anne brant - queensland university of technology - high school stem engagement inspiring students
TRANSCRIPT
High school STEM engagement inspiring
students
by Anne Brant STEM Teacher in Residence
The Science and Engineering Centre and The Cube
.
• Inspire students to study STEM subjects and courses and demonstrate the importance of acquiring STEM skills
• Build knowledge of QUT and further develop its reputation as a world leader in research
Goal:
• Showcase QUT’s new Science & Engineering Centre (SEC) and The Cube
• Provide engaging and inspirational experiences in STEM
• Create a market shift in STEM courses
• Provide opportunities to engage with under-represented students to improve equity balance
Objectives:
What do the STEM School
Engagement team deliver?
• On campus curriculum related
workshops
• Twilight Teacher Professional
Development
• Internships at QUT Institutes
• STEM camps –VC and Mackay
• STEM events
Target audience?
• High school students
• Teachers
• Top 50 feeder schools
• Selected school partners
• Under represented
students
• Program Manager/Teacher in
Residence
• Workshops officer
• Event staff
• Collaborative learning space in
the SEC
• Undergraduate casual staff
• Faculty partners and facilities
• Money!!
Resources required?
QMEA Science Olympiad
Power of Engineering
QUT/TRI Internships
Year 10 Subject Selection Night
Experience IT day
QUT Mackay Process Engineering Camp
Wonders of Science
Big Day In 2015
Power of Engineering
Experience Health Day
Teacher PD session
Terrace Science Exploration
The VC’s STEM Camp
Formula 1 in schools
QASMT Real Research Day
Teacher PD session
Terrace Aviation Immersion Experience
Science Teachers Association QLD
conference
Junior Health Fusion Challenge
Experience Day Junior Science
Teacher PD session
2015 Year Overview
Jan/Feb March/April May/June July/August Sept/Oct Nov/Dec
ConocoPhillips Science Experience
Science and Engineering Challenge
Teacher PD session
Robotronica
Australian Youth Aerospace Forum
Oodgeroo SID Winter School
The Engineering Link Project
Go 4 IT gURL
Power of Engineering
Engineer Your future
QMEA Energy for the Future
National Science Week
QLD academics Cafe Scientifique
Teacher PD session
5340
1630
180
900
11
150010
High-school students who engaged with QUT STEM High School Engagement in 2014
Workshops
Events
VC STEM camp
SEC Tours
Mackay Process EngineeringCamp
CH2M Hill Regional Trips
TRI Internships
Achievements in 2014
How has the program evolved
from 2014 to 2015?
• Approx. doubling in number of workshops and the number of schools accessing our workshops
• Increase in numbers of schools accessing the program multiple times for the same group
• More activities with integrated technology
• More Teacher Professional Development in technologies
57 40 190493 72 23660
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
Workshop Numbers School Numbers Student Numbers
Year 2014
Year 2015
• Workshops are free (for now!) but schools need to come to QUT
• Special project status, small team, transient in nature
• Staff attrition, Ambassador availability and expertise, students leave
• Access to space is difficult, high demand in term time
• Faculty support difficult
• Justifying the program -conversions
Challenges
Evaluation methods:
• Surveys – undergraduates, students and teachers surveys analysed
• Statistics and data – analysis of popularity of each workshop and trends across the year
• Verbal feedback – relationships very important
• Changing curriculum – constantly updating and modifying activities
• Loss of expertise – students leave, technology changes and we can’t offer certain activities
Outcomes:
• More high school students visit the university campus than ever before
• QUT research is now more visible to teachers and students and academics are connecting more with secondary institutions
• Ambassadors are benefitting from acquiring “teaching and mentoring skills”
• Increased enrolments in some STEM areas (but difficult to attribute this to our program alone)
• More teachers are visiting the campus every year and benefitting from our facilities
Key Messages:
• Studying STEM subjects at school keeps career
options open
• STEM skills are transferrable and very important
• Keeping up with digital technologies is very important
• QUT offers practical courses with real-world work
placements and industry connections
• Double degrees develop interdisciplinary skills and potentially provide more employment opportunities
Future engagement
• More digital innovation – The Cube, robots, programming
• Teacher professional development
• Development of resources for on
and off campus experiences
• More tailored programs for STEM
specialist classes
