<< Background >>Homework is a cornerstone of the different school systems in Europe. It is not always described as such in official documents but in practice all students have to spend a sizable part of their afterschool time doing it. And yet the topic is debated with numerous studies arguing in favour or against homework, analysing if homework is effective or how much time it should take. When compiling different studies (ex: Cooper 2006), the effects seem overall positive but are associated with potential downsides such as “physical and emotional fatigue, fuel negative attitudes about learning and limit leisure time”. Different research also shows that the socio-economic status of the student and family support impact these outcomes. So, if homework has the potential to improve learning but its actual positive effect is not important enough and diminished by circumstances, what can be done? Some voices advocate for its suppression, but a more constructive way is to work on how homework is done and to improve its quality.Using abundant literature research on the topic, we can identify 5 fundamental characteristics of effective homework (Vatterott, 2010):•Purpose: Assignments are meaningful, and students must understand its purpose and importance.•Efficiency: Homework should take reasonable time and needs to involve some hard thinking.•Ownership: Students who feel connected to the content learn more and are more motivated.•Competence: Students should feel competent in completing homework and so we need to abandon the one-size-fits-all model. Homework that students cannot do without help is not good homework.•Inspiring: A well-considered and clearly designed resource and task impact positively a student motivation.The need to improve the quality of homework is even more stressed by the COVID19 as the quantity of self-study or homework has increased intensively. Among the most noted consequences of this situation were the reinforcement of inequalities in learning and the disengagement of students as assessed by analysists but also teachers, specialists, or parents. Therefore, to increase its quality, we intend to propose a new format of homework using storytelling, gamification, and game-based learning to address the 5 characteristics above. This adventure homework format will present series of tasks under the form of a story with different pathways including in-story support for struggling learners. While this will not be sustainable for 100% of homework, it will help re-engage pupils and associate the concept of homework with something positive. The level of retainment of information will also increase thanks to gamification mechanisms imbedded in the class materials, as it is proven that Gamification and Game-based-learning have a higher rate of information retainment than classical learning techniques.This adventure homework format could be suited to all school topics, but for practical reasons we will focus on one topic to provide the most accurate content possible. Therefore, we have decided to first tackle one of the key issues in European learning, the STEAM (cfr. underachievement level in PISA studies 2018), as it is one of the matters where learner’s (dis)engagement is the highest.<< Objectives >>The main objective of EduGRAAL is to boost the students’ achievement results and engagement at school, by improving the efficiency and engagement of Homework through gamification and storytelling techniques applied to homework. This objective is particularly important in the current Covid climate which forces the education system to work remotely more often than not. Teachers would be better equipped to weather the remote learning situation with these tools. As this Game-based learning or gamified learning is essentially more oriented towards learning-by-doing, it is especially useful to apply in the STEAM subjects, as those tend to be more abstract and difficult in terms of pupil engagement. The continuation of the development of key competences is of the utmost importance to the good evolution of the pupils. This project therefore aims at creating innovative and creative pedagogical tools to be used in a homework context in order to engage pupils in a homework adventure. And by doing so, we will encourage the development of basic skills as described in the priority: by promoting cross-curricular collaboration in the same adventures which is an innovative learning approach that is focusing and engaging learners in a competence-based revision, integration or assessment system. In addition to this central objective, our project will also respond to other priorities listed above:1)The usefulness and efficiency of this cornerstone of school education is heavily debated among scholars and from time to time in the public/political field. With this method, we therefore intend to provide teachers with an alternative assessment tool and method for the homework done by the students.2)An additional priority, but which will be transversal to the whole project, is to ensure the inclusivity of the method and tools developed. By presenting itself under a different, more engaging / less stressful format that will rely on a variety of skills and applications to reach the next steps of the homework adventure, the method will benefit the pupils most in need for engagement and support including the ones with learning disorders as well as most of those struggling in school for various reasons (migrant background, socio-economic difficulties, etc). In addition, a special attention will be on the positivity of the approach (by insisting less on failure and more on progress) and on the format of the content where all results will be suitable for people with learning disorders (in terms of presentation, layout, phrasing, etc)3)While we will not limit ourselves to STEAM education in this project, the STEAM subjects are most likely to be even more affected by a lack of engagement from the pupils, especially in homework. Hence, they are going to be a focal point of this project to open the way to gamified homework all across the board of academic subjects. STEAM education is an essential step to the development of our fast-paced society. In the school sector specifically, a secondary goal of this project is to increase the levels of achievement and interest in STEAM education.<< Implementation >>This project will produce several results, leading to two subsequent testing phases organised in all partner countries. To reach these tests, we will begin with the creation of the first result, by building a first batch of Homework Adventures. Once the first batch is well on its way of being created, the expert partners will begin the creation of the second result, an eLearning module about how to create Homework Adventures, by building on their experience. This eLearning module will allow the teachers and education professionals to have a step-by-step method to follow in the creation of their own Homework Adventures. This first batch will be tested in schools by both pupils and teachers and will be modified and improved as needed. The participants in these testing phases will be interviewed in order to get their impressions, good practices and experience using the material and the partners will learn from this first testing phase in order to improve the first batch and to create a more complex and efficient second batch. As the first testing phase begins, the launch of the creation of the fourth result, an implementation guide, is done. This guide will be based on the invaluable input of the field testers, as the first users of all the project results. Additional feedback on best practices will be gathered by the partners in order to help set the improvement needs and the best practices for both the second batch and the use of the results post-project development. In parallel of the first testing phase, partners will begin to build the third result as well; a Toolbox of pedagogical tools, visuals, practical sheets and templates, in order to further enrich and polish the Homework Adventures and to create building blocks for teachers when they will create their own Homework Adventures. This Toolbox will be translated by the partners in their national languages. As all results progress, a second batch, using the experience gained in the first batch and the feedback from the first testing phase will be created with both gamification experts and schools. As the second batch is being field tested in schools and by education professionals, required improvements on all results are set in place and final modifications are done. The additional feedback is also being incorporated in the Implementation guide. All results are translated in all languages of the partnership and uploaded as OER on the website and eLearning platform.<< Results >>Project partners intend to create efficient, engaging pedagogical materials and tools for teachers in order to implement an innovative gamified Homework methodology with their pupils that will boost the efficiency and engagement rate of pupils in remote work, and more specifically, in Homework. The methodology will be based on the concepts of Gamification and Game-based-learning, as well as incorporating some creative storytelling. More specifically, the outcome of the project is to boost the achievement rate of pupils in basic skills fields, especially in STEAM, by raising the efficiency and engagement rate of homework through Gamification. Practically, over the course of the project, we expect different types of impact. There will be both concrete intellectual results that will be created as well as more general results.The concrete intellectual results of the projects will be as follows:The first result will be a series of 18 ready-to-use homework adventures in different formats to get inspiration for the homework creation. This will include a short presentation that will introduce the project, how it is articulated and make a quick overview of the concepts of gamification, game-based learning and gamified homework and the different pedagogical benefits that using this technique can have on the pupils’ performance. The second result will consist in an E-learning Course on how to create your own homework adventure and how to leverage them to increase pupil learning. This e-learning course will accompany the teacher or education professional step by step in the creation and usage of their homework adventure. The third result will be a Pedagogical Toolbox containing all materials and practical sheet on specific gamification materials that the teachers may need in order to create their homework adventures. This result will contain a minimum of 100 items.The fourth result will be an Implementation guide that will help the teachers put their gamified homework into place, with its rules, frequency, delivery system, homework hand-in system, etc.These results will be created in English first, and then translated in all languages of the partnership (IT, FR, ES, HU, GR). The results on the target groups will be: •Strengthening the profile of teaching professions by enhancing the teacher’s initial education and continuous professional development through the promotion of Game-based and competence-oriented teaching and learning.•Increasing the levels of achievement and interest in science, technology, engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) by using Gamification and Game-based-learning with a cross-curricular approach.•Providing inclusive and engaging materials and tools for all learners, including for pupils with SLDs •Providing practical methodology to make pedagogical materials more inclusive for all learners, especially for those in need of special support in mind (e.g. children with a SLD or children from disadvantaged socio-economic background, children from a migrant background, girls) in order to develop high quality childhood education.•Raising awareness of the importance of Europe’s cultural heritage through education, lifelong learning, informal and non-formal learning. In terms of communication result, we are planning the following:•A project website•6 multiplier events with a total of 200 attendees•1000 users of the Open educational resources•700 educational institutions, professionals or groups contacted•50.000 people reached through the communication campaign•At least 10 associated partners by the end of the project