Building the Evidence Base for Improved STEM Learning


Department of Education (DoE) Western Australia

The Western Australian Department of Education (DoE WA) views STEM education as an integrated, innovative and inter-disciplinary approach to learning. Students are guided by capable school principals, leadership teams and teachers to engage creatively with real-world problems, applying their understanding of the key areas of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

As a result, students build deep knowledge of the STEM disciplines, and actively develop their critical thinking, problem-solving, and collaborative capacities; their interpersonal, teamwork and communication skills; and their ability to creatively use digital technologies to effectively function in a changing world.

Western Australia map



Note: Information for this case study was drawn from interviews conducted with representatives of the Western Australian Department of Education (the Department) and the Department of Jobs, Tourism, Science, and Innovation.

TOWARDS DEVELOPING A COHERENT APPROACH TO STEM EDUCATION

In order to develop a shared vision of STEM education in Western Australia, the STEM Advisory Panel, led by the Chief Scientist of Western Australia, was established. It comprised representatives from government, industry, vocational education and training, and school and university education and the informal and community STEM engagement. 

The panel developed a whole-of-state STEM skills strategy, Future jobs, future skills: Driving STEM skills in Western Australia, the broad elements of which were released in 2018 with the full strategy published in 2019.

READ MORE: Driving STEM skills in Western Australia

The five pillars that comprise the strategy are:

  1. Skills for future jobs;

  2. STEM culture;

  3. School leadership and teacher excellence;

  4. Diversity in STEM; and

  5. Training and reskilling for jobs.

Implementing the strategy in Western Australian public schools

Key characteristics of the approach taken by the Department to implement the STEM skills strategy in the education sector include:

  • Sustained investments in STEM education policy, practice, and human and educational resources development.

  • Setting up communities of practice in schools to encourage school autonomy in addressing their professional learning needs and sharing exemplary STEM practices with partner schools.

  • Promotion of well-aligned development of higher-order skills, digital skills, and STEM discipline skills.

  • Participatory and outcome-based monitoring and evaluation to inform the STEM policy, initiatives and practice.

  • Commitment to ensure equal opportunities in STEM access in Western Australian schools.

  • Collaboration with the Department of Jobs, Tourism, Science and Innovation and others across the sectors represented on the Panel. 

In line with the third pillar, School leadership and teacher excellence, the Department recognised that school principals and teacher leaders are critical to leading reform. An important focus of the Department has been encouraging teachers to develop their pedagogical capacities for STEM teaching and supporting school leaders. 

The WA Governor’s School STEM Awards, an initiative of the WA Department of Jobs, Tourism, Science and Innovation, were established to acknowledge the support and commitment of school principals and leadership teams in developing their schools’ STEM education programs.

These awards identify high-quality outcomes and approaches in individual STEM subjects as well as in the way STEM teaching is integrated across learning areas. They raise awareness of the importance of STEM education and encourage school leadership to support their teachers to engage in STEM initiatives, inspire students to continue in STEM fields, and prepare them for future workplaces with the skillsets and mindsets to flourish.

Discover the WA Governor's School STEM Awards

STEM Capacity Development Initiatives

Since 2016, the Department has invested $13 million in teaching and learning resources, and professional learning and mentoring initiatives for the development of STEM education across Western Australian schools.

The aim is to move learning and teaching from a focus on only building students’ content knowledge to also developing the 21st century skills that will be needed for future jobs and to inspire more students to pursue STEM learning and STEM-based careers. 

School autonomy is central to the approach taken to supporting schools, as is a commitment to ensuring that principals and teachers base their professional judgements in evidence-based practice. Key features of processes underpinning Department capacity building initiatives are outlined below.



A Whole School Approach to Professional Learning

Whole-school professional learning (PL) aimed at enhancing capacity for STEM teaching and learning is characterised by:

  • Professional learning and innovations that closely align with school contexts through schools having the autonomy to identify their learning priorities.

  • School principals participating in STEM PL alongside their leadership teams and teachers.

  • A focus on improving teachers’ STEM pedagogical practices and assessment techniques to ensure that student learning is problem-based, challenging, and engaging.


STEM Innovation Partnerships

In 2016, the Department had recognised that science, technology, engineering and mathematics have had a major impact on Australian society and industry, and are important domains for future jobs. Five system challenges to quality STEM education in schools were identified as requiring investigation and attention. These were:

1. How STEM education could be best undertaken in classrooms.

2. Capacity building of principals and teachers to deliver STEM education effectively.

3. Teaching and learning practices that might enhance students’ engagement in STEM.

4. Forms of assessment that would measure the effectiveness of STEM initiatives.

5. The role of partnerships with community groups and industry.

To explore these five areas, the Department began the first phase of Innovation Partnerships in 2016. In the first round of phase one, 27 schools with expertise in STEM, their principals, leadership teams and teachers, collaborated to design STEM learning experiences with and for their students over a two year period. 

The participants were provided with a series of workshops designed to assist them to articulate their vision for STEM education and to implement their context-specific STEM plans in their schools. Participants learned from and with each other, sharing their expertise and generating ideas, which were developed, implemented, and improved through trialling in context.

The success of this partnership approach, in terms of participant enthusiasm and progress towards useful outcomes, was such that the Department invited a further 34 schools to join the Innovation Partnership in 2017, and, in 2018, the Department extended the partnership focus to include digital technologies, support for Aboriginal students, and engagement and retention of secondary school students, with a further 30 schools participating. Thus far there have been four Innovation Partnership rounds.

Ethnographic Research: Identifying students' learning needs

A key component of school participation in the Innovation Partnerships was their engagement in ethnographic research. Participating principals and teachers conducted this research in their schools with the aim of consolidating their thinking about STEM and to identify their target learning areas. Schools were provided with a plethora of data generation tools (including protocols, templates and question sets) to assist with this work, and they were encouraged to gather data from principals, leadership teams, teachers, students and parents, and if appropriate, from relevant industry partners.

Participants appreciated the professional autonomy they were given to identify their target learning areas through ethnographic research. Reported benefits of the approach included that it assisted them to:

  • direct resources to areas of greatest priority;
  • improve ownership, learning and retention among participants; and 
  • attain a greater return on the time and resources that they invested.

Design-Led Workshops

The Department appointed highly skilled educators to support School Innovation Partnerships by helping schools to design interventions to address the professional needs of leadership teams and staff in relation to improving STEM learning. Workshops were conducted to help teachers in Innovation Partnership schools to build their knowledge of STEM teaching and learning, and to incorporate their students’ feedback into the iterative cycle of STEM improvement.

The contextualised approach meant that STEM learning and teaching looked very different in different Innovation Partnership schools. Some schools focused on improving their teachers’ STEM capacity and revitalising their physical learning spaces for students, while others focused on promoting creativity and interest, and increasing the relevance of STEM learning for students. One rural school created an outdoor learning space for their students with the aim of deepening connections with their community and environment. All schools engaged in the proactive evaluation of their STEM innovations, iteratively improving their work throughout their involvement in the partnership.

STEM Enterprise and Innovation Partnership Schools

The Western Australian model (Innovation Partnership and Enterprise Schools) involves two phases within the program: Pioneer Schools develop their own innovative approaches to implementing STEM education in their schools. Following implementation, they then share their practices with new schools, called Partner Schools.

Schools that engaged successfully in the STEM Innovation Partnerships program between 2016 and 2019 were invited to support the most recent program, STEM Enterprise Schools, in the role of STEM Mentor Schools. This program was a partnership between the Department of Education and the Department of Jobs, Tourism, Science, and Innovation. STEM Enterprise schools provided mentoring for schools participating in subsequent rounds of the program. This school to school, as opposed to person to person, model, effectively cascaded the program. 



Through the sharing of resources, practices and tools developed, and the structured process to provide critical feedback on the relevance and effectiveness of the innovation practices in other schools, the Department was able to influence the development of good STEM pedagogy throughout Western Australian schools.

The benefits of instigating the network between pioneer (first phase) and partner (second phase) schools, supported by mentor schools, for the Department included:

  • achieving a broad reach across many Western Australian schools;
  • effective dissemination of STEM best practice throughout Western Australian schools; and
  • improved STEM policy, strategy, and pedagogy in Western Australian schools through intensive iterations, monitoring, and evaluation of practice.

EVALUATING OUTCOMES

Evaluation data indicate that:

  • 75% of schools believed they were able to increase student participation, capability, and aspirations in relation to STEM;
  • 77% of schools indicated that teacher competence and capability in STEM had improved; and
  • 80% of schools reported growth in the use of research in their school.

In addition, many schools reported overall positive outcomes in their schools relating to the integration of technologies into their classroom practices, the development of new curricular content, improvements in pedagogical approaches in STEM, growth in monitoring and assessment resources, and new ways to engage parents in raising awareness of the importance of STEM.

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Learning-enriched STEM Culture in Western Australian schools

1. SUSTAINABLE PROFESSIONAL LEARNING COMMUNITIES

The whole-of-school approach established principal-led communities of practice in schools through which STEM learning was embraced by the school principal, leadership team, and teachers, with students the ultimate beneficiaries.

The Department considered the role of school principals to be vital to the success of the communities of practice as they were responsible for providing effective facilitation of classroom innovation. As leaders of curriculum and the professional culture within schools, principals set the tone for ongoing reflection, learning and development.

The Department reported that teachers experienced such cultures as learning-enriched and willingly participated in initiatives aimed at changing pedagogical practices. Teachers participated in the professional learning in teams, rather than as individuals, effectively militating against disruption of progress of STEM innovation through principal or teacher attrition (due to change of schools/roles). A critical mass of teachers and school leaders from each school participated in STEM initiatives, contributing to its sustainability.

The Department has, through its sustained and systematic commitment to building STEM capacity, created rich STEM cultures in its schools. The STEM culture is characterised by the following:

2. STATE-WIDE SHOWCASE OF GOOD PRACTICE

At the end of their two-year participation in the STEM Innovation Partnership programs, schools were encouraged to disseminate their good practice through a state-wide showcase event. The showcase of best practice in STEM enabled schools to describe their STEM journey, from a description of their professional learning challenges, the path they followed to address their challenges, the rationale behind their professional judgements made along the way, and the impact their participation in the innovation initiatives had on their school. 

The Western Australian Department of Education also leveraged the importance of sophisticated technologies to the state’s thriving mining industry. The most recent showcase organised by the Department focussed on regional technology and was attended by nearly 6000 children and their families. The event highlighted the creative and innovative ways in which children engage in STEM learning in their classrooms. Its rural focus enabled participants to see the importance of technology in agriculture, including the use of precision farming technologies for the scientific testing of soils and water. The potential of drone technology was also highlighted. 

Schools attending these showcase events were encouraged to adopt any of the practices shared and to customise them to suit their school contexts. Schools that were keen to experiment with STEM practices were assisted with resources to support innovative STEM lessons and pedagogical approaches. The Department collaborated with Scitech (a leader in providing innovative and creative STEM programs) to develop resources for teachers to engage students in projects based on real-world problems through which they could use and develop their STEM skills, and problem-solving, and creative thinking abilities.

3. ACTIVE INVOLVEMENT OF INFORMAL COMMUNITY GROUPS

The Department involved community groups in their STEM interventions and encouraged families and their friends to undertake STEM projects in their homes, thereby further strengthening the STEM culture in schools. They recognised that many parents were interested in supporting their children’s STEM learning but lacked the necessary STEM knowledge or understanding of how they might best participate in their child’s education. Many Western Australian schools hosted STEM days to assist parents to see what STEM learning looked like in the classrooms. 

The Department of Jobs, Tourism, Science and Innovation in Western Australia organised advertising campaigns to spread community-wide awareness of school STEM initiatives as a way to support STEM Enterprise schools. The Take 2 STEM campaign was instigated to raise community awareness of the significance of STEM skills. The website that accompanied the campaign provides parents with materials to assist them to develop their understanding of the nature, scope, and promise of STEM education for their children’s education today and into the future.

4. STRONG EDUCATION-INDUSTRY LINKS

Consistent with its recognition of the importance of real-world knowledge and experience, the Department maintains strong connections with industry and links STEM experts with teachers and students in schools. Two specific programs are the Techtrails STEM & Futures Skills program, an initiative of Women in Technology WA, aimed at extending women’s networks and expanding their technical knowledge, and Pathways in Technology (P-Tech), an innovative model of education-industry collaboration. These collaborations empower teachers and enrich classroom resources, and students have been able to participate in site visits and work experience, providing them with industry-supported pathways to STEM careers.

An example of a school partnering with industry to provide students with these opportunities is Joseph Banks Secondary College, which joined the P-Tech initiative. The focus of the initiative was cybersecurity. Industry experts guided students in project-based learning using real-world situations and assisted them to explore potential careers in cybersecurity.


The Department estimated that more than 71% of students in Western Australia participate Vocational Education and Training (VET) programs while in school, as a result of strengthened competency-based pathways that provide an effective transition from school to further education, training and employment. VET competencies engage students in an inter-disciplinary approach to learning and by working in these programs teachers gain experience in breaking down silos between subject areas, thereby building their capacity to adopt a cross-curriculum approach to their STEM teaching.

The Department aspires to establish a central connection point for schools and industry. It is anticipated that Scitech will play a role in coordinating and optimising industry linkages with Western Australian schools, assisting them to establish connections and formulate a shared vision and goals. The Department is working to identify and prioritise the involvement of schools that would benefit most from enhanced industry connections, ensuring that the benefits extend to schools in low socioeconomic and regional areas.

The Department's Approach to STEM Pedagogy, Curriculum, Assessment and Equity

INQUIRY-BASED PEDAGOGY

The Department encourages schools to adopt inquiry-based STEM learning. Such active and participative pedagogies that extend beyond a focus on content knowledge, build students’ critical thinking and the ability to generate new ideas. To support such pedagogies, the Department has built teaching and learning resources for STEM teachers that support them to provide stimulating, interactive and challenging learning experiences for their students, helping them to develop STEM capabilities needed for employment.

Public schools enjoy a high level of professional autonomy that leads to great diversity in STEM classrooms. Some schools, for example, undertake science and maths study together and on country; others incorporate additional STEM sessions to enable real-life problem solving or project-based learning, while others provide explicit teaching in highly structured environments. The Department has an ongoing commitment to developing students’ employability skills and promoting cooperative and collaborative learning in all areas of schooling, using technologies for creating and communicating information and ideas.

CURRICULUM


The Department has established curricular guidelines around teaching, learning and assessment and how they are inter-related. While existing curricula are not entirely conducive to integrated STEM teaching, there is consensus that interdisciplinary approaches to STEM teaching, and the application of discipline knowledge to complex, real-world applications is key to equipping students to understand content and how different subjects connect.

Inter-disciplinary approaches are more challenging in secondary schools due to traditional timetabling and curriculum structures. The Department encourages teachers of different disciplines, including STEM disciplines, to interact, share inspiration and ideas, and customise their teaching to suit their particular context.

ASSESSMENT

The Department considers curriculum and assessment to be two sides of the same coin, and ‘assessment for learning’ (formative assessment) is central to their strategic conversations with school principals and leadership teams about reforming STEM education. 

The Department has conducted focussed workshops of formative assessment through the STEM Enterprise program with the aim of supporting teachers to gather evidence of students’ progress in conceptual understanding of STEM concepts and their development of STEM skills, with a view to using this information in their pedagogical decision making.

EQUITY

Ensuring that women, learners from low socioeconomic backgrounds, Aboriginal learners, and culturally and linguistically diverse students in Western Australian schools are provided with equitable access to STEM initiatives is a focus for the Department. Initiatives to support equity groups in STEM include:

  • Raising the awareness of equity issues among participants in the STEM Enterprise Schools program. As schools work together, they exchange experiences, learn from exemplary practices and explore the possibilities of creating better learning experiences for all students.
  • Schools participating in the STEM Innovation Programs are supported to include in their ethnographic research students who are disengaged or under-achieving.
  • Schools not meeting the criteria to be a part of the STEM Innovation Partnership program are supported to address equity issues in STEM.

  • The Aboriginal Education STEM Program run by SciTech has been designed to increase the participation of Aboriginal students in STEM through other means.

  • In the Premier’s Science Awards, a program of the Department of Jobs, Tourism, Science and Innovation, an Aboriginal STEM Student category has been created to honour outstanding achievement of Aboriginal students in STEM.

  • STEM Camps for girls and Online STEM Enrichment Programs have been created for non-metropolitan and disadvantaged communities and are contributing positively to achieving equitable delivery of STEM education to girls.

  • The Department is planning to deliver online education in regional areas where it is not suitable to offer the full suite of STEM study options.

  • Resources are provided to teachers in rural areas to assist them to broaden their students’ career aspirations, help them to make informed study choices, and navigate their possible future careers in STEM.

The Department is committed to sustained attention in lower socioeconomic schools to:

  • Encouraging students to take STEM subjects at a higher level.
  • Increasing the number of girls studying in STEM related areas.
  • Ensuring that in rural schools, STEM subjects are taught by teachers with the relevant expertise.
  • Ensuring students in regional centres experience optimal STEM experiences and opportunities.

CHALLENGES, PRIORITIES AND DIRECTIONS

Sustained commitment has been a hallmark of the Department's STEM initiatives for many years and crucial to the success achieved so far. The following six areas have been foci for STEM initiatives in Western Australia.

  1. Mentoring school leadership in medium to low socioeconomic schools to facilitate learning and innovation cultures in their schools to positively influence student learning.

  2. Encouraging a shift to inquiry-based pedagogy through a STEM-supportive curriculum to ensure students’ learning is purposeful, engaging and future-focused.

3. Strengthening partnerships between schools and industry to benefit teachers and students by engaging them with STEM ways of thinking.

4. Ensuring sustained professional development opportunities and provision of resources for research, and pedagogical innovation in schools, particularly in schools serving medium to low socioeconomic communities.

5. Creating equitable learning environments and opportunities for all students.

6. Enhancing support for students’ aspirations for STEM careers through assisting principals, leadership teams and teachers to better guide students’ thinking about their futures and possible career paths.

Download the complete case study report.


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Licensed third-party content:

  • All images © Department of Education, Western Australia
  • Government of Western Australia, Department of Jobs, Tourism, Science and Innovation [JTSI]. (2019). Future jobs, future skills: Driving STEM skills in Western Australia. © 2019 Department of Jobs, Tourism, Science and Innovation, State of Western Australia. Used with permission.
  • Government of Western Australia, Department of Jobs, Tourism, Science and Innovation [JTSI]. (2020). Governor’s School STEM Awards. © 2019 Department of Jobs, Tourism, Science and Innovation, State of Western Australia. Used with permission.
  • Government of Western Australia, Department of Jobs, Tourism, Science and Innovation [JTSI]. (2021). Premier’s Science Awards. © 2019 Department of Jobs, Tourism, Science and Innovation, State of Western Australia. Used with permission.
  • Government of Western Australia, Department of Jobs, Tourism, Science and Innovation (n.d) [JTSI]. Take 2 STEM.
    © 2019 Department of Jobs, Tourism, Science and Innovation, State of Western Australia. Used with permission.
  • Innovationunit.org (n.d). Schools collaborating to solve system challenges at scale: STEM innovation partnerships. 
    © 2019 Innovationunit.org. Used with permission. 
  • P-TECH (2021). P-TECH: Pathways in technology: Northern Perth P-TECH Partnership. Used with permission.
    © 2021 P-TECH (Pathways in Technology).

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