Metodologías y herramientas didáctico pedagógicas modernas para mejorar el aprendizajey la orientación en las asignaturas STEM

Orientation programs. What they used to be: a service to students. What they have become: a metacognitive learning strategy. This is, in short, the proposal developed in this doctoral dissertation in Development of new approaches to teaching and learning Natural and Environmental Sciences, International School of Advanced Studies (SAS) at University of Camerino (UNICAM). Orientation programs should overcome the boundaries of the education systems in order to upgrade their status in Science, Techn logy, Engineering and Mathematics programs (STEM) and allow students to be well aware of their learning process. This “metacognitive orientation program” denotes itself as a meta discipline which might provide students with essential tools to keep motivation high and maximize the efforts they put into studying. The present study aims to improv e STEM student’s academic performance and decreas e dropout. The Italian background is taken into consideration herein. A low rate of high school graduates chooses to access tertiary education and a considerable amount drops out at a very early stage. In the latest Education at a Glance 2017 report, edited by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Italy has reported a s average of graduate s, against an OECD average of 37%. The outlook is worrisome as Italy has a high unemployment rate and the second highest OECD NEET (Not in Education, Employment or Training) rate on the OECD list. So far, dedicated policies and corrective actions have had little effect. This negative tendency has had Italy raking low in the list of countries by tertiary education attainment and STEM graduates remain a minority. Few Italian students enroll in STEM programs against an increasingly higher demand for science and tech major professionals. Moreover, women enrolled in STEMS programs are a minority. The OECD analyzes have highlighted how the Italian orientation programs have not been fully implemented in secondary and tertiary education plans. This is stressed by th e fact that a great number of graduates attain a title in disciplines such as Literature, Political Sciences, Sociology, Communication and Arts. Guidance programs are of fundamental importance. They develop the critical thinking allowing to provide optimum development and well being for the individual, help individuals adjust to themselves and the society, help people to understand themselves in relation to the world aid individuals in efficient decision making, help individuals plan for a productive l ife in their social context by focusing on their assets, skills, strengths and possibility for further development, bring about changes in the attitude and behavior of individuals . Guidance is a service meant for all, with the aim to the fulfillment of th e self. Instead, guidance is often considered as a mandatory service to be carried out only and while transitioning from an education stage to other or an incidental activity of the school. In addition, some beliefs such as the complexity of the sciences, contribute to the decisions that science is a field unsuitable to the professional fulfillment, especially for women. Unfortunately, we are still far from the lifelong learning approach. [...]