AR-STEAMapp: Fostering scientific vocations through Augmented Reality about European cultural heritage.

"<< Background >>AR-STEAMapp addresses the challenges of improving the teaching of STEAM disciplines by designing an innovative way of establishing connections between these disciplines in a meaningful way. An augmented reality educational application has been developed that can be used to explicitly reflect on the connections between STEAM disciplines through the analysis of European cultural heritage; students learn topics related to science, technology, engineering, mathematics and art, establishing explicit connections between the contents of the STEAM disciplines. In addition, a pedagogical framework is created to guide teachers in the implementation of the STEAM approach. The project responds to the needs of the Association (Specific Didactics Department and Secondary Education Centres) to innovate and improve education, and also meets the needs of the target audience, students and teachers aged 12 to 16, transferring this knowledge to other stages and other sectors. It has also been an opportunity for the international projection of the institutions linked to the project. << Objectives >>The objectives pursued in the project are aligned with the selected priorities of promoting the STEAM educational approach, promoting digital transformation in the educational and academic field, and providing support to teachers and professionals in the educational world. Thus, the objectives were defined to create an app (ARSTEAMapp) that allows the STEAM approach to be incorporated into the classroom in the context of European cultural heritage and with the use of Augmented Reality; as well as, a pedagogical guide for teachers to have a framework for its implementation in the classroom. Thus, teachers, from any discipline, can select the activities to be carried out according to the competences they want to work on with their students. In addition, the pedagogical guide contains a large number of activity proposals, which facilitates their implementation in the classroom. The results of the project are accessible on the Web (https://arsteamapp.webnode.ro/) Inherent to these objectives is the objective of dissemination of the results and the generation of impacts, as well as the sustainability of the project. All the objectives have been developed with satisfactory quality. << Implementation >>The activities defined in the proposal were adequately developed. These activities are the Kick-off meeting in Spain, the transnational meetings in Turkey and Portugal, and the teaching-learning activity in Portugal; and the final closing meeting, also held in Spain. In addition, 5 online meetings were held. In these meetings we were able to move the project forward, considering the complexities that innovation entails. For its part, the teaching-learning activity was developed appropriately, with the participation of 13 teachers and educational authorities, proving to be of great interest. Also noteworthy are the four multiplier events (N=238) in Turkey, Portugal, Romania and Spain, which were of great relevance. The enormous participation in the Romanian one is worth highlighting (with more than 80 participants, 30 being the estimation in the proposal). The proposed dissemination activities have also been developed, through social networks and international teachers networks (Science in Action, Scientix), the project website, workshops and events. Monitoring the quality plan has enabled the successful development of activities. << Results >>The concrete results of the project can be summarized as follows: 1. The ARSTEAMapp application, available for free download on Google Play, as well as a sheet of markers to activate Augmented Reality and a sheet to build a dodecahedron with markers on each side; these elements are linked at https://arsteamapp.webnode.ro/application/. ARSTEAMapp is available in the languages of the Association countries (Turkish, Romanian, Spanish and Portuguese) as well as in English, with text and audio available in the 10 teaching-learning scenarios based on European cultural heritage monuments, selected according to different architectural styles and geographical locations. 2. The pedagogical guide, https://arsteamapp.webnode.ro/pedagogical-guide/, also in the 5 languages. 3. Significant scientific and academic work has been carried out, so a Publications section has been created to collect publications in books, articles and conferences (https://arsteamapp.webnode.ro/publications/). We should also highlight the small book ""Legado cultural europeo con nombre de mujer"", written by Araceli Giménez Lorente, professor at the Escola d'Art i Superior de Disseny de Castelló, and external collaborator of the project. This book aims to highlight and value the relevant role of women in the construction of European cultural heritage. It is also worth noting that the cover of this book was made by the Galician painter Paco Casal for the project."