"BackgroundThe European Commission’s Rethinking Education initiative has identified the need ‘to scale-up use of ICT in learning and teaching’ to exploit the opportunities that the digital revolution presents for enhancing education. It calls for innovation, work to ‘define how, when and where ICT can be used effectively in pedagogical and assessment approaches’ and activities to support teachers and learners to increase their digital competence.Rationale for this projectOne of the primary aims for an Erasmus+ Strategic Partnership is ""enhancing the quality and relevance of the learning offer in education, training and youth work by developing new and innovative approaches and supporting the dissemination of best practices"". The CONSTRUIT! consortium, led by the Computer Science Department at the University of Warwick, formed a Strategic Partnership of pedagogical and technological experts with the aim of further developing, trialling, evaluating and disseminating a novel framework – developed by the Empirical Modelling research group at the University of Warwick – for ‘creating knowledge and solving conceptual problems with the support of digital tools’ (cf. the digital competence of the same name identified in EC DIGCOMP). We introduced new principles and tools for a computing practice that enables educators and learners to collaborate in creating live interactive resources (""construals"") that serve as personal, shareable 'working models' or understandings. Such a practice is more accessible than conventional programming but more expressive and powerful than conventional uses of ICT. Its adoption will lead to the online development of open educational resources that can be flexibly modified by educators and learners alike to give exceptionally rich support for blending educational practices combining instruction and construction. This contributes to the wider aims for Strategic Partnerships to promote take-up of innovative practices in education, training and youth work and enhance the professional development of those working in these fields by increasing the quality and range of initial and continuing training. The consortium enabled the project to draw on a unique blend of skills and experience, and to access opportunities to trial and disseminate the activity through a number of learning activities covering learners of all ages across the EU.Objectives and activitiesThe principal objective of CONSTRUIT! was to promote 'making construals' as a new practice that promises to better support teachers and learners to create knowledge and solve conceptual problems with the support of digital tools.As the framework has potential to address policy objectives, challenges and needs relevant to several fields of education, training and youth, our Strategic Partnership covered more than one field. The core activities of the Strategic Partnership were:• Developing and refining the pre-existing framework and tools, drawing on the pedagogical and technical expertise of our consortium • Applying the framework in a number of educational contexts with a range of learners to explore and test its potential to enhance the teaching of computing/programming and other subjects• Refining the framework and tools in the light of its application in educational contexts and launching it as an open educational resource• Conducting experimental studies to evaluate the efficacy of the framework for supporting learning • Dissemination of the framework and tools as elaborated below.Expected outcomesThe widespread adoption of making construals as a new digital skill to support personal learning and collaborative construal construction as a way of developing open educational resources.Greater awareness of the critical impact of the mode of construction upon the qualities of software.Dissemination and longer term benefitsThe results of the project have been disseminated via the CONSTRUIT 2017 international conference, and through developing the resources for an open online course on using, modifying and making construals. A range of other dissemination channels – including development of a project website, newsletters, presentations/publications to conferences/workshops, online publications and presentations through social and contemporary media, and the Erasmus+ dissemination platform - have been used during the lifetime of the project to increase awareness of the activity and encourage wider contribution and support for the project. We also expect project outputs to be disseminated through subsequent work. This will include web resources that embody explanatory mechanisms that can be readily explored, extended, remixed and customised for personal use. In the longer term, it is to be hoped that making construals will make an impact on the mainstream computing curriculum. The project also has the potential to contribute to a transformation in programming practice in the long term."

Underachievement in STEM education is a problem for many European countries. It is an issue associated not only with the effectiveness of teaching and learning, but also with providing an equitable system of education. Many studies show that students perceive STEM subjects as complex and boring, abstract and disassociated with real life and their daily experiences. These perceptions generate negative attitudes towards STEM related disciplines and quite often lie beneath low achievements in these subjects. This reality is reflected in low skilled youth that struggle at dealing with the needs of the European job market. In order to face this problem, the MakeITReal project has created an international team of mutually complementing experts from the Warsaw University of Technology (Poland), Edumotiva -European Lab for Educational Technologies (Greece), CYRIC (Cyprus), Helix5 (the Netherlands), Aristotle University (Greece) and secondary schools from Poland, Greece and Poland represented by ILO (Poland), DIDE a’ Athinas (Greece) and ODTUGVO (Turkey). MakeITReal project engaged students 13-17 years old that underperform in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) education and keep distance from STEM related disciplines in creative product design and making practices following the “Maker Movement” trend in education, a global drive that encourages young people to be creative with technology. The project infused Arts into STEM, linked STEM to real life and engaged students in product design and making practices. Product design was chosen as a practice that integrates STEM disciplines, is a creative process providing links to Arts and is also reflected in industrial practices immersing students in entrepreneurial thinking and in the business culture.Special focus was placed on teachers’ professional development and on building the pedagogical and technical skills needed in order to facilitate the learning process, to support students’ in 3D modelling and 3D printing and to make connections across STEAM disciplines.During the project the following results were achieved: -The MakeITReal Technical Reference Guide detailing practical and technical issues related to 3D modeling and 3D printing -The MakeITReal Curriculum detailing the pedagogical ideas underpinning the MAKEITREAL intervention and focus on teachers’ familiarization with skill building regarding the way product design can be implemented in the class, with the activities that reflect STEAM related disciplines -The MakeITReal Pilot Protocol that provides detailed information on how teachers are supposed to work with the students and apply from a pedagogical perspective their learning experiments in the class -A Validation Report that brings together the results of the case studies in schools in Greece, Turkey and Poland-Realization of 4 blended training courses with the staff from the participating schools combining online training with short physical mobility of staff -Realization of 10 interdisciplinary projects that are interlinked to real life in the participating schools.-A Recommendation Policy Report that informs policy makers and relevant stakeholders regarding the MAKEITREAL intervention towards dealing in a creative way with under-achievement -Promotional material that is used for dissemination purposes, social media accounts, leaflets and the project website -Papers submitted to conference (E1) organised in end of the project in Poland.The findings from three case studies that took place in Greece, Poland and Turkey in an iterative manner confirmed that digital fabrication, making tools, 3D modelling, and 3D printing, combined with the theories of Constructivism and Constructionism can provide interactive learning experiences that enhance basic skills and performances in STEM disciplines, re-motivate and electrify creative capacities of underachievers and help them develop more positive attitudes towards STEAM related disciplines.The pilot studies confirmed that the MAKEITREAL initiative has the potential to propel STEAM education, support students in developing and practicing the 21st century skills and enhance teachers’ professional roles with pedagogical and technical skills useful for creating attractive and meaningful learning experiences in STEAM.