The document discusses a program at the University of Sydney aimed at addressing the decline in student interest and achievement in STEM subjects through hands-on, multidisciplinary training using Arduino Esplora. It outlines the methods of teacher training, program execution, outreach, and evaluation, which have positively impacted over 3,000 students and 300 teachers across Australia. Future steps include scaling the initiative and securing sustainability and additional partnerships.

1. The University of Sydney Page 1
Exploring hands-on
multidisciplinary STEM
with Arduino Esplora
A/Prof Abelardo Pardo
@abelardopardo
Faculty of Engineering and IT
ACSA Symposium
14-15 October 2016, Sydney

2. The University of Sydney Page 2
Agenda
– The Context
– Design
– Teacher Training
– Delivery
– Outreach
– Evaluation
– Future Steps
FernandaGuerraflickr.com

3. The University of Sydney Page 3
The Context

4. The University of Sydney Page 4
The Problem
Steep decline in the achievement and attitude
towards STEM-related disciplines amongst
high school students across the country.
Partially due to students’ self-perception of
ability, subject difficulty and usefulness.
The impact of STEM fields to over 26% of the
Australian economic activity.
High school students need to be aware of the
connection between STEM subjects and the
innovation, creativity and problem solving skills
required to tackle the current social
challenges.

5. The University of Sydney Page 5
Vision
Address the steep decline in commitment and
interests in STEM subjects for every high school
student in Australia

6. The University of Sydney Page 6
Method
Our proven and integrated training and
delivery method provides high school students
and teachers with an inclusive, engaging,
hands-on and cross-disciplinary STEM
experience in a blended learning scenario
with real-time student and teacher support
suitable to be integrated as part of the
curriculum
Madmaker.com.au

7. The University of Sydney Page 7
Execution
• Focus groups with stakeholders
• Design and deployment plan to combine
teacher training, active learning inter-
disciplinary activities, on-line learning, a
simple hardware platform, and a rigorous
evaluation procedure.
• Program reached more than 3,000
students, 300 teachers from all STEM
disciplines in 130 schools from all sectors
• Achieved a change in student perception
of STEM careers by the students.
• Clearly identified path to scale the
initiative to all High School students in
Australia.

8. The University of Sydney Page 8
The Team
Abelardo
Pardo
Owen
Brasier
Miriam
Pellicano
Calla
Klafas
Philip
Leong
James
Curran

9. The University of Sydney Page 9
Design

10. The University of Sydney Page 10
Focus Groups
o Target audience
o Connection with the STEM
curriculum
o Barriers for adoption
o Communication strategy
o Adequate hardware
o Evaluation

11. The University of Sydney Page 11
Platform
– Arduino Esplora
– Microcontroller + sensors
– Accelerometer
– Temperature
– Light
– Buzzer
– Microphone
– RGB led
– Buttons
– Joystick
– AUD$ 60 p/u

12. The University of Sydney Page 12
Teacher Training

13. The University of Sydney Page 13
Teacher Workshops
– Two formats: face-to-face and remote. June/August 2015
– Hands on design experience
– Review activities, approach
– Identify adoption barriers
– Create an implementation plan
– Feedback collecting mechanism for next stages

14. The University of Sydney Page 14
Teacher Workshops - Results
– 21 sessions
– 259 teachers
– Workshops in all states and
territories
– Mostly NSW due to the
dissemination contacts
– Identified schools that serve
as hubs

15. The University of Sydney Page 15
Teacher Workshops - Evaluation
– Workshops evaluated through surveys
– 0-5 Scale for answers
– Provided confidence to deploy the initiative in their classroom

16. The University of Sydney Page 16
Delivery

17. The University of Sydney Page 17

18. The University of Sydney Page 18
Support for delivery
– Content with gradual level
of difficulty
– Hosted in own server
(open source)
– Team of tutors
– Real time support to
teachers and students
through embedded chat

19. The University of Sydney Page 19
Outreach

20. The University of Sydney Page 20
Overall Participation
– 131 schools participated in the online course
– 195 cohorts
– Approximately 3,000 students

21. The University of Sydney Page 21
Type of Schools
– Majority in metropolitan areas
– Strong participation of regional institutions
– Initiative reached all states and territories in Australia

22. The University of Sydney Page 22
Disadvantaged Groups
ICSEA: Index of Community Socio-educational Advantage

23. The University of Sydney Page 23
Discipline Uptake
– Strong component in Science, Maths and other initiatives
– Target: Year 9, but content suitable for other levels
– Both formal and informal learning scenarios

24. The University of Sydney Page 24
Gender Balance
– Significant uptake by girls
– Important number of girl schools
– Gender imbalance lower if clubs are ignored

25. The University of Sydney Page 25
Indigenous Communities
– 4.45% of students from
indigenous communities
– This percentage is almost
double of the indigenous
population in Australia
– Encouraging initial results
– Focus of new initiatives

26. The University of Sydney Page 26
Evaluation

27. The University of Sydney Page 27
Student Satisfaction
– Surveys at the beginning and end of the experience
– Scale 0-5
– High student satisfaction levels

28. The University of Sydney Page 28
Change in Student Perception of STEM Careers

29. The University of Sydney Page 29
Consider Careers in Science and Math

30. The University of Sydney Page 30
Strategy for 2016

31. The University of Sydney Page 31
Current Support
o Initial support from AMSPP
o Faculty of Engineering and IT,
Wingara Mura - Bunga
Barrabugu (USYD)
o Integrated STEM activities in
Indigenous and Low SES
Communities. Microsoft Inc.
o CS2HS: Teacher training.
Google Inc

32. The University of Sydney Page 32
2016 Edition
o Ongoing teacher training
o Improved teacher support
for class integration
o Improved material
o Comprehensive evaluation
o Online challenge

33. The University of Sydney Page 33
“I love this program. It is really fun and I think I want to
have a career with coding. Before MadMaker I had no
idea what coding was and now I love it!” – Year 7
student

34. The University of Sydney Page 34
Future Steps

35. The University of Sydney Page 35
Next Steps
o Scale the initiative
throughout Australia
o Consolidate the support
o Sustainability
o Identify additional partner
institutions

36. The University of Sydney Page 36
Exploring hands-on
multidisciplinary STEM
with Arduino Esplora
A/Prof Abelardo Pardo
School of Electrical and
Information Engineering
ACSA Symposium
14-15 October 2016, Sydney