STEM learning takes flight

STEM learning takes flight - CSIRO STEM Professionals in Schools

[Teachers and STEM professionals on slides on screen smiling, and sharing skills]

[The CSIRO logo swirls into the centre of the screen]

[Text on screen: STEM Professionals in School]

[Shot of a city]

Jacinta Deylen: STEM Professionals in Schools, it enhances everything that you do in the classroom.

[Shot of an outside of the school]

[Text on screen STEM learning takes flight]

Caroline McCarthy: We had an issue where we felt there was a decline in Maths and physical sciences particularly Physics in the VCE numbers.

[Caroline being interviewed in her classroom. The text next to her reading Caroline McCarthy Deputy Principal Santa Maria College]

Jacinta Deylen: We wanted to start re-engaging them in that area. Through our STEM partnership we've worked with Bridget Hosking from Air Services Australia

[Jacinta being interviewed in her classroom, text beside her reads Jacinta Deylen Teacher Santa Maria College]

to work with the Year 10 girls to open their eyes to all the great STEM opportunities that we really can't provide here at school.

[Jacinta and Bridget smile and prepare for their lessons]

[Bridget directs the students' attention to the TV screen where she has some flight paths]

Bridget Hosking: As part of the STEM Professionals in Schools Program that allows me

[Bridget Hosking being interviewed in a classroom the text beside her reading Bridget Hosking Air Traffic Controller Melbourne Airport]

to take what I love in aviation to show the diversity of science-based career paths.

[A student in the crowd nods as she listens to the aviation lesson]

[Bridget directs the students on how to walk during a hands on lesson]

Jacinta Deylen: Bridget Hosking is fantastic. She understands the girls. She is passionate about her work.

[Bridget smiles at the students]

[Someone takes notes on the lesson]

Bridget Hosking: I love my job. Being an air traffic controller is a really good thing, but unfortunately only about 13% of air traffic controllers are women. It'd be really nice to have a few more come through. We find that women are really good at the job. Great attention to detail, great communicators.

Jacinta Deylen: Through Air traffic Control and at the airport there are so many different avenues where Physics is actually applied.

[Bridget and two students chat and go over some notes in a classroom]

[Bridget types things out on the calculator]

Bridget Hosking: So I take the calculations that they would normally be doing in Year 10 Physics or Maths and then apply them to an aviation context. We focus on force and speed when we do our activities here.

[Several of the students act as airplanes expressing the force and speed in their equations]

This is my way of trying to show girls in school that it's a great career path and they should have a look at it.

Jacinta Deylen: We all have such a great time, including myself. It's been enjoyable, intriguing, and eye opening for all of us.

[Bridget and the students go through the lesson in the classroom as Bridget points out something on the screen. The students look engaged and happy]

Caroline McCarthy: So what we have seen is we have had full classes at Year 10. We've had an upswing in the number of VCE students taking on the Physics classes.

[Bridget and Jacinta walking down a hall in the school]

We had a very strong connection between the students who took the Physics in Year 10 and the number of students taking Physics in both Year 11, and year 12. To any schools thinking about getting involved I couldn't endorse it highly enough.

[Bridget and then Jacinta smile at the camera]

[The CSIRO logo pops into the centre of the screen, underneath is written Australia's National Science Agency]

[An equation of logos is on the screen with a graduation cap representing teacher, then a plus sign adding it to a STEM professional symbolized by a molecule logo.]

[The equals symbol then connects to a gear logo representing partnership.]

[A circle graph titled Schools with different colours for different percentages on screen, Catholic being 16.3%, Government being 65.8%, Independent/Private being 16.8% and other being 1.1%]

[A map symbolizing national reach with a circle graph to one side. the text under the graph reads "with 29% in regional and remote areas.]

[On the map going clockwise NT 1.5%, QLS 20.8%, NSW 20.9%, ACT 5.9%, TAS 5.2%, VIC 23.9%, SA 8%, WA 13.8%.]

[A graph titled STEM Professionals, the circle graph showing percentages by gender with female at 43.2%, male at 56.6%, and not specified at 0.2%. The text under the graph reads note Female STEM professional representation is significantly higher than the national female STEM qualified population of 17 percent overall asterisk leading to a footnote "from the 2020 program evaluation.]

[Text on centre screen reads The STEM Professionals in Schools project is funded by the Australian Government Department of Education, Skills and Employment. At the bottom of the screen is reads The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of the Australian Government Department of Education, Skills and Employment.]

[New Screen, text reading STEM Professionals in Schools would like to thank: Caroline McCarthy, Jacinta Deylen and students from Santa Maria College; Bridget Hosking, Air Traffic Controller, Melbourne Airport]

[Fade to black]