Teaching Resources

STEAM-ing ahead with work ready skills

STEAM education fosters creative problem solving, flexible thinking and a range of other skills essential for future-ready learners.

<h4>Nurturing creativity&comma; critical thinking&comma; and adaptability&comma; STEAM education equips students with the skills to thrive in an evolving education environment and future workforce&period; <&sol;h4>&NewLine;<p>According to the Capgemini Research Institute report&comma; <em>Future Ready Education&colon; Empowering Secondary School Students with Digital Skills&comma; <&sol;em>56 percent of secondary school teachers agree that curriculums and assessments must evolve to accommodate student use of AI-generated content&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;school-news&period;com&period;au&sol;latest-print-issue&sol;" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener"><strong>Read the latest print edition of <em>School News<&sol;em> HERE<&sol;strong><&sol;a><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>However&comma; the same report revealed that while 72 percent of students aged 16 to 18 are confident in their basic digital literacy&comma; fewer than half &lpar;47 percent&rpar; feel equally confident in digital communication and data literacy—both essential skills for workforce readiness and navigating AI&period; Educators are key to closing this gap&period; <&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>More and more&comma; schools are incorporating AI into their STEAM curriculum&comma; teaching students how to engage with AI models&comma; use data analytics tools&comma; and identify bias in digital content&period; <&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>As Shobha Meera&comma; Chief Corporate Responsibility Officer at Capgemini&comma; noted&comma; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;As technologies like generative AI shape our world&comma; they amplify the need for foundational digital skills and offer the potential to bridge gaps through self-paced learning&comma; hyper-personalisation&comma; and other capabilities&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h4><strong>Innovative STEAM education practices<&sol;strong><&sol;h4>&NewLine;<p>STEAM education encourages students to engage in hands-on&comma; real-world projects that ignite curiosity and foster creativity&period; Whether designing sustainable cities&comma; programming robots&comma; or experimenting with 3D printing&comma; these projects illustrate the practical applications of learning&period; By blending disciplines and fostering collaboration&comma; students develop the problem-solving skills that prepare them for diverse career paths&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Early childhood is a pivotal stage for introducing STEAM concepts&period; Activities like building with blocks&comma; experimenting with simple machines&comma; and exploring nature help young learners develop cognitive and sensory skills while nurturing their curiosity and analytical thinking&period; By encouraging exploration from an early age&comma; educators lay the groundwork for future learning and instil a lasting love for discovery&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h4><strong>Cutting-edge technology in STEAM<&sol;strong><&sol;h4>&NewLine;<p>Technology plays an integral role in STEAM education&comma; offering students hands-on experiences with tools that are transforming the workforce&period; Robotics&comma; laser cutting&comma; and 3D printing enable students to bring their ideas to life&comma; while coding and artificial intelligence introduce them to essential digital skills&period; These technologies make abstract concepts more tangible and engaging&comma; helping students gain practical experience with the tools that will shape their future careers&period; <&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>As the workforce continues to evolve&comma; STEAM education ensures students are prepared for an unpredictable future&period; By embracing innovation&comma; providing robust resources for educators&comma; and leveraging cutting-edge technologies&comma; STEAM fosters the adaptability and problem-solving skills that will be crucial for success&period; Investing in STEAM today is an investment in the leaders and thinkers of tomorrow—beginning in early childhood and extending through every stage of education&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<figure id&equals;"attachment&lowbar;29852" aria-describedby&equals;"caption-attachment-29852" style&equals;"width&colon; 631px" class&equals;"wp-caption aligncenter"><img class&equals;" wp-image-29852" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;school-news&period;com&period;au&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2025&sol;03&sol;SN35-TR-STEAM-Queensland-Musuem-2-1024x683&period;jpg" alt&equals;"Online STEAM learning" width&equals;"631" height&equals;"421" &sol;><figcaption id&equals;"caption-attachment-29852" class&equals;"wp-caption-text">Image supplied by Queensland Museum<&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;<h4><strong>External learning STEAM providers<&sol;strong><&sol;h4>&NewLine;<p>The team at <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;streetscience&period;com&period;au&sol;" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener">Street Science<&sol;a> have a clear mission&colon; to ignite curiosity&comma; encourage experimentation&comma; and foster the skills students need to thrive in the future—one STEM engagement at a time&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>In 2025&comma; Street Science will mark 13 years of delivering dynamic science incursions across the east coast of Australia&period; Reflecting on their journey during their 10th anniversary&comma; the company celebrated a milestone of engaging over 150&comma;000 students annually&period; But as a team of high achievers&comma; they asked a pivotal question&colon; What’s next&quest;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>This led to the ambitious goal of achieving one million STEM engagements annually&period; While incursions remain at the heart of the business&comma; this aspiration has driven Street Science to evolve its model and expand its reach through meaningful partnerships&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The Street Science Partnership Program provides educators with the tools and resources they need to bring science to life in their classrooms&period; By offering access to physical and digital resources&comma; curriculum-aligned workshops&comma; and the Extended Learning Platform&comma; the program empowers teachers to deliver hands-on science lessons even when Street Science facilitators are not there&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>This model allows for multiple student touchpoints throughout the year and strengthens teacher confidence and capacity to inspire the next generation of scientific problem solvers&period; Together with schools&comma; Street Science is creating a collaborative movement that makes STEM education more accessible and impactful&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>For ten years&comma; <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;museum&period;qld&period;gov&period;au&sol;learn-and-discover&sol;future-makers" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener">Future Makers through Queensland Museum<&sol;a> has been offering free STEM learning resources&comma; teacher professional development workshops&comma; programs and events to empower young people to harness their exciting&comma; change-making potential&period; An innovative partnership between Queensland Museum and Shell’s QGC business&comma; Future Makers works with schools and communities to increase student uptake of and performance in STEM-related subjects&comma; and broaden their career aspirations&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Registrations are open now for Future Makers’ 2025 line-up of free online and in-person teacher professional development workshops&period; Upcoming online workshops include Epic Engineering &lpar;Teachers of Years 7 to 10&rpar;&semi; Maths at the Museum &lpar;Teachers of Years 5 to 9&rpar;&semi; Science at the Museum for Lower Primary &lpar;Teacher of Years P to 4&rpar;&semi; Design &amp&semi; Technologies&semi; First Nations Science&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>For teachers looking for quality&comma; curriculum-aligned STEM classroom activities&comma; Future Makers Learning Resources are available to download for free from their website&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;

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