Building Skills for Innovative Enterprise in Secondary School STEMJayne HeathEduard MocanuChris Heddles

Australian Science & Mathematics School

Located on campus of Flinders University

The Australian Science & Mathematics School

• A public school that caters for years 10 – 12.• Purpose designed open learning

environment, opened in 2003 • 360 students and 35 teaching staff.

Mission, vision and nature of the ASMS

• A school for the renaissance of teaching and learning in science and mathematics

• A school to create learners who are critical thinkers and problem solvers, communicators, collaborative, and creative and innovative

• A school with global recognition for innovation, excellence and enterprise

• A school for all South Australian students

Skills for the Future WorkforceSense Making Ability to determine the deeper meaning or significance of what is being

expressed

Social Intelligence Ability to connect to others in a deep and direct way, to sense and stimulate reactions and desired interactions

Novel & Adaptive Thinking Proficiency at thinking and coming up with solutions and responses beyond that which is rote or rule-based

Cross-cultural Competency Ability to operate in different cultural settings

Computational Thinking Ability to translate vast amounts of data into abstract concepts and to understand data-based reasoning

New –media Literacy Ability to critically assess and develop content that uses new media forms, and to leverage these media for persuasive communication

Trans-disciplinarity Literacy in and ability to understand concepts across multiple disciplines

Design Mindset Ability to represent and develop tasks and work processes for desired outcomes

Cognitive Load Management Ability to discriminate and filter information for importance, and to understand how to maximise cognitive functioning using a variety of tools and techniques

Virtual Collaboration Ability to work productively, drive engagement, and demonstrate presence as a member of a virtual team

Future Workskills 2020 Institute for the Future for the Apollo Research Institute

Doing things differently!

ASMS is innovative in approaches to

teaching & learning

Innovation Thinking Skills

ASMS has developed a strong pedagogy of student centred

inquiry-based teaching• helping students find answers to their questions

• providing activities that provoke these questions and then creating opportunities by which students can gather and interrogate evidence and information

IMSA Model for PBL used with their permission

Understanding the Problem

Derailleur Hanger• “weak link”• Costs ~$13 to replace• Doesn’t always break when it should• No common design between different bikes

Exploring the Possibilities3D printing as a possible solution• Cheaper (<$1 worth of plastic)• Always “in stock”• May break more readily than metal

(good thing)• Start with simplified copy of original

geometry• Modify the design

based on testingoutcomes

Resolving the problemImprovements made so far:• Switch from ABS to

PLA for brittle fracture

• Modified geometry to improve stiffness

Remaining challenges:• Inconsistent properties between samples• Different strength in different directions• Rate-dependent strength.

What kind of inquiry?Structured Guided Open

Teacher poses questions Teacher poses questions Students formulate questions

Teacher provides materials

Teacher provides materials

Teacher facilitates access to materials

Teacher designs inquiries or structures the experience

Science by Doing

Students design the inquiries and work through the problem

Students design the inquiries and imagines how a process would work