Abstract:

This paper showcases a range of Poly-Universe activities that foster interdisciplinary learning within STEAM subject areas, while also highlighting the competences promoted as perceived by participants engaged in these activities.

Poly-Universe, a game-based learning tool created by the plastic visual artist Janos Saxon, employs geometric shapes and colours to foster creativity and enhance problem-solving skills. The game involves using a pack of 24 elements of the same basic shape or the complete set of 3x24 elements, one set of each basic shape, to construct shapes and connecting their sides or vertices to create a main design.

Although mainly used in mathematics education, Poly-Universe has the potential to support interdisciplinary learning and STEAM education by integrating different areas of knowledge and competencies. In fact, Poly-Universe activities allow students to engage in mathematical concepts such as symmetry, proportion, geometric transformations, or pattern recognition and creation. Facilitate students' learning as they allow them to use their senses, gaining a better understanding of what they are exploring, as they can experiment, observe, manipulate. However, they can also explore properties of materials and principles of design, while expressing their creativity through art, design, literature, music. Moreover, Poly-Universe can be used to describe scientific concepts from various disciplines, including shape and energy, or to apply engineering principles to construct structures with Poly-Universe elements.

By using Poly-Universe in STEAM education, students can benefit from an interdisciplinary approach to learning that enhances their engagement and understanding of various subject areas. The main goal to use Poly-Universe was to develop a educational method, based on a visual system to foster interdisciplinary education.

The findings from multiple case studies, which explore a range of interdisciplinary Poly-Universe activities that integrate mathematics, science, engineering, and humanities and their outcomes, demonstrate that participants recognize the promotion of a diverse set of competencies through Poly-Universe engagement, as attention, memory, imagination, creativity, problem-solving, cooperation.

Acknowledgments:
Vanda Santos work is funded by national funds through the FCT -Foundation for Science and Technology, I.P., within the scope of the project UIDB/00194/2020 and in the scope of the framework contract foreseen in the numbers 4, 5 and 6 of the article 23, of the Decree-Law 57/2016, of August 29, changed by Law 57/2017, of July 19.

Keywords:

Poly-Universe, interdisciplinary, STEAM education, Punte Erasmus+ project.