December 1, 2017

STEM Learning Project news

The latest edition of Words is now available for download from the WA Association of Primary Principals. It features an article by our Project Manager, Michael Peter, which outlines some of our key learnings in how to teach STEM skills to today’s students.

In other news, registrations for our workshops on the 29th and 30th of January close shortly. Get in quick!

Opinions – STEM skills for a changing future

Recent opinion pieces have centered around the changing workspaces in schools and workplaces. It seems like we are moving towards a more collaborative, flexible and digitised world. That’s why teaching STEM skills is so important. 21st century skills will give students a toolbox full of resources to deal with a world in flux.

STEM skills for a changing future
STEM skills for a changing future

First, in this insightful interview Stamford professor Malcolm Kay talks about STEM and what it means for students’ futures. From The Conversation comes this piece about how to increase STEM participation in Australia. And finally from Education HQ, an article about the rise of tech leadership in schools.

Constructive criticism?

In this section we bring you some articles about the construction industry in the STEM space. This piece gives some advice about how to build a great STEM lab. And here is an interesting example of an integrated maths and engineering course focused on construction.

We’re especially excited about this homegrown tech innovator. Fastbrick Robotics has invented a gigantic robot which builds houses from the ground up, somewhat like a 3D printer. This world-first innovation has the potential to revolutionise the construction industry. Hello affordable housing for all! Watch it in action on their website or Youtube, or read more here.

robotic bricklayer construction
Image: Fastbrick Robotics

Last of all, Australia is soon to begin a construction project that is out of this world. Australia’s first commercial space base is set to begin launching rockets within a year. That’s right, one year. I can’t get over how exciting this is.

To infinity and beyond!

Australian space agency
Image: NASA

 

 

 

November 10, 2017

The STEM Learning Project resources use a few different kinds of techniques to develop STEM skills like collaboration and critical thinking. These common threads help to build the general capabilities and create deep student learning. Read more about these STEM teaching tools below. But first, big news: The STEM Learning Project is on Twitter! Find us @STEMLearningWA

STEM teaching tools
Our process uses a few common STEM teaching tools that help develop STEM capability.

Digital Publishing Tools

One of the most powerful STEM teaching tools we recommend here at the STEM learning project is  online journalling. Journalling is a reflective practise that can help learners build their Personal and Social Capability (particularly self-awareness). Also, using online platforms hits the Information and Communication Technology Capability. Here are some of our favourites.

Storybird is a creative publishing format that uses pictures to help students imagine, reflect and explain. It has tools to help teachers manage its use in the classroom, and is suitable for any sort of writing, not just creative writing. For example, students could use it to create a pitch for a prototype or explain a science concept. The beautiful art work provides a wonderful scaffold for a reflective journal. View the promo video for teachers below.

Padlet and Pebblepad are two portfolio management tools that are used by educational bodies worldwide. Both apps have educational packages, and Padlet also has a free personal package that students could use independently.

Private journalling app Penzu now has a version for schools, Penzu Classroom. Penzu Classroom is quite similar to Padlet and Pebblepad, but is more focussed on academic outcomes and less on reflection and collaboration between students. You could use it alongside the classic, free version to give students a bit more power over their own journals.

Seesaw has the benefit of integrating well into a broad range of platforms including Kindle. It, too, has a free version and a paid school version. What’s extra special about Seesaw is that you can use it for school wide management as well as in the classroom.

Cooperative Learning

Cooperative learning builds students’ Personal and social capability as well their critical and creative thinking skills. It gives them a structured way to practise vital social and self-regulation skills. This article provides some relevant links to research on the benefits of this type of learning.

But how to implement it in the classroom?. You may have heard of Kagan structures, started by this guy. There are plenty of websites out there on his techniques, including Kagan Australia. We also love this Weebly page which sets out the techniques in an engaging, step-by-step manner.

Laura Candler’s page includes links and a heap of great freebies, while this Daily Teaching Tools article focusses on Jigsaws. Lastly, here’s a page specifically targeted at cooperative learning in the early years.

Productive Questioning

Managing classroom talk is a powerful way to help students learn. Questions drive classroom talk, but a huge part of using questions wisely is to know when to refrain from asking too many. Questions should be intentional, and students usually need a bit of time to think before they answer. This article contains a wide range of useful strategies you can use to direct classroom talk. And here’s some research on the use of discourse for mathematics learning. Finally, for a lovely example of a classroom discussion with a nice progression of questions, click here (video courtesy Edith Cowan University).

 

October 27, 2017

This week we have a look at our WA winners for the STEM video game challenge. Plus, some opinion pieces, and a great math learning opportunity for primary teachers.

STEM Video Game Challenge

STEM video game competition
Image: ACER

The annual STEM Video Game Challenge results are in, and WA schools took out two of the six prizes! Kye Ziebarth, Fabian Scheffler, Kenji McAuliffe from Churchlands SHS won one of the year 9-12 awards. Jaxson Brown from Australind SHS took out an award in the year 5-8 category. Well done!

If you go to the website and download the theme sheet you can find links to some interesting games similar to this year’s theme, like this fun chemistry game. Don’t forget to keep an eye on the website for next year’s competition details. And in the meantime, their teacher resource page has a game development lesson plan guide and plenty of handy links.

Dan Finkel coming to Perth

Maths education specialist, Dan Finkel, will be giving a presentation and workshop on December 4th at 4:30pm. The event will be at Scitech and is for primary teachers. Dan Finkel is the founder of Math4Love, where you can find maths games, inspiration and lesson plans. He has also been a TEDx speaker, and you can hear his talk about the five principles of extraordinary maths teaching on Youtube. His methodology has close ties to our philosophy here at the STEM Learning Project.

In my opinion…

Some interesting opinion pieces floating around the internet this week. Rebecca Morse shares the need for STEM skills. Not just to create new jobs and a better economy, but to help people filter out the vast swathes of misinformation that flood social media.

But, Elizabeth Garbee warns, we should beware of thinking about students’ STEM development as a “pipeline” with “leaks” where students escape the system. Instead, we should think about a STEM ecosystem, where STEM skills and knowledge can be used in a whole interconnected web of different contexts.

 

October 13, 2017

In this week’s article we have a look at two examples of our STEM learning resources in action. We also take a look at STEM in the early years and a new national space agency for Australia (seriously!).

STEM learning resources in action

Comet Bay College has been running the STEM Learning Project module Urban shade in their year 8 class. They published a short newsletter about it including some great photos of the students in action. You can find it here.

We’ve also trialled several other resources, including Every bird needs a home.We asked Ben Kay, a primary science specialist, to tell us about his experience teaching the module. Here are some of the things he said.

 

 

What is the module about?

It’s about investigating the birdlife around a school and finding ways to improve the school environment to encourage birds to keep making it their home.

STEM learning resources
Activity 2: Predicting where we will find birds around the school

 

Standout from the module?

Going bird-watching and tallying the data is a great motivating introduction…the kids still run up to me to tell me about the birds they still see in their everyday lives, great outcome!

every bird needs a home
Activity 2: Bird watching and data collection

 

Top tip for teaching STEM?

Take a real world problem, plan some possible ways to solve it and lead the students to some of those possibilities using STEM skills to do so. You can assess their science, maths and technologies skills along the way!

how to make a STEM project
Engaging children in STEM thinking

STEM in the early years

Dr Pauline Roberts from Edith Cowan University presented at the Early Childhood Australia national conference last year on the subject of STEM in early childhood. You can find the slides here.

This editorial sheds some light on why STEM education in the early years is so important. It mentions a recent report, STEM Starts Early, out of the Joan Ganz Cooney Center. Both the report and the Center website are well worth a look for those of you in the early years STEM learning space.

Science Nation

If you haven’t yet checked out science.gov.au, it’s worth a look. It’s the central site for information on federal government science policy and programs. You can find useful links to teacher resources and calendars for talks, events, prizes and grants. Reports and other publications are published there as well. Two interesting ones have come out recently: first, the National Science Statement for 2017. Secondly, the results of a survey on beliefs and attitudes about science among the Australian public.

Another very exciting piece of news is that the federal government recently announced plans for an Australian space agency. Will the existence of such a thing spur Aussie students on to ever higher STEM heights? The Conversation certainly thinks so.

October 5, 2017

What a line up we have for you this week! We report back on the STEM Education conference and cover two cool STEM education resources originating in the USA. But first, what exactly is STEM, again?

Models of STEM

It can be a confusing term, and a new piece of research from Michigan University nails down why – no one really agrees on what it means. You can also read the university’s article on the research. Essentially, the researchers found 8 broad models of STEM education, as drawn by teachers. They ranged from very simple (eg STEM as four separate disciplines) to more nuanced (STEM is a complex interaction of disciplines). What was most interesting was that after undergoing professional development in the area, their thinking about what STEM is changed to more nuanced, complex definitions. Here at the STEM Learning Project, we think of STEM as embedded in real-world problem solving, as a set of skills and processes that will enable students to succeed in the future. Our STEM philosophy veers towards the complex interaction end of the spectrum.

 

Models of STEM
Research from Michigan University asked teachers to draw their models of STEM. These are examples of the “real-world” model.

 

So what about you? How do you think about STEM? Here are the three questions used in the study:

How would you depict your model of STEM Integration (in a picture)?

Describe your model in words.

What experiences (from professional learning or otherwise) inform your model?

We’d love to see how you think about STEM! If you want to share your answers to these questions with us or share anything else about how you view STEM, please contact us. If you want to learn more about how we view STEM and how our resources approach STEM teaching, come along to one of our PL sessions.

STEM Education Conference at Curtin

Professor Mark Hackling STEM Consortium
Professor Mark Hackling spoke at the STEM Education Conference last week

Last week the Mathematical Association of WA (MAWA) held a STEM Education conference at Curtin University, and of course we had to be there! 300 people attended the event and heard speakers cover diverse topics, from girls in STEM, to uses for robotics, to innovative maths teaching solutions. The STEM Learning Project Consortium Chair, Professor Mark Hackling, gave a short keynote address and talked about the STEM Learning Project resource module The Long Walk. In this module students learn about the long distances refugees must walk to reach safety. They go through science, maths and design processes to make shoes out of materials that people might commonly find on the road while walking. We also had Johanna Stalley give an introductory session. This generated a lot of interest and we had some great conversations with teachers and other educators. All in all a great two days!

Fab Lab

Fab Labs – my first thought when I heard about this initiative was “fabulous labs”.  And it’s true, they are pretty fabulous. But that’s not what the fab stands for. Instead, it’s short for “fabrication”. Fab Labs are like maker spaces, but turbo-charged. They are equipped with industrial-grade fabrication tools, and open-source software written by MIT researchers. The goal of the Fab Lab movement, which started at MIT, is to make these top-of-the-line facilities available to anyone. You can check out some of their projects, their charter and more on their web page.

Fab Labs may have started at MIT, but they haven’t stayed there. In the United States funding from Chevron is bringing Fab Labs to rural areas. Australia has Fab Labs too –  in WA you can find them here and here.  As you might have guessed, it is now a global movement with labs in 30 countries around the world.

A Simulating Website

Simulations are a wonderful way to help students understand abstract concepts. And now with the digital era in full flight, good simulations are easily accessible for anyone with a connected device. The University of Colorado’s PhET website is one such resource that provides science and maths simulations for use in classrooms. It caters for all levels from primary school to university. This simple primary school simulation helps explain static electricity with the help of John Travolta. You’re welcome.

 

September 22, 2017

 

Your weekly (well, OK, this time it’s fortnightly) roundup today contains information about the upcoming STEM Education Conference. We also cover some other local news, the OECD education report, and some fun news about maths.

 

Local Happenings

STEM Education Conference

Some interesting news close to home came out in recent weeks. Firstly, the STEM Learning Project will be just one of many educational providers presenting at MAWA’s STEM Education Conference next week. Education HQ interviewed Rachael Whitney-Smith to learn more. If the line-up appeals to you, it’s not too late to book!

Next, WA’s own East Waikiki Primary School is one of the lucky 100 Australian schools selected for a STEM program running in 2018, reports The West. The initiative focusses on STEM in the early years through the use of play-based apps.

The Telegraph reports on why and how we need to get our kids re-engaged into STEM subjects. And lastly, two more pieces from The Australian highlight the need for STEM skills as we move forward into a changing future. First, there’s the problem of ageing oil rigs. Secondly, there’s this opinion piece about how to ensure Australia remains globabally competitive: problem solving, critical thinking and communication are the keys.

STEM Learning Project workshops are hitting the spot

professional learning

The STEM Learning Project is getting popular! We have now locked in all our professional learning workshops for the rest of this year, and we’re starting to book for next year. Fear not, there’s still room to book into this year’s sessions. Click here to find out about them. If you’re interested in organising a session for next year for your network, contact us.

 

OECD Education Findings

The OECD published its education findings for 2017 recently. As you might expect, this has caused a stir among online commentators. DW writes on the continuing gender disparities in many subjects, including STEM, while Toronto Metro News comments on the need to funnel students into Engineering and IT, where employment prospects are greatest. Meanwhile, WA Today online published an article on the decline in STEM graduates from Australian universities, despite the growing demand for graduates with these skills.

 

 

A Model Maths Student?

Teacher Magazine published several interesting pieces about mathematics over the past couple of weeks. There’s this fantastic read all about mathematical modelling problems in a real-world context. (And here are some example problems for you to use with your class – or try yourself!). There’s also a report about research on what influences participation in maths. There were six main factors which impacted student’s decisions about whether to take maths subjects. Read more here.

 

That’s all for this week. Have a great long weekend!

-The SLP Team

 

 

 

 

 

 

September 1, 2017

Happy spring everyone! Since it’s the first STEM education roundup of the new season, we’re focussing on new growth. There’s new school initiatives, new fields of science, and STEM early learning. I’m also going to be making a lot of unapologetic spring puns – ye be warned!

STEM early learning
Springing into STEM: For best results, start early.

A spring in the step of WA STEM

First up, 200 WA primary schools are set to receive new STEM facilities over the next four years. In this exciting initiative, regular classrooms will be upgraded to science labs. Schools will also receive funds to purchase equipment. If your school is eligible, you can put in an expression of interest now. Find the form and some more information here.

The Aurecon Bridge Building Competition for 2017 recently took place at Scitech in City West. Baldivis Secondary College students took home the overall prize. Even if you missed the action this year, you can always have a go next year. Just keep an eye on the Aurecon website for info about next year’s competition!

STEM for spring chickens

STEM early learning
Spring chickens getting on top of STEM. CC BY 2.0 by Kabsik Park

In WA, iSTEM is one of a number of initiatives that are part of a push for early childhood STEM education. Several scientists and researchers in Perth are running the project. For more on this, check out ECU’s article on the recent STEM Innovation Expo.

Continuing the theme of STEM in early childhood, we have this piece from The Conversation. It focuses on the use of makers spaces for students as young as year one. Children learned not only STEM skills, but also resilience and perseverance.

Then there’s this heartwarming testimonial. It’s the story of one school using STEM to pull their community out of poverty. STEM education starts in pre-kindergarten, with children doing engineering tasks built around familiar stories and learning the foundations of coding.

Lessons from the past a springboard into the future

Standing on the shoulders of STEM giants: in this section we look at how hard-won knowledge from the past can help the next generation spring into the future. Former NASA astronaut writes about the importance of STEM education for the future of exploration. Meghan Groome reflects on the benefits of two decades worth of STEM education in the US.

And now that we’re in the “age of data”, we need a new field of science. Fortunately, technology expert Genevieve Bell is planning to give us just that. Bell was formerly the leading researcher at Intel on the way people interact with technology. Now she’s at the Australian National University and has big plans for what’s ahead.

 

August 24, 2017

It’s a quick one today, but we look at some interesting stuff. First, we see how taking Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives on board enriches STEM education. Secondly, we have a look at flipped learning, another great new way to teach maths. Last of all, we’ve got a couple of links for you to check out about the federal funding cuts to education.

 

Indigenous STEM
Courtesy University of the Fraser Valley. CC BY 2.0

 

Indigenous culture and maths

Chris Matthews of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Mathematics Alliance is helping Indigenous students get into STEM, reports the ABC. Matthews encourages young Indigenous people to believe in themselves and to value the different perspective the cultural heritage gives them. 

Maths and science are a part of Indigenous culture and this perspective can lend new ways of thinking about STEM. See this Queensland teaching resource and this ABC article for more information about Indigenous ways of teaching and learning maths. And now here’s a list of ways Indigenous science knowledge benefits research today.

Flipped Learning

Here’s another interesting way of teaching maths, called flipped learning. In this method, students learn content at home through watching videos. Working through problems, traditionally something completed for homework, is done in class where students have access to teacher support.

 

Education Cuts to Hit Maths and Science

Unfortunately, while STEM education in schools is getting attention, the latest funding cuts from the federal government may impact maths and science at the university level. SBS reports the debate between federal education minister Simon Birmingham and the Universities Australia over the issue. See also this in depth article from the Australian on the issue.

 

 

 

August 17, 2017

Regional STEM PL

Our regional STEM PL workshops are still going strong. At the start of August the STEM LP team headed up to Karratha to run workshops for the Pilbara network. Primary and secondary teachers and leaders attended and said the material was extremely useful. We’re excited about the strong drive for STEM education in the Pilbara.

In the near future, we have even more regional workshops planned. We’ll be heading up to Christmas Island on 31st August. And in October we’ll be delivering PL in Esperance, so get in contact if you’re interested in attending. As always, you can check on upcoming sessions and find booking links at our PL page.

 

Regional STEM PL
We’re travelling all over WA with our regional workshops. Image courtesy aussiejeff via Flickr.
CC Attribution share alike

The STEM Innovation Expo

On Monday the Department of Education held its inaugural STEM Innovation Expo at the Crown Perth. Mark Hackling, the STEM Learning Project consortium chair and Michael Peter, the project manager, attended as seminar presenters. They gave a short workshop on the learning materials to over 100 attendees. You can watch a livestream of the entire expo on the DoE’s Youtube channel. The STEM LP content starts at 2:12:24.

New Ideas in STEM Education

There’s been lots of interesting STEM education news over the past few weeks. Firstly, out of the University of Melbourne is this interesting article about all the wonderful STEM initiatives happening around Australia and how we can support them.

There were a few interesting opinion pieces in the news as well. Gemma Tognini from the West Australian laments the lack of compulsory maths subjects for gaining a WA education certificate. However, she misses the fact that maths competency is inherent in subjects like home economics. Tom McLeish from the Guardian thinks its never too soon to get kids experimenting and playing in science class, while at the Scientific American Josephine Lister says we need to break down negative stereotypes and link science to student’s lives.

The Educator writes about using the Maths Pathway program to change the way maths education in run in schools. And how about using CAD software to teach STEM? Engineering.com has some thoughts on that.

STEM innovation
There are so many options for STEM education.

Keep Adding Letters

First we had STEM, then we added arts to get STEAM. Now there’s a new letter – R for reading. STREAM education is a new, deeply cross-curricular way of teaching that more and more educators are embracing. Get some tips and ideas about using this approach from EdTech here. 

Well my friends, that’s all for this week. Happy STREAMing!

July 27, 2017

This week’s roundup has lots of information on the future job markets that today’s students will be entering into. And of course, in the face of a changing tomorrow, we need to change how we prepare students today.

Future Job Markets

Our STEM workshops and materials are one fantastic way for you to prepare your students with the creative and critical thinking skills they need. Find one near you here!

Future Job Markets

 

Here at the STEM Learning Project we are all about helping young people develop skills for future success. It turns out that this future will be highly flexible and skills-focussed.

This article from The Australian talks about a growing trend among young people to build ‘career portfolios’. More and more, young people are customising their education pathways to give themselves the skills employers want, rather than going through an education course neatly from start to finish.

This is in line with the Foundation for Young Australian’s findings on the emerging job market. The report outlines seven major job clusters in Australia which share significant skill sets. Instead of staying in one job their whole lives, people will increasingly swap between careers in the same cluster.

Meanwhile, the Financial Review reports concerns about the future of Australia if maths and science standards continue to fall. The article reports on comments from DOW Chemical CEO Andrew Liveris about the responsibilities of scientists in Australia.

 

How Does Education Need To Change?

Automation and digital disruption
Automation and digital disruption are changing the job market. Young people need the skills to keep up.

 

This article from the Sydney Morning Herald speaks about how our educations systems need to adjust to the realities of our future job markets. Not only our teaching strategies, but the skills we teach need to change as well.

What we’re teaching will need to change…We need to start looking at how we can assess things like critical thinking.

–Rob Nairn, Australian Secondary Principal Association

Libraries, Science and Maths – Oh My!

Teacher Magazine recently published an infographic showing a connection between the number of books in a student’s home and their achievement levels in maths and science.

The figures are interesting, but is it as easy as buying a load of old books from the op shop and scattering them around your house? Doubtful – it’s more likely the reasons are far more complex. Perhaps having many books is a characteristic of a family that loves learning. Maybe there is a correlation with socio-economic factors. Whatever the explanation, these statistics at least show that traditionally separate subjects may be more integrated than we thought.

Getting Up and Moving

When it comes to learning, exercise can always make it better, says Caroline Milburn. She reports on findings from the University of Canberra that a good physical education program can boost literacy and numeracy scores.

Finally, from the Sydney Morning Herald we have this piece on how outdoor learning can have positive effects across the curriculum.

June 29, 2017

This week in STEM news the theme is new day, new ways. We’ll have a look at new STEM education methods, new facilities for materials science and a few inspiring visions of the future of STEM.

 

New STEM Education Methods Turbo Charge Student Learning

The star of this section is this amazing study. Researchers found that students on a special diet of hands-on and digital activities improved their maths scores by a massive 20%. The teaching program came out of the University of Canberra and used existing digital education apps.

 

Also, Mary Pilgrim and Thomas Dick at The Conversation write about how how maths education needs to move away from a lecture format. Instead, they say, we should be using more active formats of learning. Questioning, exploration and open discussions are great examples of ways to make a lesson more interactive.

If this were a medical study in which active learning was the experimental drug, the authors write, trials would be ‘stopped for benefit’ – because active learning is so clearly beneficial for students.

Read the whole article here.

 

Last up in our collection of new education methods, Judith Woods at The Telegraph investigates a swathe of programs being introduced in schools around the UK. These methods, such as spaced learning, have produced vastly improved results. The article covers not just STEM subjects, but other academic subjects such as literacy.

New Facilities For Material Scientists

Material science, as you may know, is a branch of chemistry. And now material scientists at MIT have access to a brand new lab to make cutting edge fabrics. The Advanced Functional Fabrics of America (AFFOA) lab recently opened across the street from the technological institute. It will not just be a place where phenomenal fabrics are designed and created. It will also be a centre for innovation and learning.

Visions of the Future

The future of STEM education looks bright. A changing economy and job outlook might seem daunting. But new STEM education methods are emerging to equip today’s students for these challenges. Robotics is a popular approach to integrated STEM learning. The use of robots looks set to continue growing as the demand for digital capability increases.

 

New STEM Education methods
This robot makes art in response to sounds. Photo CC Sharealike by Todd Kulesza.

 

But it isn’t only STEM education that’s changing. The need for high level thinking skills and cross-curricular integration is prompting calls for change across the board. This article from Fast Company makes five predictions about the future of education. It points to a more democratic, integrated and technologically driven system.

 

Last of all, if you’ve read this whole list and you still want more, you can dig into this chunky report. The US Department of Education published the report, which outlines a vision of STEM education for 2026. It highlights some of the same key themes you will find often on the STEM Learning Project website: real-world, open-ended problem solving tasks to encourage collaboration, creativity and critical thinking; and to train students for the challenges of the future.

 

June 8, 2017

The weekly STEM education round up from the STEM Learning Project – this week is Queensland heavy. Plus, we read an opinion piece and learn about digital technology’s humanitarian powers in Project Hope.

What’s happening at the STEM Learning Project?

Bonus professional development is on the cards in Bunbury on the 26th and 27th of June. Click here for more info and to book.

 

A STEM Research Odyssey by Queensland Teacher

Sarah Chapman, from Townsville High School, went on a research odyssey to find out about best practise in STEM education. Encouragingly, she found that the international community is united on the need for quality STEM education. Read about it at Teacher Magazine.

 

Why STEM Education is Essential for the Future

Oh the humanities! Stephen Parker from The Australian gives his take on how to get ready for the tech-heavy jobs of the future. Not only will we need STEM knowledge, he says, but also STEM thinking skills. In addition, marrying STEM skills with arts and humanities will be vital. You can read more here.

 

How Tech Can Help The World’s Most Vulnerable Children

Weekly round up
Photo by Brad Flickinger under CC Attribution license

 

Eureka alert reports findings from Project Hope, an initiative run with Syrian refugee children in Turkey. Using digital games helped the children learn important thinking, technological and language skills. Even better, their mental health also improved.

 

Future Tech Showcase at University of Queensland

The Australian Computer Society Foundation held the BiG Day In at UQ today. The BiG Day In is a showcase for secondary school students about the technology jobs of the future. These jobs require STEM skills such as creativity and problem solving skills. Read the University’s write up here.

 

 

 

May 22, 2017

May is shaping up to be an exciting month for us here at the STEM Learning Project. On Tuesday the 9th we officially launched the Project with a showcase event held at Scitech in City West. From the 24th we will be rolling out Professional Learning across the state. These will equip teachers to use the materials we are developing.

 

STEM Learning Project Launch Night

The STEM Learning Project Showcase evening highlighted some wonderful results from the Learning Project’s initial trial phase. Key participants from the consortium and our associated organisations came together to share in what we have learned so far.

 

Speakers and consortium members at the launch night.
Speakers and consortium members at the launch night.

 

We were very privileged to welcome five teachers from our trial schools. These teachers shared their experience using the modules. Guests were able to view examples of students’ work in three of the modules. The Long Walk has year threes choosing materials to make a shoe in a long-term, in depth investigation that teaches empathy at the same time as building STEM skills. In Bushfire Risk Warnings, year six students write an algorithm to predict bushfires and in Amp Up The Volume, year nines research acoustics to create a passive amplifier for their phones.

Trial teachers and VIPs at the launch night.
The Honourable Sue Ellery MLC, Member for Education with some of our fabulous trial teachers.

STEM Learning Project Consortium Chair Mark Hackling, the Honourable Sue Ellery MLC, and Chief Scientist Peter Klinken helped remind us of the “why” with their words on the importance of STEM for the future of WA.

 

Based on PWC findings, 75% of the fastest growing careers now require STEM skills, and yet in another startling statistic from the OECD, there was an 11% fall in participation in intermediate maths over the last 20 years.

 

Professional Learning OpportunitiesSTEM Professional Learning

The future of WA depends on today’s students, and to make a difference they need to be learning STEM. That’s why the Learning Project exists. To help teachers integrate STEM across the curriculum, we are running some professional learning sessions starting in Geraldton on the 24th May. To find out more about the workshops and to book into one near you, click here.

 

 

February 14, 2017
Professor Mark Hackling at a workshop.

STEM – it’s a term you might have been hearing a lot of lately. But what is it, why is it so great and most importantly, how do we teach it to our students?

Teachers and principals who are looking for STEM resources will be pleased to know that the STEM Learning Project has been set up to deliver just that. We are developing a suite of resources across all year levels for WA schools. To help introduce teachers to these resources, we will be conducting professional learning workshops across WA.

What kind of resources are they?

The resources adopt a problem-based learning approach. Students seek solutions to open-ended, real-world problems, such as predicting the risk of bushfires or developing an appealing playground for young children. Each module is closely linked to the WA curriculum and includes assessment rubrics. Teachers who have trialed the resources so far have told us the resources are flexible, innovative and that the students are meaningfully engaged by the work. Finally, these resources are classroom ready and integrative, so you can cover several learning outcomes and subjects during the unit of work.

 

STEM Workshops Around WA

We ran a series of well-received workshops to targeted areas in 2016. Next, the STEM Learning Project will be inviting teachers to another series of workshops across W.A. in 2017. These workshops will focus on an introduction to STEM teaching and learning, and the newly developed resources. You can get the details here. For enquiries about the STEM Learning Project, click here.

Participant notes from the first STEM workshop.
Participant notes from our first workshop.