Fostering STEM education for youth through educational cartoons methodologies and e-learning technologies

<< Background >>Research funded by the European Commission, including this project, shows that: STEM studies and careers have low attractiveness, and labor market demand in STEM sectors remains unmet (PISA 2018 and 2022 reflect poor results in Romania, Cyprus, and Croatia);vulnerable groups continue to face social exclusion in various areas, including education; in the three countries, digital illiteracy remains high, despite digital skills being taught from middle school; linguistic diversity is still not recognized as a valuable cultural resource.In response to these needs, this initiative proposes: digital transformation through the development of an e-learning platform for STEM education, based on cartoons; improving STEM learning through attractive digital methods; enhancing social inclusion by developing the civic skills of young people; improving digital skills for education specialists and students; raising awareness of linguistic diversity as part of the common European cultural heritage.The objectives achieved converge towards the program priorities as established: Addressing digital transformation through development of digital readiness, resilience and capacity and Increasing quality, innovation and recognition of youth work.<< Objectives >>By implementing the project we wanted to:1. Develop a creative e-learning platform, based on visual arts and aimed at fostering STEM education to youth, development of digital skills among youth and youth practitioners, raising awareness on social inclusion to youth, & promotion of the diverse European cultural heritage in terms of language dialect among youth and youth professionals.2. Integrate animation technologies and creative learning within educational processes through the creation of a unique innovative methodology that aims to make the most of cartoons as a pedagogical tool to teach STEM & to provide the youth practitioners and students with the tools to create their own educational cartoons in order to innovate learning<< Implementation >>WP1 Horizontal Activities and Dissemination:A1- Project management and implementationA2- Evaluation and quality assurance A3 – Dissemination and exploitationPartnership agreements were signed, and a kickoff meeting on March 10, 2023, defined roles and communication channels between partners. Budget transfers were done. Regular Zoom meetings tracked management, dissemination, research & development activitiesDevelopment of a quality assurance plan. Surveys on satisfaction, communication and evaluation of the outputs were conducted.Development of a dissemination plan, logos, certificates, and press releases. Creating a website in English, Croatian, Cypriot, and Romanian, hosting results produced and resources. Creating regular posts on the established channels followed by reports. WP2 Cartooned Development Phase:Research: Creating a 3-part research methodology for STEM, socially excluded youth, and cartoon tools. Each partner conducted country-specific research based on focus group and interview inputs, followed by a comparative analysis.Development: Creating a 10-session learning program through a role model education methodologies. Elaborating scripts and cartoons revised during piloting.<< Results >>The main outputs are: WP1 14 TM meetings during project period, timetable, plans for quality assurance and dissemination, interim report, surveys and reports for quality & dissemination completed WP2 A1 1 Methodological framework for STEM education for youth (7-13 ) 1 template with 3 types of research/parts(STEM, social inclusion, tools and methodologies) /partner 3 research analyses with 3 parts: 1 is focused on Maths, physical disability inclusion and 2D traditional & digital techniques, 2nd is focused on Chemistry, neurodivergent inclusion and 2D techniques and 3rd is concentrated on Physics, and refugees & 2d drawing as a technique.1 conclusion of the analysis of the research that incorporates also tools and resources related to the development of animations and educational cartoonsWP2 A2 1 learning programme for youth (13-18) that includes the development of digital skills, STEM education and awareness of social inclusion through role-model education methodologies developed3cartoon scripts developed by partners made in both EN and partners' language 3 cartoons synchronised in 3 language dialects of the partners published on the website of the project https://www.cartooned.jednamladost.hr/project/our-cartoons/