Author: Lauren Swann
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Can Science teachers really just ‘skip’ the content?
Short Story For students to learn there is a socio-emotional requirement to create engagement and challenge misconceptions in science. In recent times, constructivist methods have been provided as a panacea to the complex issue of student disengagement in STEM. The false dichotomy between ‘didactic teaching methods’ and ‘constructivist methods’ is misleading. Learning is iterative: to […]
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Mobile Home Design and Build
In June 2020 with a pandemic descending I made the decision to purchase a used Ford Transit Van and embark on a design and building challenge to turn it into a campervan #vanlife Meet the Van. Phase One: Research and Design (R&D). Phase Two: Build. Build: Cleaning, rust treatment and cutting big holes. Build: Structure: […]
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Sharing, not memorizing, things
Constructivism has been around for a long time, with the main contributors to this theory being Kant, Piaget, Vygotsky and Bruner. There is a wonderful ‘constructivist thinking timeline’ linked below which explores all of the various contributors, both large and small, to this pedagogical understanding of learning. According to Piaget (Piaget 1936), intellectual development is […]
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Learning is strictly making mushtakes
I was a shy child with a very fixed mindset. I didn’t know it at the time, but now when I reflect back I can see that I approached every task with the expectation that somehow I would be bad at it or fail to be as good as the other students. And I’ve seen […]
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The outdoor classroom
Whilst science-based field trips have been enshrined in the school calendar, not all researchers and educators agree on their effectiveness (Cox-Petersen et. al. 2003). The ‘outdoor classroom’, including greenspaces, watersheds, reserves, or other natural settings, is an increasingly popular phenomenon – especially in primary schools in Australia (Jose et. al. 2007, p. 271). A field […]
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Astrofarmer
F-10 | Biological Sciences | Geography Problem: If humanity is to explore further into the cosmos, plants will have to be grown in-flight – as a food source and more… but the conditions required for plants to grow (such as water, light, nutrients and suitable temperature) are difficult to meet’. Overview Curriculum Links Teaching and […]
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Greening Urban Areas
F – 10 | Earth and Environmental Sciences | Geography Next time you’re walking through the city, ask yourself if you’re feeling very hot or cold and have a look around you – are there any trees? Grass? What colour are the buildings? How would you improve the streetscape to engineer a solution to the […]
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Gippsland Rainforest
Senior Secondary | Earth and Environmental Sciences In January and February 2021 I had the privilege of working at Jumbuk Park Nature Retreat in the Strzelecki Ranges. The work involved track clearance, using a digger, tree planting, mowing, flipping cabins as well as the creation of a Herbarium from all local plant species. And it […]
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What’s wrong with Geology?
The future of the discipline of Earth Science is in trouble. Seven of Australia’s 21 Geoscience Departments have suffered substantial cuts or reductions (Boone et. al. 2021), with complete closures of the world-class schools at Macquarie and Newcastle Universities, a trend which has only been accelerated by the Pandemic (Selway 2021). This is despite Australia’s […]
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Patterns in Nature, Maths and Art
F-10 | Mathematics, Art. This Numeracy unit on Geometric Reasoning and Space (angles, location, shape and symmetry) was created with the aim of meaningfully linking the content descriptors of Art, HASS Celebrations, Dance and Mathematics through the theme: ‘Patterns in Nature, Maths and Art’. Overview Curriculum Links Teaching and Learning Sequence Geometry Fibonacci sequence 2D […]
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