AN EARLY LEARNING STEM AUSTRALIA PROGRAM
ELSA: STEM IN SCHOOLSThe ELSA: STEM In Schools program is being run by world-leading education researchers at the University of Canberra to boost primary school student’s STEM skills in Foundation year, Year 1 and Year 2. The free pilot program commences in 2024.
WHO WE ARE
The ELSA: STEM in Schools Program is being run by the STEM Education Research Centre (SERC) at the University of Canberra (UC) with funding provided by the Australian Government Department of Education (DE).
The SERC team also created and managed the Early Learning STEM Australia (ELSA) Preschool Program, which commenced in 2018.
OUR PROGRAM
The ELSA: STEM in Schools Program seeks to increase the participation of Australian children in STEM education and improve their digital literacy.
The Program will include digital tools for children in Foundation year, Year 1 and Year 2, as well as many off-app activities that can be undertaken in the classroom and playground. The program will also include a teacher tool and family tool.
OUR MISSON
STEM for all children across the early years of schooling
Our philosophy is that learning programs should be authentically accessible for all children, including those in vulnerable, geographically isolated and non-traditional-learning communities—who have often been excluded from STEM education opportunities.
The ELSA: STEM in Schools Program will focus on content from Foundation to Year 2 (F–2) of the Australian Curriculum, with close alignment to:
- learning outcomes for the relevant STEM-discipline curricula
- ACARA’s Numeracy Learning Progressions
The ELSA: STEM in Schools Program will provide the opportunity for young children to explore an online, play-based learning environment, delivered through a series of digital tools that are rich in STEM concepts.
A Word
From Our Director
“Hi, I’m Tom Lowrie, a mathematics education researcher and Director of the STEM Education Research Centre (SERC) at the University of Canberra.
My primary objectives for the ELSA: STEM in Schools Program are as follows:
1. Increase children’s engagement and interest in STEM, leading to a significant and substantial national improvement in STEM literacy in the early years
2. Provide equal access to STEM for all children
This program will increase children’s engagement and interest in STEM through play-based activities, as well as pedagogically rich and technologically innovative digital tools, built specifically for each year level. These activities will focus on spatial reasoning and logical reasoning skills.
ELSA: STEM in Schools will be accessible for every child—regardless of gender, cultural heritage, socio-economic status (SES) or experience of disability—and actively include those children in vulnerable, geographically-isolated, and non-traditional-learning communities who have often been excluded from STEM education opportunities.
I look forward to working with you on this very valuable project for children in Foundation to Year 2.”
– Centenary Professor Tom Lowrie
Our Team
The SERC team
SERC is a transdisciplinary team of STEM-education specialists, learning scientists, developmental psychologists, data scientists and digital creators.
Led by world-renowned mathematics education researcher, Centenary Professor Thomas Lowrie, ELSA: STEM in Schools is informed by ground-breaking research, making the program pedagogically sound with strong links to the STEM-related content of the Australian Curriculum.
SERC has received over $21 million in grants since 2013 to conduct cutting-edge research into STEM. This funding positions the centre as one of the most influential STEM educational research centres in Australia, if not the world.
