Steaming Ahead

High above the school, in a room mostly occupied by an enormous wooden table, something exciting is happening. The sounds of departing students rise through the open windows. Nearby, the admin staff work away, keeping the process of the school turning. Inside the room, there is a muted hum, occasionally punctuated by squeals of approval and congratulations. Heads are close together, gathered around various laptops. On the wall, a screen mirrors the work of one intensely concentrating group. A little later the groups come together and the presentations of units begins – a STEAM elective is born!

Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics thinking has developed as an important part of learning for modern times. It is clear that skills in this area will be vital for employment and that Australia’s growth will be dependent on people with an excellent grounding in the design principles and thinking skills that come under the heading of STEAM.

With this in mind, a team of Science, Technology, Visual Arts and Mathematics teachers have been slaving away on a Thursday afternoon to develop a program of learning to be offered to Year 9 for the first time in 2018.

Our criteria: a unit should be based on a problem or task that is important or relevant to the real world. It should not fall into the category of any particular subject area in the school, but should rather be truly “cross-curricular”. It should require design thinking in all stages of the unit and should involve students producing something at the end that will be judged against a set of rigorous criteria. The students must be asked to reflect on the process at various stages of their work and on their accomplishments at the end … and the STEAM team members must say at some point “I want to do this unit – never mind the students!”

So what is in store for our inaugural set of students? A crazy machine to be entered into the Technion Annual Rube Goldberg Competition. A bicycle. Some biomimicry. Sculpture that will sit beside the sea. And a myriad of experiences that they will never forget.