SciChallenge: Using Student-Generated Content and Contests to Enhance the Interest for Science Education and Careers

In the 21st century, scientific and technological innovations have become increasingly important as we face the benefits and challenges of both globalization and a knowledge-based economy. According to the National Science Foundation for societies, in order to succeed in this new information-based and highly technological era, students need to develop their capabilities in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) to levels much beyond what was considered acceptable in the past [1]. The reason is that STEM education is closely linked with economic prosperity in the modern global economy as well as with global competitiveness. Strong STEM skills are a central element of a wellrounded education and essential to effective citizenship. However, enrolment rates in STEM-based degree programs are low and leading to a workforce problem in industry. The 2009 report "STEM Supply and Demand Research" additionally states that these numbers may be 'sugar-coated': the downward trend in the numbers studying mathematics, engineering and physical sciences, is masked by a growth in the number of students for information technology (IT) and the biological sciences [2]. Vedder-Weiss and Fortus (2011) argue that the decline in motivation of adolescents to learn science is avoidable and can be addressed using appropriate pedagogical methods [3]. In order to engage student's interest in the technical career path, it is important that students establish a link between the theoretical knowledge and its application to solve real life problems early in their learning experience [4,5,6,13]. Several approaches use competitions or challenges to promote STEM subjects and discover the talent among young people, such as the International Mathematical Olympiad [7], NASA Climate Kids & Science Fair Projects [8], Intel Global Challenge [9], BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition [10], SciFest [11], or EU Contest for Young Scientists [12]. In this paper, we describe the EU-funded research project SciChallenge (www.scichallenge.eu) that investigates the use of student-generated content and contests for enhancing the motivation of young people to pursue science education and careers. Using innovative digital techniques and social media, SciChallenge initializes a pan-European competition for getting young people between 10 to 20 years interested about the STEM-topics. Participants in the competition generate creative digital materials (videos, slides, or infographics) targeting one of the SciChallenge topics. SciChallenge is unique in the sense that higher-education institutions work together with knowledge-based companies, children universities, student unions and teachers of science in order to raise the interest of young people for STEM subjects. The project consortium includes nine partners from eight European countries: three higher-education institutions, three research companies and three networks (the European Children's Universities Network, the National Unions of Students in Europe, and the Teacher Scientist Network in UK). The major contributions of SciChallenge are as follows,  Aggregation of existing studies, good practices, projects, and toolkits on science education, scientific careers and participatory challenges and collection of educational sources in various scientific disciplines including digital sources, libraries and collaboration utilities to foster their use during the challenges.  Elaboration of a novel concept for science challenges involving young people to produce scientific content for young people in a creative way under usage of SciChallenge Toolkits including detailed guidelines and best practices.  Creation of a large number of SciChallenge Topic Sheets in a number of different European languages to be used as inspiration for the development of creative multimedia presentations of science topics by the young people. There is also the possibility to submit their own topics for the challenges.  Building of a SciChallenge Web Platform with multifunctional modules including an open information hub with resource directories, a contest submission system with syndication features, dashboards as linkable hotspots with social sharing functionalities, and awareness channels.  Spreading the idea of SciChallenge using various social media channels using the hashtag #scichallenge, distributing promotion material over the web platform and by performing innovative promotion activities targeting young people, schools and youth organisations all over Europe.  Conducting a European-level SciChallenge with several contest categories (single, group, class) and various creative submission types (videos, infographics, slides, comics) to foster science education among young people and make them work with research knowledge resources.  Attracting young people to scientific careers by integrating cross-sectorial awareness modules on the web platform like interactive science organisation profiles, an internship and exch

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