The research programme UPDATE wants to improve science and technology teaching in Europe. In future it will provide best practices and new learning material to attract more young people, especially girls, into technology education. UPDATE stands for “Understanding and Providing a Developmental Approach to Technology Education“. The innovative aspect of UPDATE is that the approach includes a strong focus on early childhood and primary education, phases in which the attitudes are often formed. From this understanding, it might be too late to start raising interest only at secondary or later stages The UPDATE project’s aim is threefold: 1) to examine why girls drop out from science and technology education at different stages of their education 2) to create new ways and educational methods to make the image of technology and technological careers more attractive for both girls and boys 3) to promote, encourage and mobilise girls and young women towards careers in science, engineering and technology. The multinational European project consortium of UPDATE consists of members from Finland, Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Spain, Greece, Austria, Slovakia, Estonia and Romania. The project will be part of the Sixth Framework Programme of the EC. This symposium will present six papers on aspects relating to the research findings to date. The first paper from Scotland offers a philosophical overview of the way that gender plays a significant role in affecting male and female perceptions about science and technology. One project from Finland explores how using a process called Trick-Track can exploit cooperative learning in the primary sector. A study from Germany considers aspects relating to early intervention in terms of science and technology education. Another paper from Germany explores girls’ perceptions about science, engineering and mathematics. Staying on the early intervention theme, Finland offers an overview of a curriculum analysis undertaken as part of the project involving a number of European countries. Finally, a paper from France offers an analysis of a regional/national study on the drop-out rate of girls in science and technology education.

The methods used are varied across different partners. They include both quantitative and qualitative studies informed by existing literature relating to the subject areas, pedagogy and gender issues.

New and improved forms of pedagogy for science and technology education from Kindergarten to the upper secondary stages.