The Australian Curriculum can be an unwieldy document to read, much less implement. But a team of education specialists from Monash aims to support teachers and school leaders with their new online initiative called TeachSpace.
TeachSpace is full of easy-to-read articles and how-to videos that draw on Monash’s latest research. Here, we look at a selection of what’s available.
How to use Minecraft in the classroom
In this two-part series, education technology experts Roland Gesthuizen and Gillian Kidman look at how Minecraft can enable learning in the classroom. The pair break down the actions required in the school curriculum and use Blooms Taxonomy as well as their ongoing research to show how Minecraft can be used to build integrated STEM lessons.
Tackling cultural education
Cultural education is a mandatory part of the school curriculum. In a series of three articles, cultural education expert Niranjan Casinader breaks down the key concepts of the curriculum, the pitfalls to avoid and ways to build modern understandings without resorting to stereotypes. Growing teacher expertise, he writes, can yield big results in the classroom.
The five propositions in health and physical education
In this five-part video series, HPE lecturers Karen Lambert and Justen O’Conner look at each of the key ideas in the curriculum. They provide options, ideas and case studies to show how each of these propositions can be explored in the classroom.
At the heart of each of these pieces is the question: How can HPE teachers create lessons that last a lifetime?
Critical and creative thinking in primary mathematics
Critical and creative thinking is a cross-curriculum priority in Australian schools, and features in each subject area. Drawing on her research, Colleen Vale shows how and why mathematical reasoning tasks can be used to provoke these 21st century skills. Teachers can also see short videos of how this works in practice in Australian classrooms.
A play-based model for early years and STEM concepts
From Marilyn Fleer, the woman who wrote the text books for early childhood, comes a new play-based model called Land of Learning. Designed to be used in the early years of primary school, it encourages students to take the lead and solve STEM problems in their imaginary world. Step-by-step videos are available outlining each stage of the process.
How to choose the best YouTube videos for your classroom
Combining cognitive science and real-world practice, Matt Fyfield draws on his research to break down the steps for teachers to pick the gold from the garbage on YouTube. What is the ideal length? Do the bells and whistles help understanding? Do students learn best from individual screens or a communal teacher-controlled screen?
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