Advancing Science and Engineering through Laboratory Learning (ASELL) for Schools program is a collective of scientists, engineers, and educators across Australia that run workshops and creates resources to encourage learning through practical experiments. Their “For Schools” program brings university academics to a local school to facilitate a workshop involving teachers and students.
A set of ReMSTEP activities involved a collaboration with the Australian Maths and Science Partnerships Program and ASELL for Schools – Victorian Node with the aim of bringing university science students, science education staff, and teachers together to develop practical activities for the secondary school curriculum.
Laboratory Learning Activities (LLAs) were developed to suit the ASELL for Schools – Victorian Node project for Years 7-10. They included contemporary science with an inquiry focus, and strong industry links.
This project introduced three innovative elements into the practical activity development:
- Representation of contemporary science research contexts.
- Representational construction/modelling focus consistent with contemporary scientific practices.
- Development by pre-service teachers working alongside scientists, science educators and teachers.
The ASELL for schools – Vic website
http://remstep.org.au/outcomes/activities/asell/
Team members: Peta White, Kieran Lim, John Long
Lim, K., Long, J., White, P.J., & Bentley, I. (2019). Designing Hands-on Inquiry-based Activities: Incorporating Contemporary Science. Teaching Science. 65(2), 48 – 54.
White, P., Tytler, R., Palmer, S., (2018). Exploring models of interaction between scientists and pre-service teachers. In S. Dinham, R. Tytler, D. Corrigan, & D. Hoxley (Eds) (2018). Reconceptualising Maths and Science Teacher Education (pp. 92-110). Camberwell: ACER press.
