Grants recognise STEM in Action at Queensland schools

Seven state schools will receive grants to help put a greater focus on Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).

Education Minister Kate Jones today announced $105,000 in grants under the new STEM in Action program.

“The $15,000 grants will help boost students’ ability to succeed in a global economy that requires STEM skills to solve problems and drive innovation,” Ms Jones said.

“Teachers will also benefit from the work made possible by these grants by building their capability in these subjects.

“During May 2015, Queensland state schools were encouraged to nominate for STEM education grants to develop innovations that met the needs of their students.”

Ms Jones said the STEM In Action grants would also support the development of primary school, secondary school and university partnerships for research and online collaboration.

“The State Schools STEM strategy aims to gather a bank of ideas and initiatives that schools could use as a basis to develop their own approaches to school improvement,” Ms Jones said.

“We anticipate the grants will help schools develop models of effective practice that could be showcased and shared across Queensland.”

The seven successful applicants for STEM In Action grants are:

• Everton Park State High School and Stafford State School (joint application) – for a project that will involve secondary school STEM teachers collaborating with primary teachers - supporting and coaching them to develop STEM units, lessons and assessment tasks. The schools will partner with the Queensland University of Technology to evaluate the project.

• Maroochydore State High School – to promote a positive disposition to problem solving and mathematical reasoning for students in Years 7 to 9, and to increase enrolment in senior STEM subjects.

• Clover Hill State School – to develop students’ deep thinking and problem-solving using geometric and spatial reasoning. The project will focus on curriculum, teacher capacity, instructional approaches, student readiness and infrastructure.

• Brisbane School of Distance Education IMPACT Centre – to help schools and clusters of schools to devise localised science and technology projects through online collaboration.

• Benowa State High School – to evaluate the effectiveness of the three-stage Kids STEM Convention program, based on research advice from Griffith University.

• Ipswich State High School – to devise and implement inter-disciplinary elective subjects for Years 7 to 10 and include a whole-school STEM excellence pathway from primary to senior secondary.

• Mitchelton State School – to evaluate the effectiveness of using a school science coach to build teacher capacity and improve student outcomes.

Media contact: Minister Jones’ Office 3719 7530