Generation STEM Mentor FAQs

This time is negotiated between the teacher and mentor. We ask that as a mentor you allow a minimum of 1 one-hour per term to meet with your partnered teacher,  either virtually or face-to-face.

• You simply need to be working locally in a science, technology, engineering or maths (STEM) industry or in a STEM role. There is a wide range of skills and knowledge you have that will benefit both teachers and students.
• You also must have the ability to obtain and/or provide evidence of the relevant Working with Children/Vulnerable People check and National Police Certificate as part of the CSIRO Child Safe procedure.

The STEM Community Partnerships Program utilises a CSIRO program called STEM Professionals in Schools to engage and support mentors. There are a range of online resources available to you as part of STEM Professionals in Schools including how-to guides, activity planners and webinars designed to  provide you with ideas and support your mentoring  experience .

The STEM Community Partnerships Program utilises a CSIRO program called STEM Professionals in Schools to engage and support mentors. The STEM CPP Project Officers will facilitate and organise the first meeting between you and your teacher and then provide on-going support. You are welcome to contact the Project Officer at any time and can access all of STEM Professionals in Schools’ online resources, including webinars and planning tools.

All STEM Community Partnerships Program classes are completing an inquiry project around a local challenge. Using your experience within industry, alongside the teacher’s experience, will help inspire students as they work on solving one of these local challenges. You can provide real-word context to show how their learning applies outside the classroom. Through your experience in industry, students also learn new knowledge, skills and an understanding of the different career opportunities and pathways locally.

All STEM Community Partnerships Program classes are completing an inquiry project around a local challenge. Using the information you provide in your application form, along with information from our discussions with you, we match you to a local teacher/school based on the challenges the teacher/school is working on. We will do our best to match your industry experience with a relevant inquiry project, wherever possible. In the event we cannot match you directly with relevant subject matter in inquiry projects, we encourage both you and the teacher to explore the transferable STEM skills and use them to support the inquiry project.

• All classes engaged in the STEM Community Partnerships Program are completing inquiry projects around a local challenge. Once you are partnered with a teacher, you can contact the teacher to discuss the projects that their class are working on and how you can use your expertise to assist with these projects. From this, you can plan your involvement as mentor.
• Your expertise may be called upon to help by advising on tools to support the student projects, advice on where to go for information, or even providing support such as project management suggestions.
• As a mentor you will be engaging primarily with the classroom teacher, either face to face or virtually (or a combination of both).
• If you would like to work directly with students, the teacher may invite you into the classroom for discussions or to provide career talks. There is no obligation to have direct interaction with students if you choose not to.
• Some activities that mentors have conducted are:
  • A presentation about a topic/skill,
  • A demonstration of equipment to teach a new application,
  • Feedback to students about their work,
  • Assisting classes with their understanding of the real-world application of what they are learning,
  • Explanation of personal career journeys and decisions the mentor has made.

• This will be up to you and the teacher. You can work with a teacher, present to a class either face-to-face or virtually, have students present to you for feedback, or plan an activity or a site visit.
• If you would like to work directly with students, the teacher may invite you into the classroom for discussions or to provide career talks. There is no obligation to have direct interaction with students if you choose not to.

We understand that circumstances may change and if you are still interested in mentoring, we can connect you with a different teacher or make other arrangements .

• The teachers and students are participating in the STEM Community Partnerships Program this year, so we do ask that you commit to being a mentor for the remainder of the year, and encourage you to stay connected with your teacher after that. Some of our partnerships have continued and developed over many years while others have been shorter.
• As part of the year, there is a Showcase event at the end of the year where students will present their solutions to the local community. We invite you to attend this event to connect with the teacher and students and celebrate the students’ work.