https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/14509 Mon, 13 Apr 2026 09:42:30 GMT 2026-04-13T09:42:30Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/141385 Title: Analyzing festival-based public engagement with research : developing and testing an impact framework for understanding audience responses to science festivals in Europe Authors: Jensen, Eric A.; Jensen, Aaron M.; Duca, Edward Abstract: Public engagement festivals offer rare opportunities for researchers and citizens to converse, yet organisers often lack robust evidence about whether such events change audience perceptions. Repeated measures surveys were used during European Researchers’ Night festivals in Malta and Ireland to explore how attending audiences perceive “research” and “researchers.” Open-ended responses were collected before the events and again afterwards and then analysed inductively using grounded-theory techniques to generate a set of thematic codes. Those codes were distilled into an indicators framework that categorises positive, negative and neutral perceptions of both research and researchers. The framework was piloted quantitatively to assess whether indicators linked to the European Commission’s expected impacts appeared more frequently after the events. Results showed that positive perceptions of research increased, particularly awareness of its social value, while perceptions of researchers were more ambivalent. The indicator-based approach also highlighted where stereotypes endured or where respondents remained uncertain. These findings provide organisers with a concise set of evidence-based indicators for evaluating festival impacts and suggest that pairing open-ended research with structured measures can improve the efficiency, reliability and generalisability of public engagement evaluations. Future applications should test the framework across diverse settings and investigate how to reach audiences who are not already positively disposed toward science. Wed, 01 Jan 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/141385 2025-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/140855 Title: Marshmallows, fun, and constellations : a mixed-methods evaluation of a STEAM astronomy workshop Authors: Voulgari, Iro; Mamo, Simeona; Duca, Edward; Lavidas, Konstantinos Abstract: This study evaluates a STEAM-based astronomy workshop for children, delivered at two science engagement events in Malta: Science in the City 2023 and Unconventional Science Careers Days 2023. The workshop integrated storytelling, mythological narratives, creative making activities, and digital tools within the 5E instructional model and the creative pedagogy CREATIONS, with constellations as the central theme. Using a mixed-methods approach, we collected survey data from 122 participants (aged M=10, SD=2.4) and practitioner observations. Quantitative analysis showed that most children (80.3%) found the workshop easy to understand, though 91.8% reported not learning new content. Despite this, 51.6% expressed strong interest in learning more about astronomy, and 55.7% wanted similar school workshops. Significant differences emerged by setting: open-air festival participants reported higher levels of enjoyment and clarity than classroom-based participants. Qualitative analysis revealed children emphasized astronomy knowledge, enjoyment, and creative processes, often linking learning to personal contexts such as zodiac signs. Practitioner observations highlighted parental involvement as both supportive and potentially intrusive. These findings suggest STEAM workshops emphasising artistic processes, can stimulate curiosity, engagement, and cultural relevance in astronomy education, while underscoring the importance of facilitator training and careful scaffolding to balance creativity with conceptual accuracy. The study contributes to research on non-formal STEAM learning by demonstrating the potential and challenges of integrating arts, storytelling, and science in astronomy education. Wed, 01 Jan 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/140855 2025-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/136849 Title: A framework for effective STEAM education : pedagogy for responding to wicked problems Authors: Chappell, Kerry; Hetherington, Lindsay; Juillard, Sophie; Aguirre, Claudia; Duca, Edward Abstract: This conceptual paper articulates a new strategic framework for STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Maths) education in Europe to respond to the challenges facing educators, researchers, students and policy makers. It draws on conceptualisations developed within the EU-funded Road-STEAMer project which is creating a STEAM education roadmap for policymakers at the secondary/ tertiary intersection, particularly in projects that feature open science/schooling and/or responses to ‘grand challenges’. Grounded in the complexity of the current STEAM education landscape, the paper articulates the characteristics of effective STEAM education developed through the Road-STEAMer project, in order to demonstrate how the benefits of STEAM can be catalysed. The paper explains the Road-STEAMer characteristics (equity, disciplinary inter-relationship, collaboration, real-world connections, thinking-making-doing, creativity and inclusion/ empowerment/ personalisation) which were developed from a focused literature review and then considers them in relation to two case studies addressing the post sustainability agenda: Ocean Connections and SciCultureD. Both projects are critically discussed using the Road-STEAMer characteristics to demonstrate the use of modern educational tools in STEAM, alongside how STEAM can contribute to empowering the next generation. The paper concludes by drawing together insights into the significance of the Road-STEAMer characteristics as a strategic framing for catalysing the benefits of STEAM, emphasising the importance of collaboration between researchers and practitioners to achieve this. Wed, 01 Jan 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/136849 2025-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/136848 Title: Conceptualising and exploring creative pedagogies and design thinking in transdisciplinary STEAM higher education courses Authors: Wren, Heather; Hetherington, Lindsay; Chappell, Kerry; O’Kane, Eamon; Sotiriou, Menelaos; Quacinella, Daneila; Ribeiro, Antónia; Duca, Edward Abstract: Higher Education Institutions are increasingly facing challenges in designing courses that enable students to develop the transdisciplinary knowledge, skills and understanding needed to engage with complex ‘wicked’ problems. This article reports on a conceptual framework for STEAM in Higher Education (HE), in which design thinking is interwoven with four key features of creative pedagogies: transdisciplinarity, embodied dialogue, empowerment and agency, and ethics and trusteeship. The study explores: how does the design thinking–creative pedagogies framework manifest for participants in practice? The framework was used in four international HE short courses entwining sciences, arts and entrepreneurship to facilitate participants’ responses to a different ‘wicked problem’ in each country, based on the local context. The framework was analysed across the courses to explore how it operates in practice through iterative developments, to help educators understand how to develop it further. The study used a mixed-method, participatory research design, with 82 participants in total. This paper highlights the key creative pedagogy features and design thinking approach working together in productive patterns, helping teachers and partners establish new learning strategies and offering insight into how transdisciplinary learning around complex problems can be facilitated in STEAM Higher Education. Wed, 01 Jan 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/136848 2025-01-01T00:00:00Z