For the second one, instead, the teachers believe that Density and specific gravity, Fluid pressure, Atmospheric phenomena and weather and Buoyancy were the most difficult topics for students. STEAM APPROACH Regarding the STEAM approach the Cypriot framework reveals a different point of view. The results of the survey show that most of the respondents (58.5%) has never used the interdisciplinary STEAM approach to teach their subject, someone declared to have rarely or occasionally used it and only 6 respondents out of 65 used STEAM methodology. Although the majority of teachers are not so familiar with the interdisciplinary teaching methodology, they believe that it can help them explain complex concepts more easily. On the contrary, the focus group participants seem to have used an interdisciplinary approach, combining their science subjects with several topics, not only with art, but also with history, geography and computer science. As commented by the art teacher interviewed, with an interdisciplinary method “students had the opportunity to research and develop their own project and gain spherical and cohesive knowledge, while teachers had the chance for a fruitful collaboration”; she also comments: “art can be used as a starting point in any lesson”. Another important message came from the maths teacher interviewed. She combined mathematics with art both in online and offline teaching and she noted that most of her students showed a great interest, although there were some who did not respond. The vast majority of Cypriot respondents believe that using a creative approach could make their lessons more interesting for students, not for the final result but for the cognitive process that accompanies the students. Regarding this, a teacher commented: “when combining science with art, the aim is not to assess a project made by the student, or his/her ability to draw. Art will be used as a tool to achieve aims and results, not as an end-a". This positive flow is also confirmed by the wish for more collaboration between teachers, evident both in survey and focus group, since 70.8% of respondents expressed an unequivocal favourable opinion of collaborating with their art colleagues and most respondents considered this collaboration very useful for teaching and student involvement. Even though most of them don’t know how the STEAM approach could be realized online, they seem really interested in OTA purposes. 22
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NzYwNDE=