In this presentation we describe the Madmaker project. The use of Arduino Esplora to promote STEM activities in High Schools. It contains a description of our approach and data derived from the evaluation.
Exploring hands-on multidisciplinary STEM with Arduino Esplora
1. The University of Sydney Page 1
Exploring hands-on
multidisciplinary STEM
with Arduino Esplora
A/Prof Abelardo Pardo
@abelardopardo
Faculty of Engineering and IT
ACSA Symposium
14-15 October 2016, Sydney
2. The University of Sydney Page 2
Agenda
– The Context
– Design
– Teacher Training
– Delivery
– Outreach
– Evaluation
– Future Steps
FernandaGuerraflickr.com
4. The University of Sydney Page 4
The Problem
Steep decline in the achievement and attitude
towards STEM-related disciplines amongst
high school students across the country.
Partially due to students’ self-perception of
ability, subject difficulty and usefulness.
The impact of STEM fields to over 26% of the
Australian economic activity.
High school students need to be aware of the
connection between STEM subjects and the
innovation, creativity and problem solving skills
required to tackle the current social
challenges.
5. The University of Sydney Page 5
Vision
Address the steep decline in commitment and
interests in STEM subjects for every high school
student in Australia
6. The University of Sydney Page 6
Method
Our proven and integrated training and
delivery method provides high school students
and teachers with an inclusive, engaging,
hands-on and cross-disciplinary STEM
experience in a blended learning scenario
with real-time student and teacher support
suitable to be integrated as part of the
curriculum
Madmaker.com.au
7. The University of Sydney Page 7
Execution
• Focus groups with stakeholders
• Design and deployment plan to combine
teacher training, active learning inter-
disciplinary activities, on-line learning, a
simple hardware platform, and a rigorous
evaluation procedure.
• Program reached more than 3,000
students, 300 teachers from all STEM
disciplines in 130 schools from all sectors
• Achieved a change in student perception
of STEM careers by the students.
• Clearly identified path to scale the
initiative to all High School students in
Australia.
8. The University of Sydney Page 8
The Team
Abelardo
Pardo
Owen
Brasier
Miriam
Pellicano
Calla
Klafas
Philip
Leong
James
Curran
10. The University of Sydney Page 10
Focus Groups
o Target audience
o Connection with the STEM
curriculum
o Barriers for adoption
o Communication strategy
o Adequate hardware
o Evaluation
11. The University of Sydney Page 11
Platform
– Arduino Esplora
– Microcontroller + sensors
– Accelerometer
– Temperature
– Light
– Buzzer
– Microphone
– RGB led
– Buttons
– Joystick
– AUD$ 60 p/u
13. The University of Sydney Page 13
Teacher Workshops
– Two formats: face-to-face and remote. June/August 2015
– Hands on design experience
– Review activities, approach
– Identify adoption barriers
– Create an implementation plan
– Feedback collecting mechanism for next stages
14. The University of Sydney Page 14
Teacher Workshops - Results
– 21 sessions
– 259 teachers
– Workshops in all states and
territories
– Mostly NSW due to the
dissemination contacts
– Identified schools that serve
as hubs
15. The University of Sydney Page 15
Teacher Workshops - Evaluation
– Workshops evaluated through surveys
– 0-5 Scale for answers
– Provided confidence to deploy the initiative in their classroom
18. The University of Sydney Page 18
Support for delivery
– Content with gradual level
of difficulty
– Hosted in own server
(open source)
– Team of tutors
– Real time support to
teachers and students
through embedded chat
20. The University of Sydney Page 20
Overall Participation
– 131 schools participated in the online course
– 195 cohorts
– Approximately 3,000 students
21. The University of Sydney Page 21
Type of Schools
– Majority in metropolitan areas
– Strong participation of regional institutions
– Initiative reached all states and territories in Australia
22. The University of Sydney Page 22
Disadvantaged Groups
ICSEA: Index of Community Socio-educational Advantage
23. The University of Sydney Page 23
Discipline Uptake
– Strong component in Science, Maths and other initiatives
– Target: Year 9, but content suitable for other levels
– Both formal and informal learning scenarios
24. The University of Sydney Page 24
Gender Balance
– Significant uptake by girls
– Important number of girl schools
– Gender imbalance lower if clubs are ignored
25. The University of Sydney Page 25
Indigenous Communities
– 4.45% of students from
indigenous communities
– This percentage is almost
double of the indigenous
population in Australia
– Encouraging initial results
– Focus of new initiatives
27. The University of Sydney Page 27
Student Satisfaction
– Surveys at the beginning and end of the experience
– Scale 0-5
– High student satisfaction levels
28. The University of Sydney Page 28
Change in Student Perception of STEM Careers
29. The University of Sydney Page 29
Consider Careers in Science and Math
31. The University of Sydney Page 31
Current Support
o Initial support from AMSPP
o Faculty of Engineering and IT,
Wingara Mura - Bunga
Barrabugu (USYD)
o Integrated STEM activities in
Indigenous and Low SES
Communities. Microsoft Inc.
o CS2HS: Teacher training.
Google Inc
32. The University of Sydney Page 32
2016 Edition
o Ongoing teacher training
o Improved teacher support
for class integration
o Improved material
o Comprehensive evaluation
o Online challenge
33. The University of Sydney Page 33
“I love this program. It is really fun and I think I want to
have a career with coding. Before MadMaker I had no
idea what coding was and now I love it!” – Year 7
student
35. The University of Sydney Page 35
Next Steps
o Scale the initiative
throughout Australia
o Consolidate the support
o Sustainability
o Identify additional partner
institutions
36. The University of Sydney Page 36
Exploring hands-on
multidisciplinary STEM
with Arduino Esplora
A/Prof Abelardo Pardo
School of Electrical and
Information Engineering
ACSA Symposium
14-15 October 2016, Sydney