Our 6-week, primary school STEM program is targeted at Year 5 and 6 students, parents and teachers, to catalyse generational perception change and build confidence and interest in exploring with STEM.
Primary Schools - STEM x Play
Student 1: We were trying to use the Mindstorm and the Microbit to solve air pollution.
Student 2: We were trying to solve weeds growing in unexpected places.
Student 3: We learnt how to code and program lot of robots and to code for a Microbit.
Student 4: We enjoyed the most that it was fun to solve the problem and it feels very good when it starts to work.
UTS Mentor 1: The impact on the students – I feel like the student gained lots out of it and as I was talking to them they said that they hadn’t seen anything like this before and they didn’t even know what STEM was. For them to understand that STEM all works together – Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths, that’s already a big step for them starting from just English and Maths, incorporating all four areas together.
Teacher: The impact on students has been powerful – they’ve had to assess their failures on the way to success – it’s been a huge growth in STEM participation.
Student 4: I’d like to learn more advanced code with the Microbit. When we did it, it was very simple and it’d be cool if we could have to send a radio to Cazzie to tell it off a computer, or something like that.
Mentor 2: I think the kids are more inclined to use STEM now because they know how to code, how to play with Mindstorms and they find it a lot of fun.
Student 1: I’d really like to learn more about Engineering, I seem to be good at that one.
Mentor 3: I kept asking them if they would like to do this again and they say yeah.
Student 5: I’d like to learn more about the Mindstorms and how they work, as well as coding and being able to create different things. Thank you.
EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST
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STEM x Play aims to address the under-representation of girls studying engineering and IT in primary school by providing an in-curriculum, hands-on experience with STEM in an inclusive classroom environment. By intervening early and providing multiple interactions with relatable role models, the program increases girls’ interest, confidence and identity with STEM, and works with teachers and families to engage girls in STEM learning and play.
In 2025, STEMxPlay is expected to reach 1500 students in years 5-6 and 38 teachers from 14 schools across NSW.
The program is focused around students applying the design thinking process to solve problems linked to a unit of the curriculum, developing scientific investigation and digital technologies skills to design and prototype solutions.
Program design
- 1 x 2-hour lesson per week for 6 weeks
- UTS students and industry professionals mentor students to think critically and troubleshoot designs
- Teachers co-facilitate with UTS students to learn new skills and knowledge alongside students
- Families engage with the program through digital communications and celebrate student outcomes at the end-of-program project showcase
Program outcomes
- Girls interest in STEM activities increased with the exception of coding
- Girls confidence increased for designing, solving problems and building things and decreased for coding and experimenting
- Student perceptions of STEM positively shifted with greater awareness of its ubiquity
- Student perceptions of STEM professionals shifted away from negative stereotypes as a result of role modelling
- Teachers perceived the program positively for student engagement and there were positive impacts on the integration of STEM in the classroom post-program
- Families would like to see the program run again at both the student’s primary and high schools
View STEM x Play Outcomes Summary
It has changed my ideas of STEM because it’s not just about programming…it’s more about finding solutions.
Year 5 girl
Information for families
Families play a key role in influencing student interests and confidence in STEM. Find out more about the program and how families can join their children in STEM exploration at home.
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Does your organisation share our vision and values of gender equity?
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