STEM Fair

Show what we can do. | Inspired by the concept of the «Science Fair» in English-speaking countries, students showcase their technical and scientific discoveries and research at the STEM Fair.

In the Anglo-American world, so-called «science fairs» or «science weeks» have long been a fixture in schools. The MINT Fair aims to bring this idea to Austria as well. While students often find themselves simply going through the motions of experiments rather than truly immersing themselves in research to gain new insights, the «MINT Fair» project is designed to help them learn scientific methods, conduct independent research, and apply their newly acquired knowledge in their own projects. What makes this approach innovative is that students conduct their own research based on a question they’ve formulated themselves and the hypotheses that stem from it.

As part of a STEM fair, students present their technical and scientific discoveries and research. A panel of experts evaluates the projects, and awards are given for outstanding achievements. In the first year, students from STEM middle schools in Carinthia will participate. The projects are to be prepared and supervised as part of STEM classes. The best projects from each participating school will be presented and evaluated at the annual STEM fair. This gives students interested in technology and the natural sciences the opportunity to exchange ideas and compete. The goal is for students to learn and apply the steps involved in scientific inquiry.

Using the GECKO platform, a competency model was developed to describe the skills of students focused on research projects in the STEM fields and a related STEM fair. The highly innovative nature of the model stems from the fact that there are hardly any existing descriptions of competencies and their interrelationships within a model for this specific topic. Here, new competency descriptors were developed and linked to one another.