On February 24,the SINAES STEM 2.0 training program, facilitated by Laspau, closed a Pedagogical Innovation Forum with the attendance of both participating professors and course leaders.
More than 150 professors from 27 public and private higher education institutions from Costa Rica and Guatemala's Universidad San Carlos participated in the program. In a virtual environment, professors learned to strengthen their teaching and learning capabilities in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) using effective active learning methodologies for these disciplines.
As part of the closing event attendees participated in a lecture by Dr. Pablo Valdivia on "Education, Presence, Innovation, and Covid-19." Dr. Valdivia is Professor of Culture and Literature at the University of Groningen, Researcher in Applied Physics at Harvard University, Director of the National School of Postgraduate Studies of the Netherlands, Scientific Adviser to the Royal Academy of Arts and Sciences of the Netherlands, and Professor of Communication, Humanities and Technology at the University of the Frontier and the Southern University of Chile. Additionally, Dr. Valdivia is an expert in Active Methodologies of Learning and Artificial Intelligence, and in 2018 received the award for best humanities’ professor from the University of Groningen. Guest to the event included Gerardo Mirabelli Biamonte, President of the National Higher Education Accreditation System-SINAES; Members of the Board of Directors of the National Council of Rectors-CONARE; National Council of University Higher Education CONESUP; Ministry of Public Education-MEP; representatives from Guatemala of the Central American University Higher Council CSUCA; representatives from the Omar Dengo Foundation; authorities from participating higher education institutions; SINAES officials; and professors participating in the STEM 2.0 program, and in STEM Costa Rica 2017 and Social Sciences and Humanities 2019 programs.
Five of the final projects were selected to be shared at the Teaching Innovation Forum and presented at the STEM 2.0 Program community of practice.