News

STEMPlay program a win-win

Almost 100 children have enjoyed a new Australian Catholic University program connecting low-SES schools with state-of-the-art STEM technology and activities.

Dozens of ACU pre-service teachers have also had a chance to practise their planning, teaching, and digital technology skills thanks to the hands-on program.

STEMPlay, the brainchild of ACU National School of Education Associate Lecturer Abby Mirani, saw eager primary school students experiment with a range of robotic and coding equipment at ACU's Melbourne campus during the week.

The pre-service teachers designed engaging learning activities including using Makey Makey, VinciBot, Talebot, Micro:bit, Bee-Bot, and Sphero tools to create musical orchestras with random objects, robot soccer games, and programmable obstacle courses.

Pre-service teacher Eve Filippelli said the sessions were extremely rewarding.

"It's great to actually put our theory into practice with activities that work in a classroom and to see how the students respond to them," she said.

The students from nearby St Joseph's School and Sacred Heart School enjoyed learning new skills at the different digital technology stations.

"I like coding. It's fun to see the robot move," Ben, Year 5, said after successfully navigating a challenging obstacle course.

Ms Mirani said the new program was a win-win for ACU pre-service teachers and local primary school students alike.

"Children who don't have access to STEM equipment don't see STEM careers as a future trajectory. It's about access and equity and building strong partnerships with our local school communities," she said.

"For our pre-service teachers, they are learning to facilitate a high impact activity and understand the nuances of working with children from highly diverse backgrounds in real life.

"These sessions will be part of their assessment based on their lesson planning, differentiation, scaffolding, and application of DigiTech tools on learning."

Ms Mirani, who thanked all involved including ACU Technical Officer Erik Ly, plans to embed the STEMPlay program into ACU's Technologies, Curriculum, Pedagogy and Assessment unit.

St Joseph's School Permission to Teach teacher and ACU student Tess Dummett said the program gave children access to digital equipment they wouldn't otherwise be exposed to.

"The engagement of the kids and the benefit to the pre-service teachers is evident. It's nice for the kids to have these experiences which can't be replicated easily elsewhere," Ms Dummett, also a participant in ACU's National Exceptional Teachers in Disadvantaged Schools program, said.

"It's nice to have a partnership with ACU because the kids can also see that this can be their future."

Ms Mirani said she hoped to use the program to capture data as part of a longitudinal study focusing on learner engagement in STEM education.