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Applications of Data Science. Data Science at NYU. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 August, 2017. http://datascience.nyu.edu/applications/

Best STEM Industries. Industries & Professions. Best STEM Industries|Vault.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Mar. 2017. http://www.vault.com/rankings-reviews/industries-professions/best-stem-industries

Build Your Future with O*NET OnLine. O*NET OnLine. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 August. 2017. https://www.onetonline.org/

Encouraging STEM studies for the Labor Market. (2015) Directorate General for Internal Policies, Policy Department A: Economic and Scientific Policy. http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/STUD/2015/542199/IPOL_STU(2015)542199_EN.pdf

EU Skills Panorama. (2014) STEM skills Analytical Highlight, prepared by ICF and Cedefop for the European Commission. http://skillspanorama.cedefop.europa.eu/sites/default/files/EUSP_AH_STEM_0.pdf

The Future of Jobs. Employment, Skills and Workforce Strategy for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (2016) World Economic Forum. http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Future_of_Jobs.pdf

Why You Should Pursue a STEM Career in Agriculture. Electronic Component News. N.p., 30 Sept. 2015. Web. 24 Mar. 2017. https://www.ecnmag.com/blog/2015/05/why-you-should-pursue-stem-career-agriculture

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Module 2 - 2.5. The Importance of 21st Skills and Industry 4.0 in STEM Education

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Module 2 - 2.5. The Importance of 21st Skills and Industry 4.0 in STEM Education

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For further reading:

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A group of Australian high school students have managed to recreate a life-saving drug that rose from US$13.50 to US$750 a tablet overnight after an unscrupulous price-hike by former hedge fund manager Martin Shkreli.

The Sydney Grammar students reproduced the drug, Daraprim, used to treat a rare but deadly parasitic infection, in their high school laboratory with support from the University of Sydney and global members of the Open Source Malaria consortium.

Dr Alice Williamson, a postdoctoral teaching fellow with the university's school of chemistry, said she could not stop dwelling on the story of Shkreli, who acquired Daraprim last year through his company, Turing Pharmaceuticals, and almost immediately and exorbitantly hiked the price. The drug is used to treat malaria and to prevent toxoplasmosis infection in people with HIV.

The move made him a public villain, a label he embraced as he also became known as "Pharma Bro".

"I couldn't get this story out of my head, it just seemed so unfair especially since the drug is so cheap to make and had been sold so cheaply for so long," Williamson said.

"I said 'Why don't we get students to make Daraprim in the lab', because to me the route looked pretty simple. I thought if we could show that students could make it in the lab with no real training, we could really show how ridiculous this price hike was and that there was no way it could be justified."

Sydney Grammar could afford to pay for the equipment and chemicals, and had the facilities. The group of year 11 students were talented and confident, Williamson said, and decided to give it a go.

The students made their work open to the internet, and scientists anywhere in the world were able to view all the data generated and mentor the students to accelerate their progress. Williamson and the university's associate professor Matthew Todd also mentored the students.

Todd told Guardian Australia that what the students had achieved was "a little Breaking Bad", a television show about a struggling high school chemistry teacher who works with one of his former students to produce and sell crystal meth.

"With the right guidance they could do everything safely," Todd said.

"There were clues in literature already from patents around these molecules, but they had to change things as some reagents were nasty and dangerous so some invention was needed on their part. The open source platform meant as they posted data in real time, Alice, myself and others could guide them."

He said the open nature of the project demystified science and revealed the number of roadblocks the students had faced in coming up with the final product, which involved three complicated chemical steps.

"With science results you can be presented with a polished finished product that hides the false steps along the way," he said. "The students' real-time diary highlights their whole process, and is a very transparent way of doing things."

The students realised they had succeeded two weeks ago when their teacher, Dr Malcolm Binns, brought Todd and Williamson a sample.

"Alice did the analysis and looked at the screen and said 'Oh my god, they've done it'," he said.

"And not only have they done it, it's super pure. It's A-grade. I couldn't believe my eyes. That was the moment. I realised they had nailed it. The students were over the moon."

He said unfortunately the students would not be able to sell their drug to the US market. While the drug can be bought in Australia for about A$13 for a packet of 50, there are a number of complicated legal roadblocks in the way of producing and selling it in the US.

"Turing has the exclusive rights to sell it, even though the drug is no longer under patent," Todd said. "The ridiculousness of this legal loophole means if we wanted to launch it as drug in the US we'd have to go through a whole new clinical trial because we would have to compare the Sydney Grammar stuff with the officially sanctioned stuff, and Turing would have to give us the drug to allow those comparisons to be made.

"It's not just a matter of going to the store and buying the Turing drug either, they would have to hand it over directly."

In response to a question on Twitter about whether the schoolboys were competition, Shkreli simply tweeted: "No".

* Watch Dr Alice Williamson discuss open drug discovery here
Topics

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Australian students recreate Martin Shkreli price-hike drug in school lab

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A group of Australian high school students have managed to recreate a life-saving drug that rose from US$13.50 to US$750 a tablet overnight after an unscrupulous price-hike by former hedge fund manager Martin Shkreli.

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Module 2 - 2.5. The Importance of 21st Skills and Industry 4.0 in STEM Education

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Module 2 - 2.5. The Importance of 21st Skills and Industry 4.0 in STEM Education

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For further reading:

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Focus and Scope | Journal of Steam Education

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Journal of STEAM Education is a multidisciplinary journal that focuses on promoting the quality of in the fields of (STEAM) Education by carrying out the findings of research results to the STEM/STEAM teachers, STEAM researchers, head of schools, practitioners, and policy makers. Journal of STEAM Education publishes original research articles in all fields of STEM Education.

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Module 2 - 2.5. WEBINAR: The Importance of 21st Skills and Industry 4.0 in STEM Education - Dr. Sahin Idin

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Module 2 - 2.5. WEBINAR: The Importance of 21st Skills and Industry 4.0 in STEM Education - Dr. Sahin Idin

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Save the date - it´s tmorrow.

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Module 2 - 2.4. Soft skills - Activity 4

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Module 2 - 2.4. Soft skills - Activity 4

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(a) Which are the key competences for, and which are the soft skills specific to STEM industries?

Good communication and language skills

Flexibility

Assertiveness

(b) How can the school of the future help pupils and students develop these key skills?

Group working,

Exposure of students to challenging situations,

Participation in debates,

Running business simulations and real-life experiences,

Asking students to provide and receive feedback,

Structure the communication process,

Developing organizational skills and boosting the learning of foreign languages through the CLIL methodology.

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The 7 most important soft skills in the STEM areas.

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Just what skills do students need today to succeed in the future? We asked 7 leaders in STEM education what they think classroom teachers should focus on to prepare kids for jobs we haven't even conceived of yet.

Many of our interviewees cited a diverse range of skills, but we challenged them to name at least one key ability they believe will be more critical than the rest in order to succeed in future STEM fields.

We were surprised by the equal mix of "soft" and more traditional academic skills mentioned, from creativity to statistics. Read on for more of what our experts had to say:

1. Statistics

"If I were to choose one specific discipline for students to study, it would be statistics, a course that can be applied across all STEM fields. You don't need higher levels of calculus or physics for all STEM careers, but you do need statistics. A deep understanding of statistics means understanding probability and error rates, concepts that cut across almost any type of problem you want to solve in STEM."

- Gregg Fleisher, president, National Math and Science Initiative, Dallas, Texas

2. Problem-Solving

"What binds together the STEM movement is the notion of modern skills. Employers talk about problem-solving. Society requires problem-solving. Doing your taxes requires problem-solving. Those are the types of skills that really matter. A practicing engineer will tell you, 'I didn't use the calculus I learned to solve problems on paper, but the way it taught me to solve problems and to think about problems was really important.'"
-James Brown, executive director of the STEM Education Coalition in Washington, D.C., and a nuclear engineer by training
3. Creativity

"Creativity can be simple and complex at the same time.We don't always teach to think outside of the box. You've got to look at a problem from a different perspective sometimes. Teachers can nurture this by asking open-ended questions. In math and science, you can show different models so students get varying ideas of how it might look to bring together one idea. Or don't show a model at all and leave it a little open-ended so they have to come up with a solution on their own. Ask: 'Why do you think this is?' Reflecting and explaining what they did to solve a problem can foster creativity and teach collaboration -another important skill."

- Jenny Nash, education sp ecialist with in Boston, former middle school teacher and teacher-preparation instructor

4. Argumentation
-Eric Brunsell, associate professor of science education and director of the teacher education program at University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh
"The act of arguing is using evidence to support a claim. In the STEM fields, this means using analytical and critical-thinking skills to look for patterns in data, trying to determine what those patterns mean, and then using that data to support a claim. This skill transfers across all disciplines. In an elementary school science class, for example, if you give students a lot of different experiences with noisemakers-everything from tuning forks to speakers to whoopee cushions-they have the experience of collecting data. And then they will be able to use that data to make the argument that sounds are caused by vibrations."

5. Intellectual Curiosity
-Ted Wells, vice president and chief strategy officer at STEMconnector®, in Washington, D.C.
"The days of coming into an organization and having the same role forever are over. Many people will have two-year stints and then are moved into a different role. That's the nature of modern career paths. Beyond mastering content, individuals need to be innovators, learn from failures and keep moving on. You need to cut across disciplines and be able to ask the questions that help build connections. People need to be lifelong learners and be driven by an intellectual curiosity to try to figure things out."

6. Data-Driven Decision-Making

"Students need to be able to make a decision not just based on what they think or feel, but on scientific data that supports the best solution. Everyone needs to know how to do this. It doesn't matter whether you go on to a career in STEM or not-you need to know how to use data to make informed decisions in your life."

- Stacy Klein-Gardner, director of Center for STEM Education for Girls at Harpeth Hall School in Nashville, Tennessee. She is a biomedical engineer and on faculty at Vanderbilt University.

7. Flexibility

"People are now required to adapt quickly to new demands and new situations. They need quantitative skills to manipulate data well. They need to be able to communicate clearly. There is a broad set of skills that, I would argue, everyone needs. Just look at the sheer number of people in manufacturing who were skilled at what they did but who now need a whole new set of skills, often late in their careers, to be viable in the job market. They need to know statistics, technology, quality control. They need to understand programming and systems to ensure the automated production technology is operating correctly. The trick for teachers is to give their students authentic problems to tackle in school, problems that require students to draw on different areas of knowledge and skill."
Teachers, what are your thoughts? Do you have any focus skills that you particularly try to instill in your students? Please share in the comments!
- Claus von Zastrow, chief operating officer and director of research for Change the Equation in Washington, D.C.

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The 7 Most Important STEM Skills We Should Be Teaching Our Kids

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We asked 7 leaders in STEM education what they think classroom teachers should focus on to prepare kids for jobs we haven't even conceived of yet.

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Future STEM professionals will be progressively required to have greatly advanced ‘soft’ skills such as:

Project management skills

Communication aptitudes

Problem-solving abilities.

Gabrielle Ferguson,  Talent Development Partner at CA Technologies, defines soft skills as any skill that as to do with a person interaction which   includes learning skills of:

Communication,

Adaptation,

Time management,

Collaborative working,

Agile working,

Adaptation to change,

Response to change

Presentation skills.

In our classes we must start promoting soft skills when designing courses or lesson plans and that can be achieved by teaching:

Resilience, self-control and time management incorporated through pedagogical approaches like PBL and IBL.

Problem-solving tasks incorporated in group activities which also helps students to develop time-management and self-control abilities, emphasising the notion of self-regulation and time-on-task. If the working groups are small that can also encourage quiet students to express their thoughts in a more comfortable manner.

Incorporating student self-assessment into lessons helps them develop resilience and add a goal-setting approach to their educational experiences.

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Soft skills for STEM careers   Gabrielle Ferguson, CA Technologies

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Module 2 - 2.3. STEM Skills - Activity 3

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Module 2 - 2.3. STEM Skills - Activity 3

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(a) Which are the key competences for, and which are the skills specific to STEM industries?

Self-learning structure,

Teamwork,

Resilience,

Flexibility,

Agility.

(b) How can the school of the future help pupils and students develop these key skills?

Team work

Challenges that involve critical thinking

Teach in foreign languages (english)

PBL and IBL activities

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The importance of teaching digital and collaboration skills:
Collaborative coding project between two schools in Sweden: This collaborative project between two schools from Partille and Jonsered in Sweden aimed for the students at programming, giving instructions, creating digital learning resources. The students also assisted in transforming creative ideas to tangible results, discussing and cooperating in a team.

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FCL Regio: collaborative project of coding between two schools in Sweden

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The importance of teaching digital and collaboration skills:
Stress in Structures: A Collaborative Project for Two Schools in Catalonia: In this project, students faced different challenges. They learnt the concept of stress, a core element in the subject of Technology for 14 year-old students in compulsory education. In order to acquire the concepts, they used apps that helped them produce digital objects that display information and show what they have understood throughout the project.

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FCL Regio : Stress in Structures: A Collaborative Project for Two Schools in Catalonia

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STEM skills of the future. In focus: ICT and digital skills
“in the near future 90% of jobs - in careers such as engineering, accountancy, nursing, medicine, art, architecture - will require some level of digital skills. But at present, half of all citizens in the European Union have no or low computer skills”
(eSkills for Jobs, 2017).
Future Classroom Lab- http://fcl.eun.org/fcl-regio

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The Future Morph shows a series of videos on how different professionals use math and science in STEM and non-STEM jobs. From a bakery manager to a glass artist, we can use these videos to show students that STEM skills and knowledge are valuable in almost any career.

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How can we recognise the skills classified within STEM disciplines?

1. An easy way to identify them is by linking STEM skills to qualifications attained in STEM subjects. For instance, Mathematics, Chemistry, Computer Science, Biology or Physics are easily classified as core STEM skills. However, it is not as easy as it seems, as the variety and type of qualifications vary from country to country, especially in tertiary education

2. Another way of defining STEM skills is by linking them to STEM occupations. The study below  identifies 30 STEM occupations from mathematicians, chemists and engineers  to statisticians or agricultural technicians. According to  Bosworth, Lyonette, & Wilson, 2013, there are non-STEM professions that use STEM skills. There are also many STEM degree holders working in a non-STEM occupation who might still be using their STEM skills at work.

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In the Analytical highlight - Focus on: Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Skills, STEM skills are defined as “those skills expected to be held by people with a tertiary-education level degree in the subjects of science, technology, engineering and maths” (EU Skills Panorama (2014) STEM skills Analytical Highlight, prepared by ICF and Cedefop for the European Commission).

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Knowledge and skills in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields are crucial in responding to some of today's societal changes.  Carlos Cunha (Physics, Chemistry and ICT teacher in lower and upper secondary schools) gives an overview on STEM skills from an educator’s point of view.

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Hard skills for STEM – Carlos Cunha, Scientix Ambassador

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Module 2 - 2.2. STEM industries of tomorrow

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Module 2 - 2.2. STEM industries of tomorrow

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What are some of the future STEM jobs we should be preparing for, in your opinion?

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Module 2 - 2.2. STEM industries of tomorrow

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Module 2 - 2.2. STEM industries of tomorrow

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Evolution of STEM careers – James Branam, CA Technologies

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Module 2 - 2.2. STEM industries of tomorrow

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Module 2 - 2.2. STEM industries of tomorrow

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Evolution of STEM careers – Alex Kingham, CA Technologies

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Module 2 - 2.2. STEM industries of tomorrow

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Module 2 - 2.2. STEM industries of tomorrow

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STEM Studies: The Future of Engineering by Scott Rhodes -

http://blog.scientix.eu/2017/04/stem-studies-the-future-of-engineering/
How do the innovative trends and advancements translate into actual jobs?
The Future Laboratory and Microsoft present 10 jobs of the future.

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I'm a natural sciences teacher with a degree in Geology and a two years specialization in Biology and Geology highschool teaching. I´ve been teaching since 1991 in different schools and for the past four years I've been working at Escola Secundária de Palmela, teaching Geology and Biology classes from the 7th grade to the 12th grade. I also tought other subjects such as Environmental Sciences for VET - Vocational classes to obtain the 9th grade diploma and Communication and Interpersonal Relashionships; Safety, Hygiene and Health Protection at Work; Organisation and Management of Health Care Services; Biology and Child Health for VET - Professional classes to obtain the highschool diploma .

This year I decided it was time to move and come to work in a school in my hometown so I've just started to work at Escola Secundária D. João II. Here I have some great labs both for Geology and Biology subjects and I'm also so lucky to work with some of my dearest friends from all times. I'm really enjoying the change.I´m currently teaching natural sciences - 7th grade - 4 classes and 9th grade - 1 class. I´m also the headteacher for one of the 7th graders class.

I often teach using my smartphone and I encourage my students to use theirs. My personal project for this year is to show my colleagues that technology should come to class and be a part of it. By the end of the year I would love to know that my students learned how to use their devices to improve the way they learn.

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Module objectives
The learning objectives of Module 2 are:

To learn about current STEM industries and professions;

To understand the evolution of STEM professions and jobs of the future;

To define and recognise what STEM skills are; specifically, to learn about the importance of introducing ICT and digital skills in schools;

To comprehend what soft skills are and how these can be transferred to students.

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Module 1 - 1.3. STEM career awareness in schools

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Module 1 - 1.3. STEM career awareness in schools

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When we apply career counselling to the STEM subjects, some particularities arise. In the study entitled The Emerging Role of Science Teachers in Facilitating STEM Careers Awareness (Cohen & Patterson, 2012): https://www.nwabr.org/sites/default/files/pagefiles/teaching-STEM-career-awareness-PRINT.pdf,  four cognitive-behaviour dimensions are outlined as the pillars of career development:

Awareness - students are aware and know the variety of STEM careers available;

Relevance - they see the connection between the subject they are studying and day to day life;

Engagement - students show direct interest in interacting with the subject matter;

Efficacy - students are comfortable with using scientific tools.

It also outlines four teaching strategies that foster STEM career awareness:

Incorporate both formal and informal approaches: constantly bring career awareness in your activities and do not keep it as a separate unit;

Help students see scientists as real people: students may have difficulty imagining themselves as scientists because they cannot see that scientists have a normal life, just like them. They have hobbies, families and various interests;

Connect the dots: it is not enough to just expose students to career information; the teacher also has to directly connect career information with whatever the student is learning at that moment. This can refer to making clear connections to the real-life use of subjects, or giving examples of how they connect to scientific jobs. The student will not always be capable of making these connections himself, and you will have to do it for him;

Embed reflection: To make sure that information sticks with students, embed some reflection to drive a deeper understanding. Otherwise, a lot of the information can be lost over time if reflection is not used to “glue” it.

This is relevant not only for teachers but also for Heads of School or career counsellors.

Although my school has good labs, we don't have a lot of time to try other things because of the extent of the curriculum. Also, science teachers don't know the new careers available and can't give counselling because we lack the knowledge. The information about STEM careers all over the world should be organized and available online. Neverthless, here in Portugal, in the different schools where I've worked, we do go with the secondary students to different universities on their open day to the community. There is a lot of different activities available and counsel to the students that helps them choose a STEM career.

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Module 1 - 1.2. The world of STEM careers

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Module 1 - 1.2. The world of STEM careers

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I think there is a shortage of STEM skills in Europe mainly because STEM courses tend to have very difficult exams that require a lot of work from students and some just take other courses with not so demanding exams. Also, after qualification, there is a shortage of job offers. There's a lot of graduates that can't find a job and have to move to different countries to be able to work in the area they chose to study. One other reason is that the STEM courses aren't evolving as quickly as the technology is and students find often that what they have been learning is already out of date. STEM courses should give them the necessary tools (ICT, for ex.) to be able to learn and improve on their own.

For further reading:

Is there a STEM skills shortage in Europe? Analysing the evidence: http://www.europeanschoolnetacademy.eu/documents/3432151/3432183/M1-C2-Article-1-final.pdf/e914fb4e-4ee7-4984-85af-bd0319ba81d5 and

Is there a STEM skills shortage in Europe? Challenging the evidence: http://www.europeanschoolnetacademy.eu/documents/3432151/3432183/M1-C2-Article-2-final.pdf/d6db9704-b825-4481-aabe-3600b5d576f5

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Animation on why are STEM studies important

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Almost everything in the modern world exists because of the work  done by scientists, researchers, engineers and technicians.

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Module 2 - 2.1. STEM industries of today

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Module 2 - 2.1. STEM industries of today

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Resources to know about STEM jobs:

Glossary from the  Florida Polytechnic University: http://stemstudy.com/stem-careers-glossary/;

Interactive guide on future technology careers developded by  TECHFUTURECAREEERS: https://www.thetechpartnership.com/tech-future-careers/how-do-I-get-there/;

About a career in space: A webinar by Dr. Frank Danesy: http://www.space-awareness.org/en/careers/webinar/webinar-4-path-space-careers/ and the career hub of the space awareness project: http://www.space-awareness.org/en/careers/;

The STEM Alliance had a chat on chemistry and supply-chain career paths, that was organized in collaboration with EPCA - the European Petrochemical Association: http://www.stemalliance.eu/chat-1-after.

Other links where to search for STEM careers:

http://www.cienciaviva.pt/home/

http://www.scientix.eu/

http://nuclio.org/

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Module 1: STEM careers in schools and in the job market

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Module 1: STEM careers in schools and in the job market

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"The aim [of education] must be the training of independently acting and thinking individuals who, however, see in the service to the community their highest life problem."

Albert Einstein

Module objectives

The learning objectives of Module 1 are:

To learn what we mean by STEM and why STEM studies are important;

To understand what the STEM skill gap is while having a critical approach to it;

To assimilate the main benefits of career counselling in schools and to understand different cognitive-behaviour dimensions as pillars of career development;

To get an introduction to school strategies to foster STEM career awareness, taking into account different possible types of school career counselling scenarios.

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I am a portuguese mother of two beautiful twin boys and a little younger girl, living in Setúbal, a city where the Atlantic ocean meets Sado river and the beautiful Arrábida mountains.