Page 33 - Journal 2018B FINAL

now using and sharing. I also shared lots of video footage of the junior classes engaging in the challenges that we created in our sessions using the Engineering Design process and how we differentiate it for each student
and their needs. The design challenge we facilitated with the staff on the presentation day (to design and create an object that had two different parts that moved in the wind) was a huge hit and we have feedback that many of them would be doing it with their students in their classes last Term.
St Catherine’s School, Stirling
The staff and students at St Catherine’s School are in the beginning stages of implementing STEM tasks throughout the curriculum, providing students with the skills to face future challenges.
During 2017 and 2018 the staff of St Catherine’s worked with SASTA to engage with the engineering design process and plan student challenges that integrated and applied learning from Science, Mathematics and Technology.
Through innovative design tasks our students are displaying creative and critical thinking skills in tackling real world problems. These opportunities are allowing our students to engage and make positive connections with multiple subject areas including Science, Mathematics and Technology.
Students at St Catherine’s have access to
a native, re-vegetated area known as the Wetlands, a new Nature Play area, farm land, Aquaponics and a small area of forest. The reimaging of the science curriculum was designed to connect learning to these spaces. The design challenges developed allowed students to interact with, and highlight the importance of the natural environment.
In addition, the school has established a website with STEM resources for our teaching staff to utilise and draw inspiration from. We are also currently in the process of purchasing more technology aids in order to facilitate further STEM challenges.
It continues to be an exciting time to embrace the STEM in education and empower our students to become lifelong learners. Some of the tasks they have been working on are included below.
- Lukas Antoniadis
As a school we are building a collection
of STEM challenges in our common drive
to share amongst each other, as well as sharing footage of teachers teaching STEM, at staff meetings. We have already had one session of this and it was great to see STEM happening from juniors to seniors, meeting a wide variety of student learning needs.
As a STEM PLC we are now working on assessment of these challenges, particularly targeting creativity and critical and creative thinking to which a few teachers are trialling different things which we will share later with each other.
- Carly Tate
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