Most conferences currently being offered on STEM, STEAM and Entrepreneurship tend to be targeted towards teachers and involve a series of speakers and the occasional mini-workshops. This conference is designed to be different. This conference is designed by students and teachers for students and teachers.
The intent of the It Takes a Spark EDU Conference is to bring together Students and Teachers with industry and universities using an authentic sharing and experiential model. Participants will connect with inspiring industry role models, share their current school based activities and projects with one another, create networks of teachers and student teams, and solve social justice design challenges.
The participation of the students is as important as teachers as our intent is to ignite, empower and nurture both to be leaders of STEM and Entrepreneurship within their schools. This is a conference designed and led by students and teachers for students and teachers.
Teachers will have both formal and informal opportunities to speak to other teachers who have enacted programs and activities in their schools and get their questions answered.
The workshops and social justice design challenges are all hands-on so students and teachers will experience first-hand what it is like to be part of great STEM and entrepreneurial learning. This will spark new ideas about curriculum and pedagogy.
Who Should Attend
- Students – those who are already (or aspire to be) STEM Leaders in your school
- Teachers – those who have little experience and those who are looking to extend themselves
- Heads of Learning Areas / Curriculum – who wish to discuss how to create trans-disciplinary units that are powerfully engaging
- Principals and Deputy Principals – to witness what is possible by embedding the Technologies Curriculum in your school
INTRODUCING THE KEYNOTE SPEAKERS
DR JENNIFER LAVERS
Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies
University of Tasmania
DR STAS SHABALA
University of Tasmania
Dr Jennifer Lavers is a marine eco-toxicologist with expertise in seabird ecology and plastic pollution. The long term monitoring of seabird colonies has taken her to remote locations around the globe. She has worked for the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and the US Fish and Wildlife Service in Hawaii and the Canadian Sub-Arctic. She coordinates community environmental activities for school groups and hosts dozens of science workshops and seminars every year. Ultimately, Jennifer hopes her research will contribute significantly to the responsible use of plastic products as well as the management of wildlife at risk from plastic ingestion across the globe.
Dr Stas Shabala is a highly respected research scientist in his primary field of extragalactic astrophysics and is passionate about science participation and outreach. Stas is a strong believer in the power of science education and acknowledges the importance of his own science teachers to his highly successful career in science. Stas attended Taroona High School, Hobart College and the University of Tasmania before heading overseas to complete his PhD in astrophysics and cosmology at the University of Cambridge. He subsequently spent some time working at Oxford University, before returning to Tasmania to set up a theoretical astrophysics group at the University of Tasmania.
PROGRAM
We will have the brightest educators, organisations and students who are passionate about STEM lead either Teacher Oriented Mini-Master Classes and/or Student Oriented DigiDesign Mini Workshops. These sessions are short, sharp action packed with activities / communications. No waffle!
Teacher Mini-Master Classes – 40 minutes
Who will present: senior students and / or teachers / university / industry / sponsors
Audience: Teachers
Embedding STEM into curriculum
Showcase projects, eg app design, creativity, circular design
Beginning to advanced teachers
Brilliant PD and conference presenter
Share knowledge and create networks
DigiDesign Mini Workshops – 40 minutes
Who will present: students and / or teachers / university / sponsors / organisations
Audience: Students Years 4 to 10 and Teachers
Students inspiring students
Interactive, hands on STEM or entrepreneurial activities
Students grow in confidence by sharing ideas / innovation
Unique public speaking opportunity
Participate in Problem Solvers Design Challenges.
In the past we had challenges varying from Shaky Solutions – Earthquake simulator, Bee-pocalypse, TurtleGate, Self-Drive Cars, and Coding for Disaster Relief.
Each session will have a different real life design or STEM challenge to solve aimed at Year 4 to 10 students and their teachers.
This session is an opportunity for schools, universities, industry, or community organisations to pose real life design challenges and lead student through the design process to ideate and present possible solutions.
FLOW OF THE DAY
TIME
EVENT / ACTIVITY
LOCATION
8.15 AM
REGISTRATION, COFFEE/TEA & NETWORKING
8.40 AM
MASTER OF CEREMONIES
Welcome to Participants, Set up for the Day, Housekeeping
9.00 AM
Keynote Speaker
9.40 AM
TEACHER ORIENTED MINI-MASTER CLASSES (Rotation 1)
- 40 min sessions
- Parallel sessions
- Presented by attending teachers / universities / industry
- Mini-master classes for teachers to explore specific aspect of embedding STEM in their curriculum (e.g. App design, Creativity, Circular Design, Integrated STEM, etc.)
- Various sessions will address beginning teachers, next step and extending
Breakout Rooms
Pre-registration required
9.40 AM
DIGIDESIGN MINI-WORKSHOPS + STEM Expo (Rotation 1)
- 40 min sessions
- For teachers and students
- Parallel workshop stations
- Workshops demonstrate hands-on STEM and / or entrepreneurial activities for Year 4 to 10 students
- Presented by attending students / teachers / universities / sponsors / organisations
Breakout Rooms
Pre-registration required
10.25 AM
MORNING TEA
An opportunity to network with other teachers and students, and explore trade displays.
10.55 AM
PROBLEM SOLVERS DESIGN CHALLENGE
- 80 min session – parallel sessions aimed at Year 4 to 10 students
- This session is an opportunity for universities, industry, schools, or community organisations to pose real life design challenges and lead students through the design process to ideate and present possible solutions.
Breakout Rooms
Pre-registration required
12.20 PM
LUNCH
An opportunity to network with other teachers and students, and explore trade displays.
1.10 PM
Keynote Speaker
1.50 PM
TEACHER ORIENTED MINI-MASTER CLASSES (Rotation 2)
- 40 min sessions
- Parallel sessions
- Presented by attending teachers / universities / industry
- Mini-master classes for teachers to explore specific aspect of embedding STEM in their curriculum (e.g. App design, Creativity, Circular Design, Integrated STEM, etc.)
- Various sessions will address beginning teachers, next step and extending
Breakout Rooms
Pre-registration required
1.50 PM
DIGIDESIGN MINI-WORKSHOPS + STEM Expo (Rotation 2)
- 40 min sessions
- For teachers and students
- Parallel work stations
- Workshops demonstrate hands-on STEM and / or entrepreneurial activities for Year 4 to 10 students
- Presented by attending students / teachers / universities / sponsors / organisations
Breakout Rooms
Pre-registration required
2.35 PM
WHERE TO FROM HERE
Student Session
- Awarding of prizes to attendess, conference feedback
- Opportunity for teachers and students to meet with university and industry experts, expert teachers and inspiring students.
Teacher Session
- The intent of this session is to build connections and networks to continue growing and learning after the conference.
3.05 PM
CLOSE OF CONFERENCE
Invitation to be on the Steering Committee for the following year.
REGISTRATION INFORMATION
Supported by
VENUE
Guilford Young College
76 Bowden St
Glenorchy TAS 7010
DATE Wednesday 26 May 2021
TIME / AGENDA 8.15am open
8.40am start – 3.05pm finish
CONFERENCE RATES
Early bird Teacher tba*
Teacher tba
Early bird Student tba*
Student tba
inclusive of GST, morning tea and lunch
*book by tba
Upon registration you will receive a confirmation email and invoice, payment is via direct deposit or credit card. For full details click on the register button alternatively call Rachel on +61 (0) 411 270 277 to coordinate your registration or ask any questions.
Conference Steering Committee
Julie Fryer – Guilford Young College
Nigel Brookes – Guilford Young College
Josh Lippis – Guilford Young College
Chris Bracken – Catholic Education Tasmania
Jennifer White – Catholic Education Tasmania
Adrian Bertolini – Spark EDU Conferences
Jeannie-Marie Leroi – University of Tasmania
Diana Nahodil – Sacred Heart College
Catherine Midson – Holy Rosary School, Claremont
Gina Loewen – Hydro Tasmania
It was fantastic. Our girls could not stop talking about it. It appealed to all of our girls in different ways and at different levels. Some of our girls thoroughly enjoyed the collaborative activities and hands-on activities and some of our girls thoroughly enjoyed talking with the guest speakers and presenters. It had something for everyone. The teachers we took also thoroughly enjoyed the conference and were inspired with the activities presented.
Toowoomba Teacher,
Toowoomba Region State School"I used to think STEAM was going to be boring because it was hard but now I think it is fun even if it is a bit challenging"
Student Testimonial,
Student participant"I understand that Science is so much more than just about scientists and I can enter a path or career that involves Science and I can solve world problems"
Student Testimonial,
Student participant“I attended the It takes a Spark Conference on Friday - it was wonderful! I really enjoyed the sessions and can see ways to incorporate them into incursions and excursions for blind and vision impaired students. It was also a great chance to network and see students participating in the activities. Thank you again.”
Katie Niedda,
Sensory Vision Education, School of Special Educational Needs: Sensory"Many thanks for such a well organised and well run conference. From our perspective and the feedback from others, it was a resounding success."
Jacqui Butler,
Strategic Technology, John Curtin College of the Arts“Thank you, I greatly benefited from attending the conference and hope to attend future conferences and recommend it to my peers.”