Activities and exercises developed within this methodology aim to increase fundamental soft skills in female students who are currently attending STEM university courses. Following the introduction of “Arts” in STEM – i.e. implementation of creative and artistic thinking – we developed a methodology that helps mentoring students while elaborating different types of projects with the aim to empower their skills through an art thinking process. The proposed methodology follows an input-output process that leads students through the development of a project, where each output activity represents the input of the following activity.
The methodology developed follows four stages of the creative process. These phases were previously identified and defined through research based on data generated during focus groups. Through the proposed activities, therefore, this methodology intends to pursue two main objectives:
- Strengthen soft skills in girls STEM students
- Accompany them to develop and finalize the proposed project
In order to create a methodology that incorporates innovative activities and enhances soft skills in STEM students, we started with carrying out a preliminary literature overview considering both academic papers and gray literature (reports, website, educational guidelines). Then, based on this overview, we identified and extracted several best practices and, finally, mapped possible activities to be implemented in the educational process into the phases of the framework developed during the early stages of the project. Specifically, the phases identified are as follows: Incubation Phase, Imagination Phase, Creation Phase and Evolution Phase.
In the Incubation Phase the participants carry out research in relation to the topic of their interest and begin to put the foundations for a more concrete and precise idea.
In the Imagination Phase participants begin to idealize and define the key steps for the development of the project. During this development phase, the first goals and objectives are set.
During the Creation Phase, participants begin to concretely develop their product, project, or idea. After a prototyping step, this phase is accompanied by testing moments, where participants begin to understand what works and what should be changed. The testing phase is accompanied by the collection of external feedback, crucial to implement transversal points of view useful for the finalization of the project.
During the last Evolution phase participants aim to complete the project and present it to the audience of experts and external auditors. The Evolution Phase is a finalization phase but also a phase that looks to the future, as participants can take the key decisions on what should be changed in order to make the project more successful and to plan potential follow up.
Three activities were associated with each creative phase for a total of twelve activities with the aim of guiding the students through the necessary steps to develop and finalize a project (artistic or scientific) and to enhance their skills during this educational and creative process. Part of the activities developed were tested previously during the Ars Electronica training mobility in Linz, where 15 girls (STEM students) from the partner countries had the opportunity to start designing virtual reality games to strengthen women’s skills through artistic thinking.
In this case, the consortium of project partners decided to set as a final goal of the process the development of a project combining virtual reality, game mechanics and the enhancement of the role of women in society. This choice was done because VR game development is an effective method for imparting art thinking skills in STEAM education, as it facilitates a creative and interdisciplinary approach that encourages innovation and problem-solving. This approach requires a blend of abilities and knowledge from art, design, programming, and engineering. Through VR game development, students can put art thinking skills into practice in a hands-on and engaging way. This involves collaborating with peers, exploring different techniques, and refining their concepts based on feedback. Additionally, VR technology allows students to experience their creations in an immersive and realistic manner, thereby enhancing their learning and motivation.
The effective innovative approach of VR was the main input that led to our choice but also for the artistic-scientific conformation of the consortium of partners in question, however, the implementation of the following methodology can be applied to the creation and development of any type of artistic or scientific project.
At the end of these training days we submitted qualitative questionnaires to the participants in order to provide important feedback to improve the proposed methodology and activities. The following activities proposed in this handbook are the result of the study, research and subsequent re-elaboration after this training activity.