A desktop audit of Australian STEM education initiatives

This comprehensive review (2018-2019) was designed and undertaken to inform the development of PASL resources for principals. It also provides a useful resource for principals and teachers, as they consider their own STEM education needs.

Purpose of the audit

The aim of the PASL project is to develop a robust approach in supporting principals to effectively drive whole-of-school collaborative efforts, enhancing STEM engagement and learning outcomes. PASL was designed to build upon principals’ current leadership skills. The project provides support in acquiring an appropriate level of STEM capability and facilitates the development of principals' leadership in STEM education.


This desktop audit contributes to an evidence base for effective initiatives in STEM education, while also being informative for policymakers and schools calling for more constructive approaches for the transformation of their STEM courses. The review aims to stimulate productive and meaningful discussion about existing STEM efforts, and influence professionals who intend to commence their own STEM initiatives.

Finally, the analysis of recent and current initiatives (up until 2019) may assist funding bodies to better understand the gaps in STEM education initiatives at state and/or national level.

STEM Initiatives – Method, Data Analysis and Results

In this review, we focussed our analysis on STEM initiatives established or funded by the Department of Education, Skills and Employment, State and Territory Departments of Education and other institutions active in STEM education. The audit aimed to summarise information from past and/or current STEM initiatives/projects, which have been communicated through freely available websites across Australia.

Data analysis was led by Dr Vesife Hatisaru (University of Tasmania) and informed by the research literature (for example, Murphy, MacDonald, Danaia & Wang, 2019; National Academy of Engineering and Research Council, 2014), and the PASL capability framework (Geiger, Beswick & Fraser, 2017). A coding schema was prepared for the audit and each initiative identified was coded into the following categories: 

  • Title
  • Website
  • Institution
  • Funding body/partner
  • Level of schooling
  • Target group
  • Description
  • Type of the initiative
  • Methodology used
  • Content area


CategoriesExamples of associated sub-categories
Levels in schoolFoundation, Primary, Secondary
Target group(s)Teachers, Students, Parents, School leaders
TypeProgram, Investment, Grant, Professional learning, Workshop, Mentoring, Resource
Content areaMathematics, Science, STEM, Digital Technologies

Table 1. The categories and sub-categories noted for STEM initiatives


A summary of the categories and associated sub-categories that emerged from the desktop audit of STEM education initiatives (n=455) to improve STEM teaching and learning at the state or national levels are presented in Table 2. 

It is important to note that some initiatives were coded in more than one category (such as, across Teachers and Students sub-categories).

Levels in school

Target audience

TypeContent area

Early years (27)

Students (243)
Resources (93)
Mathematics (84)
Primary (206)
Teachers (261)
Events (41)
Science (102)
Secondary(324)
Principal/school leaders (43)
Professional learning (118)
Engineering (21)
Senior (58)
Parents (20)
Programs (46)
Technology (80)
Tertiary (20)
Other (27)
Competitions (59)
STEM (222)
General (22)
Not clear (30)
Others (94)
Other (20)
Not clear (47)
Not clear (31)
Not clear (40)

Table 2. A summary of results classified by the categories in STEM initiatives (n=455).

Levels of schooling

The STEM initiatives reviewed in relation to levels of schooling were defined into the following distinct groups aligned with the Australian Education system structure: early years, primary, secondary or senior and tertiary education. Two further categories were identified: general (that is, initiatives appropriate to different levels of schooling) and not clear (where the level of schooling focus was not able to be identified). Figure 1 diagrams the distribution of all the individual initiatives for all these school levels.

The majority of STEM education initiatives targeted primary (n=206) or secondary school (n=324) levels with both tertiary (n=20) and early years (n=27) initiatives being less common. STEM initiatives suitable for senior school students were the focus of several websites (n=58), with several others (n=22) aimed at schools in general. For a proportion (n=47) of initiatives, the level of schooling was not clear.

PASL Figure 1 Levels in School

Target audience

The STEM initiatives reviewed in this audit targeted various audiences. These different audiences were categorised into the following groups: students, teachers, principals or school leaders, educators (such as, university; professional learning providers), and families.

Across STEM education initiatives, school teachers (n=261) and students (n=243) were the most common target audience. However, parents (n=21) and importantly for PASL, school principals or leaders (n=43) were less frequently targeted by initiatives.

PASL Figure 2 V2 Target Audience

Type

The STEM initiatives documented online encompassed a wide variety of programs, including mentoring, professional learning for teachers, resources, enrichment activities, competitions, excursions, virtual tours and visits to educational centres. The PASL team grouped this extensive variety of initiatives into six types: professional learning, resources, competitions, programs, events, and others.

Of all the initiatives, professional learning resources and workshops (n=118), STEM resources (n=93), and competitions/awards (n=59) were the most common. While the other categories, such as STEM programs (n=46) and events (n=41), were less plentiful. The 'Other' category (n=94) included, for instance, mentoring and career advice, action plans, curricula, strategy documents, partnership forums, networking and quizzes.

For some STEM education initiatives (n=31), the type of STEM they focussed on could not be identified.

PASL Figure 3 V2 Distribution of type

Content area

The PASL desktop audit aimed to determine the content areas targeted by the identified STEM education initiatives. The content areas were classified into STEM (that is, integrating two or more subjects) and individual STEM subjects (such as mathematics; science). The most common focus of initiatives was STEM (n=222) and three individual STEM disciplines (Mathematics (n=84); Science (n=102); and Technology (n=80), including Digital Technologies).

In contrast, only a few initiatives (n=21) focussed on Engineering. Of the remaining websites reviewed, several (n=20) focussed on specific science subjects such as Earth Sciences, Environment, and Health Sciences. The content area could not be identified in 40 of the remaining initiatives.

PASL Figure 4 content area

AUSTRALIAN STEM EDUCATION INITIATIVES

To explore the STEM education initiatives identified and reviewed during the PASL Desktop Audit, click here.

IN CONCLUSION

The majority of STEM initiatives focussed on primary and secondary schooling levels, and by far the most common audiences were students and teachers. Most of the initiatives had been developed to target both STEM as an integrated subject and the three individual STEM subjects of Mathematics, Science and Technology, using professional development and a broad range of resources.

The investigation also identified areas that were less well addressed in current STEM education. These included tertiary and early school education levels, and families and principals as audiences. Engineering was the least common content area to be addressed.

An analysis of the interventions using the PASL Capability Framework* indicates that the majority of STEM interventions focussed on the first two capabilities; that is, STEM discipline specific and integrated knowledge and practice and the context of the intervention. An additional further scrutiny of individual websites would be required to determine the extent to which teacher or student dispositions are considered or whether understandings of, or the capacity and/or use of tools specific to individual STEM subjects or their integration, are developed or critiqued within the interventions.

Finally, as the PASL Capability Framework (Geiger et al., 2017) emphasises the importance of all teachers, principals and school leaders taking a critical orientation to their professional practice, further in-depth analysis of websites is required to determine whether the development of this capability is evident in the STEM education initiatives.


* Principals' STEM Capability Set (Geiger, V., Beswick, K., & Fraser, S., 2017).
© 2017 Australian Catholic University and University of Tasmania. CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 AU. Used with permission.
The framework is adapted from a model of numeracy for the 21st century (Goos, M., Geiger, V., & Dole, S., 2010). © 2010 Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia (MERGA).

PASL capability framework diagram

Want to know more?

Download the complete PASL Desktop Audit report by clicking on the tile below and/or click here to explore the list of STEM education initiatives identified and reviewed during the audit.

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References and Licensed Third Party Content 


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