Exploring hands-on multidisciplinary STEM with Arduino Esplora
2 likes772 views
The document discusses a program at the University of Sydney aimed at addressing the decline in student interest and achievement in STEM subjects through hands-on, multidisciplinary training using Arduino Esplora. It outlines the methods of teacher training, program execution, outreach, and evaluation, which have positively impacted over 3,000 students and 300 teachers across Australia. Future steps include scaling the initiative and securing sustainability and additional partnerships.
Exploring hands-on multidisciplinary STEM with Arduino Esplora
- 1. The University of Sydney Page 1 Exploring hands-on multidisciplinary STEM with Arduino Esplora A/Prof Abelardo Pardo @abelardopardo Faculty of Engineering and IT ACSA Symposium 14-15 October 2016, Sydney
- 2. The University of Sydney Page 2 Agenda – The Context – Design – Teacher Training – Delivery – Outreach – Evaluation – Future Steps FernandaGuerraflickr.com
- 3. The University of Sydney Page 3 The Context
- 4. The University of Sydney Page 4 The Problem Steep decline in the achievement and attitude towards STEM-related disciplines amongst high school students across the country. Partially due to students’ self-perception of ability, subject difficulty and usefulness. The impact of STEM fields to over 26% of the Australian economic activity. High school students need to be aware of the connection between STEM subjects and the innovation, creativity and problem solving skills required to tackle the current social challenges.
- 5. The University of Sydney Page 5 Vision Address the steep decline in commitment and interests in STEM subjects for every high school student in Australia
- 6. The University of Sydney Page 6 Method Our proven and integrated training and delivery method provides high school students and teachers with an inclusive, engaging, hands-on and cross-disciplinary STEM experience in a blended learning scenario with real-time student and teacher support suitable to be integrated as part of the curriculum Madmaker.com.au
- 7. The University of Sydney Page 7 Execution • Focus groups with stakeholders • Design and deployment plan to combine teacher training, active learning inter- disciplinary activities, on-line learning, a simple hardware platform, and a rigorous evaluation procedure. • Program reached more than 3,000 students, 300 teachers from all STEM disciplines in 130 schools from all sectors • Achieved a change in student perception of STEM careers by the students. • Clearly identified path to scale the initiative to all High School students in Australia.
- 8. The University of Sydney Page 8 The Team Abelardo Pardo Owen Brasier Miriam Pellicano Calla Klafas Philip Leong James Curran
- 9. The University of Sydney Page 9 Design
- 10. The University of Sydney Page 10 Focus Groups o Target audience o Connection with the STEM curriculum o Barriers for adoption o Communication strategy o Adequate hardware o Evaluation
- 11. The University of Sydney Page 11 Platform – Arduino Esplora – Microcontroller + sensors – Accelerometer – Temperature – Light – Buzzer – Microphone – RGB led – Buttons – Joystick – AUD$ 60 p/u
- 12. The University of Sydney Page 12 Teacher Training
- 13. The University of Sydney Page 13 Teacher Workshops – Two formats: face-to-face and remote. June/August 2015 – Hands on design experience – Review activities, approach – Identify adoption barriers – Create an implementation plan – Feedback collecting mechanism for next stages
- 14. The University of Sydney Page 14 Teacher Workshops - Results – 21 sessions – 259 teachers – Workshops in all states and territories – Mostly NSW due to the dissemination contacts – Identified schools that serve as hubs
- 15. The University of Sydney Page 15 Teacher Workshops - Evaluation – Workshops evaluated through surveys – 0-5 Scale for answers – Provided confidence to deploy the initiative in their classroom
- 16. The University of Sydney Page 16 Delivery
- 17. The University of Sydney Page 17
- 18. The University of Sydney Page 18 Support for delivery – Content with gradual level of difficulty – Hosted in own server (open source) – Team of tutors – Real time support to teachers and students through embedded chat
- 19. The University of Sydney Page 19 Outreach
- 20. The University of Sydney Page 20 Overall Participation – 131 schools participated in the online course – 195 cohorts – Approximately 3,000 students
- 21. The University of Sydney Page 21 Type of Schools – Majority in metropolitan areas – Strong participation of regional institutions – Initiative reached all states and territories in Australia
- 22. The University of Sydney Page 22 Disadvantaged Groups ICSEA: Index of Community Socio-educational Advantage
- 23. The University of Sydney Page 23 Discipline Uptake – Strong component in Science, Maths and other initiatives – Target: Year 9, but content suitable for other levels – Both formal and informal learning scenarios
- 24. The University of Sydney Page 24 Gender Balance – Significant uptake by girls – Important number of girl schools – Gender imbalance lower if clubs are ignored
- 25. The University of Sydney Page 25 Indigenous Communities – 4.45% of students from indigenous communities – This percentage is almost double of the indigenous population in Australia – Encouraging initial results – Focus of new initiatives
- 26. The University of Sydney Page 26 Evaluation
- 27. The University of Sydney Page 27 Student Satisfaction – Surveys at the beginning and end of the experience – Scale 0-5 – High student satisfaction levels
- 28. The University of Sydney Page 28 Change in Student Perception of STEM Careers
- 29. The University of Sydney Page 29 Consider Careers in Science and Math
- 30. The University of Sydney Page 30 Strategy for 2016
- 31. The University of Sydney Page 31 Current Support o Initial support from AMSPP o Faculty of Engineering and IT, Wingara Mura - Bunga Barrabugu (USYD) o Integrated STEM activities in Indigenous and Low SES Communities. Microsoft Inc. o CS2HS: Teacher training. Google Inc
- 32. The University of Sydney Page 32 2016 Edition o Ongoing teacher training o Improved teacher support for class integration o Improved material o Comprehensive evaluation o Online challenge
- 33. The University of Sydney Page 33 “I love this program. It is really fun and I think I want to have a career with coding. Before MadMaker I had no idea what coding was and now I love it!” – Year 7 student
- 34. The University of Sydney Page 34 Future Steps
- 35. The University of Sydney Page 35 Next Steps o Scale the initiative throughout Australia o Consolidate the support o Sustainability o Identify additional partner institutions
- 36. The University of Sydney Page 36 Exploring hands-on multidisciplinary STEM with Arduino Esplora A/Prof Abelardo Pardo School of Electrical and Information Engineering ACSA Symposium 14-15 October 2016, Sydney