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This month, we’ve been finding out how Parklands Christian College introduced a STEM Studies elective. Here, Kristie Schulz talks about student assessment and reflects on some of the highlights and challenges of the last 12 months.

Brisbane’s Parklands Christian College has introduced a new STEM Studies elective for Year 10. Lead Teacher of Mathematics and Science Kristie Schulz explains the course design and implementation process.

In 2017, Parklands Christian College in Brisbane launched a new elective for Year 10s called STEM Studies. In this first instalment of a three-part series, Kristie Schulz – Lead Teacher of Mathematics and Science – explains how the journey began.

It is not well understood by researchers precisely how oral vocabulary helps children learn to read new words. In today’s article Macquarie University’s Signy Wegener and Distinguished Professor Anne Castles discuss some exciting findings from their research that sheds light on this issue.

When two senior Music teachers saw a need to improve the quality of student’s home practice of chosen instruments, they implemented a strategy of solitary, deliberate music practice. In consultation with the school’s Master Teacher, they developed a model aimed at improving student learning outcomes.

New research shows that high performing Grade 5-8 students in mathematics and reading exhibit greater self-regulated learning skills than their lower performing counterparts.

A key initiative of the Science of Learning Research Centre (SLRC) in 2017 has been the establishment of the SLRC Partner Schools project, involving six schools in south-east Queensland, grouped in two networked clusters.

Western Australia’s Butler College has created a culture of continuous learning and development for all of its staff. This long-term, whole-school approach focusses on improving the skills and capacity of all staff (including non-teaching staff) through various means, including action learning projects and peer-to-peer support and coaching.

Staff at Queensland’s Anglican Church Grammar School (better known as Churchie), have captured Year 10 reading data as part of an action research project into male students’ perceptions of their reading ability pre and post an intervention of taught reading strategies.

‘Consider any Arts or Science concept and try to find no link between the two.’ David Roy discusses how the Arts can help develop a creative mindset within STEM learning.