On October 23, María Alfonso Molina, PhD student and co-leader of Work Package 3 (WP3) of the ENHANCE Alliance, in which the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV) takes part, participated in the 2025 CESAER Annual Meeting held in Brno (Czech Republic).
CESAER is the European network that brings together leading technological universities with the aim of promoting excellence in education, research, and innovation at a transnational level.
During the conference “Shaping the Future of STEM Education: Advancing Excellence through Transnational Cooperation,” María Alfonso, representing UPV within the framework of the ENHANCE Alliance, took part in the session “Building Europe’s Union of Knowledge: A Pedagogical Perspective on STEM Learning.”
Her presentation addressed the current challenges in the teaching of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). The discussion highlighted the need to link education, research, and innovation through evidence-based pedagogical practices and the contextualization of results from international studies such as PISAand TIMSS 2023, which show a declining trend in competencies in mathematics, reading, and science.
“Mathematics, reading, and science are interdependent reasoning systems. If one of them weakens, the entire structure of thought can be affected.”
— María Alfonso
The meeting concluded with a call to strengthen motivation, self-efficacy, and sense of belonging as key factors in learning. Participants agreed that understanding the roots of learning is essential to designing long-term educational solutions.
Alejandra Ramos
Local Communications Officer