The International Science Teaching Foundation
The International Science Teaching Foundation is a non-profit organization based in London (United Kingdom) and Barcelona (Spain). We are an entity committed to improving STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) education on a global scale. Our mission is to foster best practices in school STEM education, understanding these best practices as those that are based on research about how people learn.
We believe that STEM literacy is more important than ever for citizens to actively engage in public discussions and make personal decisions involving health, the environment, and technology, among others, based on a solid scientific understanding.
For this reason, the International Science Teaching Foundation (ISTF) is consolidated as a meeting point for teachers, educators, and other professionals in the field of STEM teaching who share the same goals and values.
Transform and improve STEM Education
The ISTF strives to transform STEM education. Bringing about this change implies being in touch with both teachers and content providers.
Scientific Research on Teaching and Learning
Research is one of the pillars of education. To provide students with the most efficient instruction possible, the ISTF promotes the latest research in STEM teaching.
Universal Access to Quality Education
Students all over the world have the right to receive a high-quality education. To ensure this right, the ISTF reaches out to them and to educators from across the globe.The Science Bits and Math Bits Projects
The goal of the Science Bits and Math Bits is to provide teachers with resources and tools that promote high-quality STEM education based on research in science and math teaching, as well as cognitive psychology. This common goal is shared by everyone involved in these projects—a multidisciplinary team of researchers, science and math teachers, IT developers, and multimedia professionals from all around the world who work within the framework of the International Science Teaching Foundation.
The Science Bits and Math Bits teams have focused all their efforts and creativity on the development of a large repository of multimedia science and math lessons for middle and high school teachers.
Science Bits and Math Bits adhere to the constructivist 5E learning model, which promotes real understanding and engages students in learning while helping them understand the relevance of science and mathematics to their lives. Their lessons are structured around the 5E model in a clear and easy-to-follow way, meticulously grounded at a pedagogical level and enriched with a wide array of multimedia and interactive learning objects designed to enhance the students’ learning experience.
Science Bits and Math Bits want to play an active role in promoting the change from a transmission educational model, based on the transmission of facts from teacher to learner, to a constructivist one, based on reflection, guided inquiry and learning-by-doing. And the best way to bring about this change is to empower teachers with easy-to-use tools with great educational potential and to do it at an international level.
“Because Science and Math are not a body of immutable facts that must be memorized, but rather an exciting way of obtaining new knowledge and understanding the world around us.“
