STEM education from the perspective of The University of Sydney STEM Teacher Enrichment Academy

While STEM education is attracting much attention and is strongly advocated for, delivering on the promise of STEM education is still being researched (Rosicka, 2016; Margot & Kettler, 2019). The quest is on for understanding the essentials of STEM education and how to prepare teachers to capture the essence of STEM education in their professional practice. Drawing on ongoing research, the STEM Teacher Enrichment Academy, established within The University of Sydney in 2014, has developed in-service programs for teachers of both primary and secondary schools. The Academy is driven by the belief that STEM education is not a ‘fad’ and has the potential to transform pedagogy, thus motivating and enthusing students to participate more fully in the STEM disciplines, continue into senior secondary STEM subjects and beyond, ultimately addressing a shortage in STEM-related careers. With an expanding alumnus, currently at 800 teachers from 139 high schools and 370 teachers from 90 primary schools, the Academy has gathered scholarly evidence for the effectiveness and impact of its programs (Anderson, 2019; Anderson, Wilson, Tully, & Way, 2019). This presentation will share the design and structure of the Academy’s evidence-based programs as well as research on its efficacy. REFERENCES Margot, K. C. & Kettler, T. (2019). Teachers’ perception of STEM integration and education: a systematic literature review. International Journal of STEM Education, 6(2). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40594-018-0151-2 Anderson, J. (2019). Supporting STEM curriculum implementation with professional learning: The University of Sydney STEM Teacher Enrichment Academy. Journal of Physics: Conference Series. 1340 012001 Anderson, J., Wilson, K., Tully, D., & Way, J. (2019). “Can we build the wind powered car again?” Students’ and teachers’ responses to a new integrated STEM curriculum. Journal of Research in STEM Education, 5(1), 20–39. Rosicka, C. (2016). Translating STEM education research into practice. Camberwell, Vic.: Australian Council for Educational Research

An Electronic Calendar for Organizing Assessments in a Large Faculty

Using data from an electronic unit of study outline system, the University of Sydney's Faculty of Science built an assessment calendar to organize assessment schedules and help first-year students transition to university life. The calendar helps students organize and understand their assessments using their preferred computers or mobile calendar applications. The calendar also helps staff in a large faculty compare and rationalize assessment dates and ensure that a variety of assessment modes are used, irrespective of a student's course choices

Embedding Core Information Skills At The Point Of Need In First Year Science

Online information literacy modules have been integrated into semester 1 units of study so that every commencing first year science student is now engaged in developing information skills as part of their disciplinary learning (Kift, 2004). A certificate of completion system has enabled these activities to be easily introduced by staff from a range of disciplines. This methodology has enabled skill development to be introduced with no duplication or overlap in the workload for students despite the range of course choices available and without core units

First year science: when information skills are someone else's business

The University of Sydney requires all graduates to possess information skills as part of their graduate attributes (http://www.itl.usyd.edu.au/graduateAttributes/policy.htm). This can only be achieved through a close working relationship between the faculties and the library; it’s always someone else’s business as well as our own. Within first year science, information skills development is challenged by: • lack of compulsory units of study • absence of a foundation unit • separate curricula for each school within the faculty • immediate commencement of subject-based learning • assumed knowledge of some skills • inadequate time spent on skills development. The Library provides integrated information skills sessions in some first year science units, but the 3000 plus student cohort may receive this content multiple times or not at all, depending on which units they choose. A creative solution was required to systematically engage with the cohort in the priority areas of academic honesty and evaluation of scholarly or non-scholarly research. Library staff partnered with concerned academic staff to implement a coordinated information skills program across first year science. Pre-existing iResearch learning objects (http://sydney.edu.au/library/elearning/index.html) were incorporated into a range of units with large enrolments, and were also trialled in conjunction with the University’s new ePortfolio system. Four schools in the Faculty of Science made the Plagiarism and Academic Honesty and Scholarly versus Non-Scholarly learning objects compulsory components of their first year assessment program. Because of large numbers of enrolments and overlap between first year science units, virtually every student completed the required online information skills content. We added certificates of completion to the learning objects as evidence of graduate attribute development. Partnerships with unit of study coordinators were essential to complete the project. The use of online learning technology was particularly effective for a large cohort, facilitating the development of information skills outside of the traditional face-to-face classroom context. The end result was a sustainable, low-cost information skills model for first year science. This model could be applied to other faculties and universities, effectively streamlining and sharing the development of information skills

Code for success: a roadmap as an organising device for the transition of first year science students and the development of academic skills

An online roadmap has been introduced to improve the standard of academic skills by embedding a semester long sequence of stimuli and resources for new students within our large, general science degrees. This device is faculty managed and links administration, curricular and support services to the just-in-time needs of the students. This institution-wide curricular and co-curricular approach extends and supports our existing workshop and mentoring activities. It answers and prompts frequently asked questions, inducts students into the broader culture of the faculty and integrates information literacy and other academic skills which will be taught, practised and assessed during their first semester at university

ASELL: Use our inquiry slider to --- Slide into inquiry

ASELL Schools has designed and successfully implemented an inquiry slider – a pedagogical tool for understanding, implementing and reflecting on inquiry in schools. In this workshop, you will carry out an investigation and grapple with issues related to implementing inquiry. Questions such as the following will be discussed: What does it mean to do inquiry-based investigations? Are there different understandings of inquiry? What are they? Do all investigations need to be largely inquiry? How do we map how much inquiry we have in our curriculum? How do we scaffold student understandings of inquiry? How do we let go of recipe-based investigations? Proceedings of the Australian Conference on Science and Mathematics Education, The University of Queensland, Sept 28th to 30th, 2016, page X, ISBN Number 978-0-9871834-4-6

ASELL Schools: Using inquiry-based science investigations

Background In the current context of intensive scrutiny of science teaching in schools, and several rounds of funding to support this endeavour, partnerships between diverse stakeholders have been forged. ASELL Schools, funded through AMSPP, is one such partnership between scientists, engineers and science educators across Australia. Aims In this presentation, we report on two research questions: • What are teachers’ reflections on the various aspects of the professional learning context? • What do teachers say they will take to their practice? Design and methods ASELL Schools utilises expertise from the partnership to create context specific professional learning environments to guide teachers’ implementation of inquiry based science teaching with the objective of influencing teachers’ professional practices. Data in the form of reflections and surveys from six workshops with 100 teacher participants has been analysed. Results and Conclusions Our findings indicate that teachers face particular challenges in implementing inquiry. While teachers are knowledgeable about inquiry-based teaching, strategically deciding ‘when and how’ to implement inquiry with the explicit intent to meet their student needs within the local context is not a trivial task. Hence inquiry in the classroom has many faces which often mask the effectiveness of inquiry espoused in research. The ASELL Schools professional learning environment aids in filling this gap. Proceedings of the Australian Conference on Science and Mathematics Education, The University of Queensland, Sept 28th to 30th, 2016, page X, ISBN Number 978-0-9871834-4-6

How do especially designed worksheets assist students to solve tutorial problems?

In this study, we examined whether the provision of worksheets assisted students in solving tutorial problems. These worksheets give a step by step approach for solving some exercises from the tutorial sheets by, for example, furnishing diagrams and identifying variables. I recorded the behavior of the students during the tutorials, such as their engagement in discussion, listening, using media. The undergraduates are split in three units of study: Fundamental, Regular and Advanced. I focused on the topic of Waves and I observed a total of 87, 183 and 95 teams for the Fundamental, Regular and Advanced level respectively. Our observations indicate that the behavior of the students in the Advanced class is markedly different from that the other classes. Data analysis using the SOLO taxonomy, describing levels of increasing complexity in students' understanding of subjects, shows that students in the Fundamental classes were more engaged than the other classes. Furthermore, the Fundamental and Advanced classes have the same level of answering and the Regular class is a step behind. We will discuss the implications for the use of worksheets in teaching and learning

A collective vision for biology teaching in australian universities: academics’ perceptions of key knowledge, skills and standards

The Vision and Innovation in Biology Education discipline network (VIBEnet) is funded by the Office of Learning and Teaching (OLT) to support a network of tertiary biology teachers and lead curriculum change. In a survey completed by 57 academics from 25 universities across Australia and three international universities, network participants shared their experiences of teaching biology and designing curriculum. An analysis of these responses provides a framework for developing a unified and innovative curriculum, which engages students, fosters inquiry and allows sharing of expertise and curiosity. Network participants emphasised that the biology context provides the perfect environment for students to develop academic and practical skills, through critical evaluation of contemporary problems, independent research investigations and rigorous evaluation and communication of results. Academics also commented on the need for a national approach to implement the “Threshold Learning Outcomes in Science (TLOs)” which have been modified by the network to create the “Biology Threshold Learning Outcomes (BTLOs)”. Such standard statements are a catalyst for curriculum change and an opportunity to reflect on strengths and weaknesses in current teaching and learning practice. The flow on impact of the need to validate assessment methods to demonstrate graduate outcomes in a manner appropriate for student learning and employer needs was also acknowledged. Currently there remain significant challenges in effecting change in the tertiary teaching of biology, including the perennial issues funding, workloads and class sizes. However the status and quality of education and teachers at our tertiary institutions is acknowledged as the key solution for sustained improvement