The third and last training course in the scope of the Erasmus+ project FOSTWOM – “Fostering Women to STEM MOOCs” – was held from 20 to 22 June 2022, at Instituto Superior Técnico, Alameda Campus, under the theme of “Flipped-classroom with gender inclusive STEM MOOCs”.
This training course was led by professor Ana Moura Santos, Coordinator of the MOOC Técnico and Faculty member at the Department of Mathematics, with the support of Paola Corti and Valeria Baudo (METID- Politecnico di Milano), Luis Felipe Costa (Instituto Superior Técnico), Domenico Brunetto (Politecnico di Milano), Erika Rossner and Charlotta Nilsson (KTH Royal Institute of Technology).
The participants from FOSTWOM’s partner countries – Universitat Politècnica de València, Instituto Superior Técnico, Conservatoire National Des Arts et Métiers, METID Politecnico di Milano and KTH Royal Institute of Technology – discussed future strategies to use MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) as tools to support inclusive approaches, and Flipped-classroom methodologies. The main objective of the training, aligned with that of the FOSTWOM project, is to raise awareness of inclusion and gender equality issues in STEM education.
The training course was divided into 4 sub-modules (2 hours each) with the following contents:
1. Video design for MOOC courses focusing on gender equality: video analysis from the point of view of narrative/content, language and images, using the FOSTWOM Toolkit. Practice of storyboard design for videos with STEM contents, using the list of best practices suggested in the FOSTWOM Toolkit.
2. Presentation of “Heroine’s Learning Journey” as a motivational contribution to support the online activities of a MOOC. Creation of two Personas to experience afterwards the “Heroine’s Learning Journey” videos.
3. Analysis of a Flipped-classroom planning experience applied to Mathematics contents in the Architecture course at Politecnico di Milano (2019). Discussion and validation of the planning of a Flipped-classroom strategy for STEM classes using open online contents, MOOC or others.
4. Validation of Active Learning, using the COPUS protocol for observation of STEM classes. Analysis of a possible adaptation of the COPUS protocol from a gender balance perspective. Collective comment on strategies for the applicability of this new proposed protocol for class observation.
