IES Santísima Trinidad, Spain
IES Santísima Trinidad, Spain
Our institution, IES Santísima Trinidad, is located in Baeza, a town in the South-East of Spain with 15 841 hab. (2019).The current building is the same as the old university, which was fully functional from 1538 to 1824. After its closure as a university, it started as a secondary school, celebrating its 150th anniversary in the development of this activity in 2019 . This historical legacy gives it a special role in the province due to its academic tradition, and the possession of an important historical archive.
All together, there are 65 teachers and 700 students per academic year–mainly ages 12 to 18. The programmers we teach are divided into three stages: middle school(12-16 years old), high school(16-18 years old)and two vocational education and training courses.The institution is accredited as a bilingual center.
One of the needs detected in the center is the gradual decrease in enrollment from the second cycle of compulsory education (15 -16 years old). This decrease is most pronounced when it comes to choosing scientific paths. The reasons that trigger these results can be identified as several, but three aspects can be highlighted:
- Demotivation and decoupling of curricular contents with new technological trends
- Lack of a mathematical basis in the previous educational stages
- Need for an attractive methodological renewal for students
From the Physics and Chemistry Department as well as in the Biology and Geology Department, we have been working in the last two academic years to turn things around. We have developed a calendar to visit the school laboratory regularly to carry out experiments within the subjects in the early years , and we are very proud to participate in the crystallization contest that takes place regionally. Work in laboratory is important part of STEM but schools that don't have well equipment can improvise which we show.
We are also fortunate to host a natural science museum with items dating back to the 19th century, and we believe it would be fantastic to take advantage of this experience to make it known and share it with visiting students, so that they can put their learning about STEM into historical context.
We firmly believe that involving students in an international project can attract new vocations in the scientific itinerary and reduce school drop-outs in the mandatory stage. To do this, and in the occasion of this project, we have created a team of 5 teachers with different profiles, including bilingual, and specialized in scientific subjects. The totality of this team have a permanent position in the school in order to guarantee the continuity of the project and to replace one another in case there is an unexpected event that prevents an individual to travel or to do a specific task.
