Science

An online Indigenous Science course has been launched to give students in Victoria an opportunity to learn about the knowledge systems of local Indigenous cultures about the land, water, and sky. In this article we speak with the course’s co-teachers to find out more.

In this podcast special, we’re joined by Corey Tutt OAM, founder and CEO of Deadly Science – an organisation that provides science resources to remote schools in Australia, to inspire and celebrate the next generation of Indigenous people in STEM.

With the growing use of STEM across various industries in Australia, how can we ensure equitable opportunities and pathways for all students? How can schools build successful partnerships with industry specialists to rethink STEM education? In this article, we outline five further readings which explore STEM education in Australia.

A new study has found in the most recent New South Wales HSC Physics syllabus 10 individuals are mentioned and all are men, and in the last 25 years physicists have been mentioned 211 times in the subject examinations and, again, all were men. In today’s infographic we share just three (there are many more!) amazing women physicists to tell your students about.

‘Clearly, the decline in Australia’s PISA scores is a complex problem, necessitating complex and varied solutions. What is evident from these data, however, is that the decline in scores cannot be attributed to one particular school sector, but it is shared across the whole system.’ In her latest Teacher column, Sue Thomson examines achievement, school climate and student wellbeing in Australia’s three school sectors.

We know that participating in sport and physical activity benefits health and wellbeing. New research has found it also has a small positive effect on students’ academic performance, particularly in mathematics and science.

‘To make a real difference to the way students learn science, we think it is important to link cognitive growth to learning progressions through formative assessment in everyday practice.’ In today’s article, academics from the SiMERR National Research Centre at the University of New England share how the Chemical Science learning progression they developed can be implemented in the classroom.

The two most recent winners of the Prime Minister’s Prizes for Excellence in Science Teaching join us in this podcast. They each share how they’re improving student outcomes in their own school settings and their top tips for other Science teachers across the country.

Twenty Things to Do with a Computer Forward 50, edited by Dr Gary Stager, celebrates the vision of Cynthia Solomon and Seymour Papert in their seminal 1971 paper. In this exclusive extract, Martin Levins shares ‘Some Modern Things to Do with a Computer’, with examples from Australian schools.

With Term 1 just around the corner in Australia, it’s a great time to start brainstorming events and themes to tie in to your lesson planning for the new school year. We’ve rounded up some of the key dates in each term to help get you started.