An ever growing list of STEM websites for teachers

STEM resources that I have used

To avoid this list needing its own website (!), I am going to attempt to restrict it to resources I have used or referenced in the development of my integrated Primary STEM program.

  • Australian Council for Educational Research (June 2016) ‘From concept to classroom Translating STEM education research into practice‘ paper
  • (Australian) Computer Science Education Research Group (CSER) – CSER is home to the CSER Digital Technologies MOOC program, through which we provide open, free online professional learning in Digital Technologies for Australian teachers.
  • (N.Z.) Computer Science Unplugged website – (Text from website) ‘CS Unplugged is a collection of free learning activities that teach Computer Science through engaging games and puzzles that use cards, string, crayons and lots of running around. The activities introduce students to Computational Thinking through concepts such as binary numbers, algorithms and data compression, separated from the distractions and technical details of having to use computers. Importantly, no programming is required to engage with these ideas!
  • (U.S.A.) STEM Integration in K-12 Education: Status, Prospects, and an Agenda for Research report. This report ‘…reviews the evidence for the impact of integrated approaches on various student outcomes, and it proposes a set of priority research questions to advance the understanding of integrated STEM education. Integration in K-12 STEM Education proposes a framework to provide a common perspective and vocabulary for researchers, practitioners, and others to identify, discuss, and investigate specific integrated STEM initiatives within the K-12 education system of the United States.‘ ‘This is a joint report from the National Academy of Engineering and the Board on Science Education.
  • (United Kingdom) STEM LearningThe National STEM Learning Network is the largest provider of STEM education and careers support to schools, colleges and other groups working with young people across the UK.‘ As well of lots of interesting resources, they also publish a three once per (U.K.) school term STEM Learning Magazines targeting primary, secondary and post 16 students.

Other STEM resources

There are an amazing range of resources out there for primary school teachers. I will list ones here that look promising or I have used in the past for other reasons.

  • Primary Connections (Australian Academy of Science). This is a highly recommended resource which combines science and literacy. I liked the resources so much I paid to become a trained ‘Faciliator’ a number of years ago. I am not using them as the basis of a STEM program because I strongly believe that the class teachers should be using them because of the meaningful literacy linkages. It would be very easy to extend each of the books (one for each content strand of the Australian Curriculum (Science) for each primary year level) into a full blown STEM program. If I was to do that, I would be asking students to construct things like the actual measuring instruements.
  • reSolve: Mathematics by Inquiry (Australian Academy of Science). This is a brand new and still under development resource which is worth keeping an eye on. (Text from website) ‘‘reSolve: Mathematics by Inquiry’ is a national program that provides Australian schools in Foundation to Year 10 with resources to help students learn mathematics in an innovative and engaging way. Resources are available free to all Australian students and teachers. reSolve is managed by the Australian Academy of Science in collaboration with the Australian Association of Mathematics Teachers, and is funded by the Australian Government Department of Education and Training.‘ ‘The reSolve: Mathematics by Inquiry Protocol‘ is worth reading.

.