To continue inspiring the ever-evolving generations of students, from kindergarten to high school, teachers must commit to lifelong learning and keep up with the latest pedagogies, technological advancements and children’s interests.

Building upon this commitment, the education program in the LAU Department of Social and Education Sciences, in collaboration with Librairie Antoine, organized its annual Education Day on April 20, 2024 at the Beirut campus.

Publishers, professors, heads of schools, trainers, among other professionals in education, and more than 1,000 teachers from across the country engaged in multidisciplinary workshops on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) education, social-emotional learning, the integration of virtual reality and artificial intelligence in classrooms, and innovative teaching.

The workshops were conducted by professionals from leading international publishers such as McGraw-Hill, Cambridge University Press, National Geographic, Hachette Français Langue Étrangère and Hachette Antoine. Current students, graduates, and alumni from the education program at LAU also presented their research and shared successful practices with the attendees.

“This is our way of giving back to the community,” said Dr. Rayya Younes, assistant professor of mathematics education in the Department of Social and Education Sciences. “It is also a great way for our graduate students to present what they have learned and to expose participating teachers to the different programs we have at the school,” she added.

According to Nivine Aziz, an LAU graduate student in the STEM track and teacher in information and communications technology who led a workshop on Lebanese teachers’ readiness to use Virtual Reality, the faculty’s encouragement to present her research to fellow teachers helped her step out of her comfort zone and boost her capabilities.    

That the department recently obtained approval from the Ministry of Education and Higher Education to update its bachelor’s degree program from arts to science, said Dr. Mona Majdalani, professor and program director of education at the School of Arts and Sciences, “reflects the latest incorporation and integration of cutting-edge STEM topics, science and research courses into the undergraduate curriculum.”

To put project-based learning into practice, a new Education STEM lab will be inaugurated on the Beirut campus thanks to a grant from the United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) American Schools and Hospitals Abroad (ASHA). USAID administers the US foreign assistance program providing economic and humanitarian assistance in more than 80 countries worldwide.

The center will feature a range of teaching resources to enable education students to fully engage in a STEM-friendly classroom environment where they can practice effective lesson planning.