UMI-Sci-Ed Project: The experience in Norwegian schools

Fufen Jin - fufen.jin@ntnu.noAnne Margrethe Bosch - annemabosch@gmail.com

Monica Divitini - divitini@ntnu.no

10.05.2019

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Agenda

• The UMI-Sci-Ed project: Programming in secondary schools in an European perspective

• Educational scenarios: An example

• Some results from Norwegian schools

• Reflections on the experience

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What is UMI-Sci-Ed?

• UMI-Sci-Ed: Exploring Ubiquitous computing, Mobile computing and Internet-of-things to promote Science Education

• UMI: Ubiquitous computing, Mobile computing and Internet-of-things

• A European project involving 5 countries across Europe: Norway, Finland, Italy, Greece, Ireland

• Aim: enhance the attractiveness and inclusiveness of science education and careers for young people through the use of the latest technologies.

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Mission

Empower young students (13-16 years in age) to:• Think creatively• Apply new knowledge in an effective way• Become competitive in a highly demanding

working environment• Create Communities of Practice to support

education

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Overview of studies

• 5 classes in each partner country• Overview of the 5 classes in Norway

Total N=128N boys=71N girls=47N unknown gender=10Mean age=15 years

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Agenda

• The UMI-Sci-Ed project: Programming in secondary schools in an European perspective

• Educational scenarios: An example

• Some results from Norwegian schools

• Reflection on the experience

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What we provide….

• A platform for supporting activities in schools and cooperation - http://umi-sci-ed.eu/the-platform

• Community of Practice (CoP)

• Educational scenarios

• The UDOO educational toolkits

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Technical toolkit

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Video from the activity

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● Easy entry point, less “scaring”● connected to societal challenges

(technology in context)● Develop ownership of ideas

● Introduction to microprocessors and sensors

● Group activity● Hand-on tutorial

● Project - oriented activity● Students have the possibility to

be more creative (within the limited time frame that they have

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Agenda

• The UMI-Sci-Ed project: Programming in secondary schools in an European perspective

• Educational scenarios: An example

• Some results from Norwegian schools

• Reflection on the experience

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Do UMI activities provide satisfaction, enjoyment, a good performance, and give a sense that it is useful to students?

5,5

4,84,5 4,4

5,3

4,3

1

2

3

4

5

6

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Satisfaction Enjoyment Easiness Usefulness Performance Intention to use

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High satisfaction rate does not translate to high intention rate

63,6

19,6

10,3

6,5

Strongly agree Partially Agree Neutral Disagree

22,4

2922,4

26,2

Strongly agree Partially Agree Neutral Disagree

Students’ respons to satisfaction Students’ respons to intention

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Usefulness is a critical factor for intention

0,4

0,46

0,54

0,630,6

0

0,1

0,2

0,3

0,4

0,5

0,6

0,7

Satisfaction Enjoyment Easiness Usefulness Performance

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Gender differences in learningexperiences

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2

3

4

5

6

7

Satisfaction Enjoyment Easiness Usefulness Intention

Boys Girls

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Gender difference in learningexperience with UDOO

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

Usability Enjoyment Easiness Intention

Boys Girls

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Do UMI activities increase students’ career awareness?

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Agenda

• Who we are

• The UMI-Sci-Ed project: Programming in secondary schools in an European perspective

• Educational scenarios: An example

• Some results from Norwegian schools

• Reflection on the experience

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Some lessons learned (1)

• UMI as an effective way to engage students– ...but requires close follow up from the teachers

• Cooperation with external actors is important - invite people into your class– but remember that your role as a teacher remains critical

• Students might play an important role in helping others to learn - give them a chance

• Varied activities are important to trigger participations– how and when to push students out of their “comfort zone”

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Some lessons learned (2)

• The gender gap– Girls are a minority in ICT-oriented classes

• It is important to motivate them early– Stereotypes seem to be strong and tend to push back girls

during programming activities• active scaffolding by the teacher

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Some lessons learned (3)

• Low floor, high ceiling activities– not easy to design and to

implement

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Interested in cooperating with NTNU?

Contact: Prof. Monica Divitini divitini@ntnu.no

Why you should get involved?

● Get access to innovative teaching scenarios

● Share your experience with an international community

● Get help