Inspiring Australia is a federally funded Australian program that works to increase engagement and interest in the sciences through sharing ideas, events and stories created by educators, researchers, and science communicators. Jackie Randles is the Manager of Inspiring Australia NSW and is heavily involved in helping science events, regional science hubs, citizen science projects and more find an audience across NSW. A huge number of free resources are discussed in this podcast… have a pen and paper ready! Hosted by Ben Newsome from Fizzics Education About Jackie Randles Jackie Randles finds interesting and creative ways to bring science and technology experts out of the lab and into the community through collaborative outreach and engagement projects, including during National Science Week. A state manager with the Inspiring Australia initiative, the national strategy for community engagement with science, technology and innovation, she brings stakeholders across the community, business and cultural sectors together to promote the relevance of science and innovation to everyday life and the value of STEM careers. A cofounder of Sydney Science Festival, Jackie has also established a network of Regional Science Hubs that regularly present entertaining science experiences for their communities. Top 3 learnings Join in citizen science initiatives! There are many opportunities for your students to be working with real scientists in real research across Australia.
Encourage entrepreneurial thinking! A business creates opportunities for people to make a positive impact in their world and teaching students to adopt a growth mindset can set them and their local community up for a brighter future.
Get involved in science events… or even better, create your own! A science event doesn’t have to be bigger than Ben Hur, it can be as simple as opening up your school hall or community centre to display science experiments and posters that depict how our world works. Reach out to local scientists to get involved and create a buzz. Education tip of the week Create a longitudinal science experiment. Have students setup an ongoing science project where they take measurements and photographs over several days or even weeks to find out a result. Incorporate fair testing of variables and get students to describe their project in a classroom blog or similar to communicate their findings.
Further contact details for Jackie Randles inspiring.nsw@sydney.edu.au Support links Inspiring Australia http://inspiringaustralia.net.au/ National Science Week https://www.scienceweek.net.au/ NSW Regional Science Hubs http://sydney.edu.au/science/outreach/inspiring/hubs.shtml Australian Science Teachers Association http://asta.edu.au/ Australian Citizen Science Association http://csna.gaiaresources.com.au/wordpress/ Citizen Science ideas http://www.fizzicseducation.com.au/Blog/x_post/Ideas-for-citizen-science-for-your-students-00115.html Contact Fizzics Education Web: http://www.fizzicseducation.com.au/ Phone: +612 9674 2191 STEM Teaching support resources NEW Primary STEM teaching book! http://www.fizzicseducation.com.au/be+amazing+book.html >100 Free Science Experiments http://www.fizzicseducation.com.au/Free+experiments.html >100 Free Science Ideas and Tips http://www.fizzicseducation.com.au/Blog.html Know an educator who'd love this episode? Share it! If something grabbed your attention in this STEM podcast please leave your thoughts below