The iMuSciCA Summer School 2020 is offering teachers a “hands-on” training experience upon the iMuSciCA Workbench. The workbench is the place where students can perform STEAM related activities according to the iMuSciCA pedagogical framework. The iMuSciCA workbench also involves advanced music analysis and visualizations tools. The iMuSciCA workbench includes a number of activity environments and tools that explore original and innovative enabling technologies. The activity environments, categorized according to the different STEAM domains of music, science/maths and engineering/technology, are presented below:

3D Musical Instrument Design
In this environment the user is able to design 3D models of virtual musical instruments and adjust its design parameters for producing computer generated sound with interpretations of the related physics and mathematics.

Musical Instrument Performance
This environment integrates the advanced interaction sensors of Leap motion and Kinect in order to allow students to use gestures with their hands or their body/arms to interact with virtual musical instruments.

Drawing Canvas for Music Creation
In this environment, the learner can use a pen enabled canvas to hand draw using ink of different colours sounding shapes.

Sonification of mathematical equations and geometric curves
This environment allows users to draw geometric shapes and mathematical functions using handwriting that are subsequently recognized and sonified.

Geometry and Algebra Tools
This is an exploratory environment that involves math tools for geometry constructions and algebra allowing 2D and 3D visualizations.

Find out more about the summer school here: http://imuscica.ea.gr/

Τhe iMuSciCA summer school introduces the Inquiry Based Science Education model (IBSE) through STEAM pedagogy in order to achieve Deeper Learning.

A few words about STEAM
STEAM stands for Science Technology Engineering Arts and Mathematics, though “A”, as the term keeps spreading the word of this innovative approach around Europe, tends to mean rather “All disciplines” in nowadays. STEAM pedagogy connects different disciplines with each other on an inquiry and collaborative manner. It brings new pedagogical methodologies in the classroom, with the use of state of the art educational technology tools. This way active, discovery-based, and more engaging learning can be facilitated, with opportunities for collaboration, co-creation and collective knowledge building.

The iMuSciCA STEAM pedagogy will address different disciplines such as music, science/maths and engineering/technology. The STEAM pedagogy will let children play, discover and design within those disciplines.

The iMuSciCA STEAM pedagogy reflects the interdisciplinary nature of the STE(A)M world on a double dimension:

1. it connects concepts and skills from different disciplines in order to look better to a whole
2. it recommends that teachers with different backgrounds (music, science/maths, engineering) work together to bring this STEAM pedagogy to the classroom.

STEAM works on the transfer of concepts and skills from one content area to another, as it looks at the same concept in different ways and from different viewpoints. For example, proportional reasoning is usually learnt in mathematics with numbers and geometrical figures, while the concept of frequency of a sound played by a string provides a new field of experience of proportional reasoning.

A few words about IBSE and Deeper Learning
The iMuSciCA STEAM pedagogy will let students experience the interplay of the STEAM-fields by looking the same concepts through the discipline ‘glasses’ of music, science/math and the engineering/technology. In iMuSciCA, the traditional Inquiry Based Science Education (IBSE) phases are broadened so as to let room to activities usually not incorporated in science inquiry, like for instance the making/design phase which can occur both in engineering/technology and music.
The inclusion of concepts or practices from other subjects in iMuSciCA is intended to deepen the learning and the understanding of the targeted STEAM subjects. Deeper learning includes: (i) mastery of core academic content, (ii) critical thinking and problem-solving, (iii) working collaboratively in groups, (iv) communicating clearly and effectively, (v)·learning how to learn, and (vi) develop academic mindsets.
The nature of STEAM as an interdisciplinary subject, reflects exactly what we see in the real world, outside the classroom. In the real STE(A)M world in research institutes, innovative companies etc., people from different backgrounds collaborate together in interdisciplinary teams, in order to understand or design a new ‘whole’. Bringing STEAM to classroom requires a team of teachers from different backgrounds.

In order to achieve a more focused training experience by maximizing the benefits that the course has to offer, we encourage you to join our community on the Open Discovery Space platform. Stay tuned as more information about your preparation for the course will be announced there soon.

At the end of the course, groups will share their work and feedback will be provided. As a follow-up, participants will have the opportunity to share ideas and suggestions about the possibility of implementation of the program in their classes creating an international school network. On return to their home locations participants will try out the different approaches with their students/pupils and share their experience and material with other participants through social media and online community platforms. The trainers will also give feedback and counselling through the same platform between training sessions.

Find the draft programme here:
http://imuscica.ea.gr/programme