stem Intervention as New Post-Pandemic Approach to Motivate Students to Stem

Interdisciplinary Description of Complex Systems 21(3), 297-308, 2023 HYBRID STEM INTERVENTION AS NEW POST-PANDEMIC APPROACH TO MOTIVATE STUDENTS TO STEM Maja Dugandžić1, Ksenija Božinović2, Saša Ceci2, Dragomira Majhen2, Davor Nestić2 and Marko Košiček2, * University of Zagreb – Faculty of Science Zagreb, Croatia 1 1 Ruđer Bošković Institute Zagreb, Croatia 2 2 DOI: 10.7906/indecs.21.3.6 Regular article Received: 28 March 2023. Accepted: 21 June 2023. ABSTRACT There has long been a struggle over how to increase student interest in careers in STEM and meet the labour market’s need for specialised knowledge and skills. The long-standing debate at the EU level about the role of formal, informal, and non-formal education in meeting these challenges has not yet reached a clear conclusion. In the last decade, there has been a significant increase in the number of STEM programmes offered by various non-governmental organisations in Croatia. These interventions are often localised and have limited social impact, but there is a strong willingness to create an environment for their greater inclusion in the formal education system, triggered by comprehensive curriculum reform in Croatia. Motivation, especially intrinsic motivation, is a crucial driving force in our lives. In our pilot study, conducted with 6th grade elementary students, we aimed to explore the extent to which STEM interventions encourage students to learn more about the topic and whether it is possible to incorporate lessons learned from the pandemic into the design of future interventions. Our results show that there is no significant difference in student motivation after a 45-minute whole-class interactive intervention between face-to-face and virtual delivery. Although the intervention was entertaining, students perceived the science as interesting and useful rather than entertaining. Considering that students have positive attitudes toward Nature as a school subject, an early intervention with students at this age could be useful in maintaining their interest and preventing a decline in interest later in life. This finding is particularly important in the context of the transformation of the Croatian elementary school system into a “wholeday school”, which provides room for incorporating this type of intervention into a regular school system. KEY WORDS STEM education, motivation, school, virtual, wow effect CLASSIFICATION APA: 2227, 2260, 2360, 3560 JEL: I21 *Corresponding author, : ; +385 1 4561 014; *Bijenička 54, HR – 10000 Zagreb, Croatia M. Dugandžić, K. Božinović, S. Ceci, D. Majhen, D. Nestić and M. Košiček INTRODUCTION EU POLICY CONTEXT The times we live in have changed the way we work, communicate and thrive. The ongoing double (digital and green) transition has been catalysed by the COVID-19 pandemic and the energy crisis. Learning and working in a digital (virtual) environment have become part of our routine in the last two years. The EU’s transition to a resource-efficient, circular, digitised, and carbon-neutral economy and the widespread use of artificial intelligence and robotics are expected to create new jobs, while other jobs will change or even disappear [1]. In 2021, over 68 million people aged 25-64 were employed in science and technology in the EU, a 2,3 % increase from 2020. The EU Skills Agenda 2030 proposes 12 actions, including "Increasing STEM graduates, fostering entrepreneurial and transversal skills". People with high skills in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) are critical to driving the dual transition. However, only one in five young people in Europe complete higher education in STEM, which is less than two million STEM graduates each year [1]. On the other hand, the tests from PISA show that the percentage of low performance in basic mathematical skills is stagnating (22,9 % in 2020 compared to 22,7 % in 2010), while low performance in basic scientific skills is increasing at the EU-27 level (22,3 % in 2020 compared to 17,8 % in 2010). In Croatia, the trend is similar but the figures are higher (31,2 % in 2020 compared to 33,2 % in 2010 for mathematics and 25,4 % in 2020 compared to 18,5 % in 2010 for science) [2]. One of the EU recommendations to address this problem is: "Collaboration between formal, non-formal and informal educational providers, enterprise and civil society should be enhanced to ensure relevant and meaningful engagement of all societal actors with science and increase uptake of science studies and science-based careers to improve employability and competitiveness” [3]. CROATIAN CONTEXT With more than 75 years of tradition, the Croatian Association for Technical Culture is the highest national institution in the field of technical culture in the Republic of Croatia. It is regulated by a special law and is financed directly from the state budget. Its mission is to stimulate and promote all activities in the field of technical culture and to harmonize the activities of national associations in the field of technical culture. Since the early 2000s, there has been a growing number of activities in the field of science communication in other STEM disciplines in Croatia organized by public institutions. It all started with universities and research institutions organizing an "open day" and a Science Festival, followed by European Researchers Night projects, as well as numerous smaller initiatives (school visits, public lectures etc.). In parallel, there is a growing nongovernmental organization (NGO) scene active in science communication and STEM educational activities, including workshops in their own premises, public events, visits to school activities, etc. These actions are often local and have limited social impact. Evaluation of these interventions is mostly internal, without longitudinal monitoring of participants or social impact. Prior to 2020, there were limited opportunities for national funding of science communication and STEM education projects. From the background analysis of the European Social Fund (ESF) call for improving the capacity of civil society organizations in the field of STEM, it appears that in Croatia (at the end of 2019) only 1,15 % of all civil society organizations are registered for activities related to STEM and only 0,01 % of public funds allocated to civil society at the national level are used for them. In order to increase the impact of science 298 Hybrid stem intervention as new post-pandemic approach to motivate students to STEM communication and STEM education programs, it is important to map and evaluate the ongoing activities and establish some guidelines for future activities. Comprehensive curricula reform of elementary and high school system in Croatia have started in 2018 with the implementation of an experimental program “School for Life”, followed by total implementation by 2021. One of the key goals of the reform is implementation of an approach based on educational outcomes, (...truncated)