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Improving STEM Learning Experience in Primary School by Using NEWTON Project Innovative Technologies

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Computer Supported Education (CSEDU 2018)

Part of the book series: Communications in Computer and Information Science ((CCIS,volume 1022))

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Abstract

Nowadays school curriculum is changing and more and more teachers are incorporating STEM content and themes into their classrooms. Students need to be proficient in STEM fields in order to be ready for the new technology driven society. Game-based learning and the latest visual technologies such as Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality and Virtual Labs can motive students to study STEM topics through an immersive and engaging environment. This research introduces NEWTON project that integrates into a learning platform (NEWTELP) different innovative technologies and deploys them in various European learning environments. In particular, Final Frontier, a novel interactive educational video game about solar system designed for primary school children is presented. A research study that involved the use of the game in a primary Irish school from Dublin, has investigated the learner experience. An analysis of the results show that over 90% of students confirmed that the game helped them to learn about the characteristics of the planets from the Solar system and they enjoyed the game and the game features in particular the fun aspect, the exploration tasks, stars and meteorites collection, avatar, use of jetpack, and the interactive puzzles.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    ChemCollective, Website http://www.chemcollective.org, Accessed: July 8th 2018.

  2. 2.

    Spongelab, Website http://www.spongelab.com, Accessed: July 8th 2018.

  3. 3.

    National Science Digital Library, Website https://nsdl.oercommons.org, Accessed: July 8th 2018.

  4. 4.

    TeachEngineering, Website http://www.teachengineering.org/, Accessed: July 8th 2018.

  5. 5.

    Howtosmile, Website http://howtosmile.org/, Accessed: July 8th 2018.

  6. 6.

    Open Learning Initiative (OLI), website http://oli.cmu.edu/, Accessed: July 8th 2018.

  7. 7.

    InGenious, Website http://www.ingenious-science.eu/web/guest, Accessed: July 8th 2018.

  8. 8.

    iTec Website, http://itec.eun.org/, Accessed: July 8th 2018.

  9. 9.

    Go-lab Website, http://go-lab-project.eu/, Accessed: July 8th 2018.

  10. 10.

    NEWTON Website, http://newtonproject.eu/, Accessed: July 8th 2018.

  11. 11.

    NEWTELP Website, http://newtelp.eu/, Accessed: July 8th 2018.

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Acknowledgements

This research is supported by the NEWTON project (http://www.newtonproject.eu/) funded under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation programme, Grant Agreement no. 688503.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CIREL(EA 4354), University of Lille, Lille, France

    Nour El Mawas

  2. School of Computing, National College of Ireland, Dublin, Ireland

    Irina Tal, Arghir Nicolae Moldovan, Josephine Andrews & Cristina Hava Muntean

  3. School of Electronic Engineering, Dublin City University, Dublin, Ireland

    Diana Bogusevschi & Gabriel-Miro Muntean

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  1. Nour El Mawas
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  3. Arghir Nicolae Moldovan
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  6. Gabriel-Miro Muntean
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  7. Cristina Hava Muntean
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Correspondence to Nour El Mawas .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

    Bruce M. McLaren

  2. MIT, Cambridge, MA, USA

    Rob Reilly

  3. University of Denver, Denver, CO, USA

    Susan Zvacek

  4. University of Ulster, Newtownabbey, UK

    James Uhomoibhi

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El Mawas, N. et al. (2019). Improving STEM Learning Experience in Primary School by Using NEWTON Project Innovative Technologies. In: McLaren, B., Reilly, R., Zvacek, S., Uhomoibhi, J. (eds) Computer Supported Education. CSEDU 2018. Communications in Computer and Information Science, vol 1022. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-21151-6_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-21151-6_11

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