Stem

STEM @ WHSC

Monash Tech School Program

Mr Vincent Lam accompanied the Year 9's who participated in a STEM program called SuperHealth at the Monash Tech School (MTS) for 3 days on the 3rd, 4th and 5th of June.

The STEM program required students to perform research, plan and design a "hospital of the future" that would incorporate 21st-century skills such as collaboration, digital literacy, critical thinking, and problem-solving.

Day 1

Students visited the Yakult factory to see the hi-tech facility that incorporates some of the latest food processing equipment, which includes the manufacturing of plastic bottles, filling and packaging lines, culture and quality control rooms. Students were to use this experience to see how hi-tech equipment can be utilized in their hospital. They all also got the opportunity to taste the deliciously refreshing Yakult.

Students then visited the Biomedical facilities at Monash University Clayton Campus. Here they explored the current technologies in 3D printing and how they are being used in health care.

The last stop split the group into 2. One visited the Monash Children's Hospital to gain experience of the structure of a hospital and to understand the importance of each level, room and the required staffing among other things within the hospital. The other group visited Holmesglen to look at the technology currently available for students to learn.

Day 2

Students in groups planned and designed their hospitals putting into place the observations they obtained from Day 1.

Day 3

Students were able to experience different types of technologies that could be applied in a hospital. Students programming LEGO which could be used for patient transportation or medical transportation within the hospital.

Students designing and playing with VR. This could be used to help design the hospital and to allow patients to experience aspects of life they might not be able to if bedridden

Students engaged with the AI Robot "Alex". This robot was used as a learning tool for upcoming nurses and doctors. A conversation could be programmed into Alex which allows nurses and doctors to practice with it during procedures and get responses that matched real patients.

After the design and planning process. Students were to presented their work in a gallery walk (one student stayed with their team’s work, while others in the team walked around to explore)

Students then recorded and presented a video of what they thought "The Hospital of the Future" looked like. They also had created a floor plan of their work.

I was able to visit the group on one of these days to check in on how the program was running. It was a great opportunity for our students to participate in solving real world problems and use the technologies and expertise offered by the Monash Tech School. More groups will be participating in the program next Semester and I look forward to seeing their solutions to problems that we may face in the future!

Kim Hewlett

STEM Learning Specialist