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About the program

STEM‑INSIGHTS Capability Enhancer (CE) focuses on strengthening evaluation practice across the STEM education and engagement ecosystem, with the aim of improving student engagement and learning, and increasing participation and retention in STEM education and careers.

CE offers collaboration options that support program providers with accessing relevant evidence and addressing barriers to understanding, generating and learning from evidence. These collaborations contribute to the development of shared resources and tools that promote consistent language and strengthen the STEM education and engagement sector’s ability to learn about what works.

Using a needs-first, networked approach, Capability Enhancer works with the STEM-INSIGHTS Network and collaborators across the STEM education and engagement ecosystem to identify priority needs and co-produce practical, evidence-informed resources that can be adapted across different contexts and audiences.

Learn more about STEM-INSIGHTS
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Why build capability for the STEM education sector?

We’ve heard from small program providers that they don’t have the time or in-house expertise to design evaluations, analyse data, engage with research literature, or translate best practice into program design and improvement. We’ve piloted capability approaches and learned that individual and organisational capability support should be supplemented with scalable processes that shortcut design thinking and support learning both within and across organisations.

Capability Enhancer now focuses on co-developing practical tools for sector use, promoting shared language and infrastructure, and embracing proportionate approaches to evidence use. This approach enables the STEM education and engagement ecosystem as a whole to learn from insights that program providers generate through their work.

Who is this program for?

  • STEM education program managers
  • Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) practitioners
  • Program designers

Capability Enhancer collaborations and resources can be applied to existing programs, new initiatives, pilots, or portfolios of programs.

The opportunity

Capability Enhancer offers flexible ways to get involved:

  • Embed evidence into practice (Adopt): Strengthen your team's capability to make evidence-informed decisions through practical tools, essential knowledge and recommended approaches for evaluating your program or activity.
  • Apply a tool to your context (Adapt): For eligible participants, CSIRO may support you to trial the use of an established tool or approach within your organisation. The goal is to identify learnings around how to make evaluation tools fit for purpose, and what future supports could be developed to address barriers to evidence use.
  • Contribute to the development or improvement of evidence-informed approaches for sector use (Co-Create): Provide user feedback on draft tools ready for finalisation, or express interest in co-developing evaluation resources that have been scoped for sector needs and are ready to prototype. 

Through this work, organisations can strengthen their use of evidence and contribute insights back to the STEM education and engagement ecosystem.

Program eligibility

Our collaborators need to:

  • have a base in Australia
  • be a STEM education/learning program provider, working with students or through educators, parents, STEM professionals, or communities
  • aim to increase participation or retention in STEM education and/or careers
  • have an interest in using evidence to improve STEM education outcomes
  • be able to enter into a Collaboration Agreement with CSIRO, if required, to work together to build evidence capability and share the learnings with the STEM education ecosystem.

How to apply

Read more about the Capability Enhancer’s collaboration options, what’s involved and what you get out of the process.

Contact the STEM-INSIGHTS team for a brief discovery conversation: SInetwork@csiro.au

In the meantime, join the STEM-INSIGHTS Network to be notified of future Capability Enhancer opportunities.

Join the STEM-INSIGHTS Network for updates

Partners and collaborators

Know a STEM education program provider or organisation that could benefit from this program?

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