STEAM Stars - A European Framework of Competences in Teaching STEAM Education for Gifted Students

Educational failure is not uncommon in students with high intellectual ability who struggle to succeed at school or who feel ostracized or rejected by their peer group. In disadvantaged social settings giftedness is often masked by socio-economic shortcomings or even by the low expectations of educational centres themselves. The purpose of the STEAM Stars project is to design innovative methods and pedagogies to provide more challenging and motivating exercises and methods for gifted and talented students. The project will also train teachers to recognize giftedness and address the unique needs of gifted and talented students.

Objectives
The aim of STEAM Stars is to design OER digital learning materials and tools in STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Maths) for gifted students. The project will develop the STEAM Stars Open CAMPUS, a multilingual ICT based training hub and platform which includes different elements of open education and innovation based on digital technologies. This includes an Online Instructional Guide on Digital Competencies for Virtual Learning and Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) addressed to schoolteachers, trainers and non-formal and informal educators.

STEAM Stars is a European project funded with support from the European Commission, through the ERASMUS+ programme, which provides open source, freely available training to educators of gifted children.
The learning materials have been designed to assist educators, parents, and other relevant individuals in recognising giftedness and to help them to find the best ways to support gifted children both in and out of the classroom.

To support teachers’ understanding and use of STEAM education, the STEAM Stars project has produced a European Framework of Competences in Teaching STEAM Education for Gifted Students - defining the competences, knowledge and skills required to teach STEAM to high-ability learners.

The project has also developed:
• The STEAM Stars Open CAMPUS (available in four languages), comprising:
o an Online Instructional Guide on Digital Competences for Virtual Learning,
o a set of structured Training Modules, and
o a programme of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs);
• The STEAM Stars Mobile Assessment App, a practical and innovative ICT-based tool designed to evaluate competences against the European Framework of Competences;
• Accessible guidelines to promote transparency and recognition of teaching STEAM education for gifted students.