Pahia Cooper In March, I will start my Graduate Diploma in Secondary Education (Biology). Here are 5 reasons I want to study teaching: Inspiring the Future The students of today will be the leaders of tomorrow. I have a passion for learning as well as sharing my science knowledge with others, especially young adults withRead more about Five reasons why I am excited to study teaching in 2016![…]
Step Up recently invited a highly acclaimed panel of teachers together to answer questions and provide advice for graduating Queensland pre-service teachers. The panel included a first-year teacher, mid and senior career teachers and a school principal. The panel members provided the audience with an excellent insight into how to transition successfully into the classroom and beyond, with eachRead more about Pre-service Teacher Panel Forum at QUT[…]
Students from Annandale Christian College with Natalie Wright (SLQ) and Chris Campbell (UQ) Teachers from Annandale Christian College in Townsville joined pre-service teachers from James Cook University for a hands-on design-thinking workshop facilitated by QUT, UQ and the State Library, QLD. The pre-service teachers worked alongside in-service teachers to do some hands-on STEAM Room activities- competing in the MarshmallowRead more about Teachers get creative with the STEAM Room[…]
Last week the Step Up project team had the privilege of meeting five out of the six pre-service teachers that we’re sponsoring to attend CONASTA in Perth. What a delight to meet Gay and Karen (James Cook University, who had just flown in from Townsville), Shawtima (Griffith University, Gold Coast) and Nick and Ally (QUT, Brisbane). The conversationRead more about Starting out teaching science – insights from the STAQ conference[…]
Canberra put on beautiful weather for our last full day at the NSTSS. After our morning ritual of visiting the on-campus coffee shop, we met the group at the Science Teaching Seminar Building for an engaging talk on ‘Flipped Classrooms’. While all three of us were familiar with the term, we were unaware of how frequently it is used in higher education and how successful the strategy can be. Joe Hope who is a Physics lecturer at ANU explained how he video records his ‘lectures’ for students to watch at home, followed by a weekly 3 hour workshop for students to apply their new skills and ask questions. Joe was an engaging speaker and all of the teachers were excited about learning how to implement a ‘flipped classroom’ in their school.
Day 3 kicked off with an excited group of teachers heading to the first excursion of the trip – Parliament House. Many in the group had not visited Parliament before, and we were all fascinated by the amazing architecture and the stories behind some of the materials used in the building.
Rick, Andrew and Marissa from the Parliamentary Education Office then entertained us with some Parliamentary role plays, where we all had the opportunity to be part of a senate committee meeting on water recycling. These role plays were upbeat and educational, and will be great to adapt and bring back to the science classroom. We also had the opportunity to visit the House of Representatives, the Senate, and to tour the chambers. Read more about Day 3 – Parliament Bills and Playing with Chemicals …
After locating the campus coffee shop yesterday, getting going on day two was a lot easier!
We began with a visit to the ANU Engineering Labs, where we heard from Dr Henry Gardner on computer sciences and how to best incorporate ICT in the curriculum. Henry also provided us with useful websites including interactive games and competitions that introduce students to coding. Following this, we had a taste of Engineers Without Borders through an experiment designing water filtration systems for developing communities. This session, run by Jeremy Smith was a great activity that we are excited to try out in the classroom. Read more about Day 2: GM Food For Thought …
We would like to welcome our new Step Up Ambassadors, Melissa Blacklock, Gabby Gilmore and Gemma Sardoni, who have been awarded the Step Up / ASTA Initiative Award.
These outstanding pre-service science teachers are about to travel to Canberra to attend the National Science Teachers Summer School (NSTSS), which runs from 11-17 January 2015.
We look forward to hear from Gabby, Gemma and Melissa as they share here their insights from the event.
