Scientix – empowering European science teachers

We spoke first to Dr Àgueda Gras-Velazquez, the Science Programme Manager at European Schoolnet (EUN). She oversees their work on STEM education projects, including the management of Scientix® and the coordination of EUN’s Ministries of Education STEM Representatives Working Group.

Could you tell us what Scientix is and what your main activities are?

Scientix is Europe’s leading science education community. It brings together teachers, researchers, policymakers and other stakeholders to help them address different challenges facing STEM education and inspire pupils to pursue careers in STEM.

Scientix connects teachers and other STEM stakeholders to enhance science education across Europe, bringing theory, practice and policy together. Among its many activities, Scientix offers training and resources for teachers, facilitates collaboration between educators, policymakers and the STEM industry (STEM Alliance by Scientix), and it celebrates STEM education and innovation during its annual STEM Discovery Campaign.

What are the most significant changes you have witnessed in STEM education across Europe since the launch of Scientix 14 years ago?

Scientix was launched by the European Commission in 2010 and, over the years, it has developed from an idea to an online platform and further, to become a comprehensive, active community. During that time, we have seen science education slowly embracing education for environmental sustainability (EES), to connect STEM learning objectives to crucial societal challenges. This is great progress, as it not only contextualises STEM learning in the real world, but also helps pupils acquire meaningful environmental and transversal competences for the future.

It has also been rewarding to see our annual STEM Discovery Campaign develop into a major event for science education in Europe. The 2025 edition just closed, with over 6,000 science education activities shared by educators across 50 countries. These activities have engaged more than 140,000 teachers and 600,000 pupils.

In your experience, what are some of the most pressing challenges currently facing STEM education in Europe? How do you see the role of online communities like Scientix and eTwinning in addressing these?

Future-proofing education will require meaningful collaboration between all education stakeholders, including industry. Education must take a holistic and integrated approach, and reflect modern EU values, to bridge the STEM skills gap.

Scientix’s work focuses, in part, on bringing industry and teachers together to enrich education with real-world skills and role models, but also on supporting policymakers to create the paradigm shift needed. 

Teachers need resources and training, but also the space and time to collaborate and bring subjects together, engage with STEM professionals and understand how technology can be best used. This is where communities like Scientix and eTwinning are essential. They bring teachers together to learn from each other and co-create, while supporting the curriculum and practice transformations needed for tomorrow.

What would be your advice to a STEM teacher who has just started teaching, or an experienced STEM teacher who has lost their motivation?

Our advice is to explore, learn and connect – and reach out to Scientix ambassadors. They take part in activities, create and pilot resources and help spread the community’s passion for STEM education and innovation. They also help other educators in their STEM education improvement journey, and can help teachers pick up new skills for their classrooms.

Attending webinars, events and courses (like those created with the European Schoolnet Academy) can help teachers discover new topics and pedagogies, enrich their practice and connect with fellow educators. This helps them build their confidence, and learn and innovate with the support of their peers.

In this commitment to peer learning and collaboration, Scientix and eTwinning are a perfect combination.

We also spoke to Enrica Maragliano, who is a mathematics and physics teacher in Italy and an eTwinning and Scientix ambassador. She has been a member of Scientix since 2015 and an ambassador since 2016. In eTwinning she moderates the ‘Mathematics, Science and other STEM topics’ featured group.

How has engaging with the Scientix community influenced your classroom practice or the way you approach teaching STEM subjects?

Engaging with the Scientix community, alongside eTwinning, has been transformative for my development as a mathematics and physics teacher. The community has provided crucial support during challenging moments in my professional career. Specifically, the influence has been notable through:

• Access to learning scenarios shared by other teachers that I could adapt for my classes
• Participation in professional development opportunities (both online courses and shorter training events led by ambassadors or STEM careers experts)
• Reading the Scientix blog for inspiration and best practices
• Connecting with fellow teachers facing similar challenges and needs, creating a supportive network.

This engagement has helped me develop my approach to teaching, moving toward more innovative and learner-centred methods while maintaining appropriate content standards.

What challenges do you think still exist when trying to bring innovative STEM teaching approaches into the classroom, and how do you address them?

A significant challenge in STEM teaching is learner disengagement, or negative attitudes toward these subjects. STEM teachers have had to pioneer innovative teaching methods to captivate pupils’ interest while maintaining rigorous academic standards. I address these challenges by:

• Implementing project-based learning (PBL) approaches
• Using inquiry-based learning (IBL) strategies
• Developing problem-based teaching methods that connect to real-world situations
• Leveraging resources and teaching scenarios from the Scientix community
• Collaborating with other teachers to develop more engaging instructional approaches

These strategies help transform traditional STEM instruction into more engaging learning experiences, that maintain high academic standards while increasing student motivation and participation.

Can you share an example of a time when interacting with other teachers through the Scientix network led you to rethink a specific lesson or strategy you were using?

A particularly impactful experience was my participation in a Scientix MOOC focused on helping pupils develop solutions to open-ended real-world problems. This course fundamentally changed my approach to teaching by:

• Introducing me to practical STEM classroom activities rooted in real-world problems
• Providing teacher-created and -tested lesson plans that I could adapt
• Offering resources and challenges that help pupils develop future-ready skills
• Encouraging higher-order thinking and reasoning in my classroom

Through this MOOC and interactions with the community, I redesigned my lessons to incorporate more authentic problem-solving opportunities, which significantly improved pupil engagement and understanding of mathematical and physical concepts.

How do you think eTwinning and the European School Education Platform can support Scientix’s aims, or can be used to reinforce STEM teaching approaches?

As both a Scientix ambassador and eTwinning ambassador and moderator for the ‘Mathematics, Science and other STEM topics’ featured group, I've observed powerful synergies between these European platforms that reinforce STEM teaching approaches.

Both platforms promote continuous professional development opportunities, teamwork in secure online environments, integration of problem-based learning approaches into teaching and enhanced classroom relationships and learner creativity.

Scientix’s distinct characteristics are that it primarily serves STEM teachers, provides ready-to-use quality teaching materials and research partnerships.

eTwinning's complementary strengths are that it is open to all subject teachers, builds on collaboration with other schools and excels at interdisciplinary project development.

Between them they make a powerful impact in many ways:

• Scientix provides eTwinning teachers with ideas and materials for interdisciplinary PBL approaches
• eTwinning gives Scientix teachers collaboration opportunities to test and refine teaching concepts
• Together they improve key student competences, including European citizenship awareness, responsible use of ICT and foreign language proficiency
• The featured STEM eTwinning group helps teachers find partners for international, STEM-centred interdisciplinary projects

This integration results in increased motivation, improved teaching practices and continuous professional growth for teachers, while providing pupils with more engaging and relevant STEM learning experiences.