Erasmus+ Training: Teaching with a STEAM approach - bridging science, art and technology in the classroom- International Spring School

This Erasmus+ training course course offers an qimmersive, hands-on learning experience in the technologically equipped facilities of Opificio Golinelli. Through workshops and practical labs, participants will explore innovative strategies for teaching with a STEAM approach, rethinking their professional and school practices beyond subject boundaries. The program focuses on designing student experiences that are transversal, inclusive, and challenge-based.

Small-group and bottom-up activities will help educators strengthen both their technical skills, such as integrating educational technologies into everyday teaching, and their methodological skills, learning how to foster creativity, autonomy, critical thinking, and collaboration in students.

About the training

The course covers key topics including making and tinkering, artificial intelligence in education, virtual and augmented reality, human-centered design, data literacy and storytelling, and scientific inquiry in the lab. Practical workshops and interactive sessions provide a wide range of concepts and methodologies that can be integrated across disciplines, supporting teachers in designing and managing active, engaging learning experiences.

Participants will benefit from an opportunity for immersive training in laboratories, using an inquiry-based approach and applying modern tools and scientific investigation techniques typical of international research centers. Science labs are approached not only as disciplinary spaces, but as interdisciplinary environments that support competency-based learning and creativity.

The training is grounded in the idea that doing and experimenting are fundamental to enjoyable, meaningful, and lifelong learning. It promotes constructive dialogue between science, art, and technology, as well as between the research community and schools at the European level.

Contents and training are designed by G-Lab S.r.l. impresa sociale, a recognized institution for teachers’ training by the Italian Ministry of Education, holding accreditation by the Emilia Romagna Region for lifelong learning and ISO 9001 Quality Certification. The program is tailored to be fully funded by Erasmus+ KA1 funding and ensures the best quality within Erasmus quality standards.

Course details 🎯

📆 4-8 May 2026
📍 Bologna, Opificio Golinelli
💶 550€/participant (includes course materials, certificate of attendance, coffee breaks, lunches from Monday to Friday and a light aperitif on Tuesday).
🇪🇺 Participants with a Erasmus+ KA1 grant, will receive support in the validation of the Europass Mobility Document and a certificate in line with Erasmus+ Quality Standards
👩‍🏫 Lower, upper-secondary school and VET teachers
🗣️ Language: English

Programme 🗓️

Day 1 - COURSE INTRODUCTION AND FIRST STEPS INTO STEAM EDUCATION 🧩

From 9 A.M. to 1:30 P.M

• Registration and welcome session
• Guided tour of Fondazione Golinelli labs and educational spaces
• LEGO Serious Play Workshop: structured discussion on the meaning and practices of STEAM
• Hands-on experimentation: Making and Tinkering experiences
• Restrospective of the day
• Lunch

Day 2 - DATA AND STORYTELLING WITH ARTISTIC AND HUMANISTIC APPROACH 🎨

From 9 A.M. to 1 P.M

• Visit to Scuola delle Idee Marino Golinelli
• The role of data in personal investigation and meaningful learning
• Hands-on experimentation: Exploring data to connect planetary, local, and personal dimensions through artistic and design perspectives
• Lunch
• From 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.
• Interactive STEAM city game to discover Bologna’s cultural traits
• Apertif

Day 3 - CREATIVE MICROSCOPY: WHERE SCIENCE MEETS ART 🔬

From 9 A.M. to 1 P.M

• Vision "Between biology and art": Brief overview of artists and photographers working with microscopy, guided viewing of striking microscopic images as inspiration
• Hands-on experimentation: Optical and stereo microscopes, sample preparation and guided observation through visual prompts
• From Data to Design: Using digital tools to turn raw data into design, creation of visual narratives inspired by the scientific samples
• Lunch

Day 4 - TEACHING WITH AI: TOOLS AND PRACTICES FOR AN ADVANCED USE OF AI 💻

From 9 A.M. to 2 P.M

• AI as a teaching assistant: the Fondazione Golinelli approach and ecosystem of learning environments and digital tools
• Hands-on experimentation: Using generative AI tools to foster competences beyond disciplines
• Reflection: Developing students’ analytical and decision-making skills through AI
• Retrospective of the day
• Lunch

Day 5 - VIRTUAL AND AUGMENTED REALITY AT SCHOOL 🎮

From 9 A.M. to 2 P.M

• Hands-on experimentation: virtual and augmented reality in education, Golinelli Live Virtual Experience
• Ideation Design Workshop: discussion and ideas for creating student activities
• Final evaluation and certification
• Lunch