Physics » Study » Potential student research projects » Understanding the impact of science education program meriSTEM

meriSTEM provides comprehensive, curriculum-aligned, modular resources for senior secondary STEM teachers, enabling them to ‘flip’ their classrooms in order to maximise deep, engaged learning.

 Its aims are to:

• Increase student achievement, independent inquiry and critical thinking skills in STEM core subjects
• Increase teacher capacity to facilitate more student-centred learning (e.g. inquiry and problem based learning experiences, differentiated activities, excursions, lab experiments and projects)

This project offers multiple directions for investigators:

Science achievement number cruncher

Despite an Australian Curriculum and multiple nation-wide initiatives, Australian school student achievements aren’t easily comparable across states and territories. In order to determine whether meriSTEM resources affect a change in the classroom, and if so, the benefits of this change to students, an understanding of the state systems, national diagnostic tests and standardised science tests is required. 

Science think-ability measurer

Thinking, experimenting, analysing and arguing like a scientist are highly sought after skills, and something meriSTEM hopes to improve in students. How do you measure something as abstract as a students’ improvement in scientist think-ability? What tools or frameworks exist, and how best can we measure and show evidence of an improvement in inquiry, critical thinking and problem solving skills? 

Back-of-the-class expert observer

Every science lesson, teacher, student group, time of day, classroom is different. So how do you objectively compare science classes? What tools or frameworks exist, and how best can we observe, measure and compare science teaching styles and strategies?

This research project can be tailored to suit students of the following type(s)