STEM

Photo by Polina Tankilevitch

Play-based learning empowers young girls to become scientists, engineers

Girls as young as four can feel empowered to participate in STEM activities in Australian classrooms, through a play-based learning approach developed by Monash University researchers. Read more


Marilyn Fleer releases new research about the barriers for girls in ECEC accessing STEM

Monash University Professor Marilyn Fleer is well known in the early childhood education and care (ECEC) sector for her Conceptual PlayWorld model, which supports educators to find science, technology, engineering and mathematical (STEM) problems to solve using the vehicle of familiar stories such as Rosie’s Walk. Read more

Media stereotypes confound kids’ science ambitions

White lab coats and dangerous experiments all epitomise the ‘mad scientist’ from many a Hollywood blockbuster but, even beyond the silver screen, the stereotype lives on, and according to new research, it could mar the next generation of potential scientists. Read more

Katherine Johnson: A Lifetime of STEM

Katherine Johnson loved to count. “I counted everything. I counted the steps to the road, the steps up to church, the number of dishes and silverware I washed … anything that could be counted, I did.” And so it began for this young girl from West Virginia. Born in 1918 in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va., Johnson’s love for mathematics was inherent, an inclination she had from birth. Read more