STEAM

Year 8 STEAM

STEAM is the integrated teaching and learning of Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics. It is currently at the forefront of educational practice across secondary education, university and TAFE sectors in conjunction with Industry leaders such as Westpac, BAE Systems and Johnson and Johnson. 

Labour force data collected between 2013 and 2018 shows that STEM related occupations have grown by 16.5% which is 1.6 times higher than the growth rate of non-STEM based jobs. (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2018). 

The Year 8 STEAM program aims to develop the soft skills necessary for students to enter into future STEM careers. Students are currently developing their communication, collaboration, technological, problem solving and creative skills through a series of challenges that make up the Makerspace unit. 

Year 8 have worked in collaborative learning teams of approximately three students in roles such as Project Manager, Engineer and Mathematician. Students navigate the design process: Emphasise, Define, Ideate, Prototype, Test and Evaluate to create the fastest and lightest water vessels, design a paper plate marble maze and paper plate roller coasters. They are given variable and time constraints for each build and have also started developing an E-Portfolio to document their learning. This has been shared with the students through Canvas and will form part of their assessment due in Term 2.

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STEAM Academy

Mater Dei Catholic College is working in conjunction with the University of Sydney as part of the STEM Academy.  One of the key projects that the STEAM team are working on is developing the Emergency Housing Challenge which will hopefully spark a STEM career pathway for some of our students. Watch this space!

Staff also participated in the STEM Academy workshop with guest speaker Dr Karl Kruszelnicki. University students studying mechatronics, engineering and software engineering presented projects that coincide with their degrees. 

Mr Stuart Palmer is Mater Dei’s mentor for 2021.

Stuart is a Director, lead presenter and all things NSW Mathematics 'go to person'. Stuart is a secondary mathematics teacher with 25 years of experience in a variety of NSW schools. He taught and programmed Stages 4, 5 and 6 Mathematics numerous times and was head of department in two schools for 15 years.

Stuart is now an educational consultant who conducts professional development workshops for teachers all over NSW and beyond. He assists teachers to implement syllabuses in ways that students find meaningful and engaging. He also worked with pre-service secondary mathematics teachers at The University of Sydney for 10 years. He has been mentoring teachers participating in The University of Sydney STEM Enrichment Academy since 2015. Stuart is lead author of the Cambridge MATHS NSW Years 7 to 10 textbook series and created teaching resources for the AAMT/UTS national project called Maths Inside.’ (PD4Maths_2021) 

Mrs Courtney Freebody | Leader of Learning and Technology