We’ve mapped out a staged pathway that will prepare you to integrate STEM education effectively, adapt to technological advancements and inspire students to succeed in a rapidly evolving world.
The Foundation Zone is where you establish your basic understanding and knowledge of STEM principles. The courses in this zone focus on building a solid groundwork in essential STEM concepts and practices. It reflects a base level of knowledge, forming a strong foundation for further learning.
The Mastery Zone signifies advanced competence in STEM, where you deepen your expertise and critically evaluate processes and outcomes. The courses in this zone focus on advanced understanding, the ability to make informed judgments, and the refinement of practices and methodologies.
The Proficiency Zone is where you apply your foundational knowledge of STEM to the real-world. The courses in this zone highlight developing the practical skills in STEM and the ability to break down information and apply it effectively. This zone emphasises the practical application and analysis of skills.
The Innovation Zone signifies top proficiency in STEM, where new and original work showcases expert understanding. These courses help you leverage your knowledge and skills to foster creativity and innovation in STEM teaching and learning, creating new ideas or solutions.
The professional learning plan is designed to scaffold your learning through the four stages above to the level of STEM Innovator by completing at least 8 STEM Professional Learning courses over a year (or longer if you need to - you make your own rules!).
| Level | Category | Course |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Foundation | Introduction to Primary STEM |
| How to Teach Science More Effectively | ||
| 2 | Proficiency | Digital Tech for STEM Classrooms |
| Inspire Young Scientists in the Primary Classroom | ||
| How to Teach Creative Thinking for STEM | ||
| 3 | Mastery | Advocating for STEM |
| Save the World with STEM | ||
| 4 | Innovation | Integrating STEM Through Project-Based Learning |
| Get Creative With STEM |
The pathway builds on an adapted Zones of Learning model and everyone's favourite, Bloom's Taxonomy, to create a structured, year-long professional development plan for STEM educators to become STEM Innovators. By progressively building on each stage, you can enhance your STEM teaching skills and develop critical thinking, creativity, and problem-solving abilities in your students while also addressing your own individual learning needs and goals, ensuring continuous growth.
| Stage | Zone of Learning | Bloom’s Taxonomy Level | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Foundation | Remembering | Reflects a base level of knowledge and comprehension, establishing a solid groundwork. Define, duplicate, list, memorise, repeat, state, classify, describe, discuss, explain, identify, locate, recognise, report, select, translate |
| Understanding | |||
| 2 | Proficiency | Applying | Highlights the development of practical skills and the ability to break down information and apply it effectively. Execute, implement, solve, use, demonstrate, interpret, operate, schedule, sketch, differentiate, organise, relate, compare, contrast, distinguish, examine, experiment, question, test |
| Analysing | |||
| 3 | Mastery | Evaluating | Signifies advanced competence, where the ability to critically assess and make judgments is emphasized. Appraise, argue, defend, judge, select, support, value, critique, weigh |
| Evaluating | |||
| 4 | Innovation | Creating | Indicates the highest level of proficiency, where the creation of new and original work demonstrates expert understanding and capability. Design, assemble, construct, conjecture, develop, formulate, author, investigate |
| Creating |
Use the information on this page and the Cool.org planning document to assess your skills, set your goals, choose the courses that interest you and track your learnings across the stages.
STEM is - 'the set of disciplines that work together to understand and model the universe so that people can solve problems through harnessing and manipulating the world around them.'
Australian Council for Educational Research
STEM is an approach to learning that integrates the areas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. STEM is incorporated into the Australian Curriculum in the following learning areas and general capabilities.
Continuous technological advancements are transforming how students learn, connect, and interact daily. Skills acquired through STEM education provide a strong foundation for their success in school and beyond. International research shows that 75% of the fastest-growing occupations now require STEM skills and knowledge. Therefore, it is crucial to equip young people with the skills necessary to thrive as successful and engaged citizens in our complex and dynamic society. (Source)
Strengthening your STEM teaching capabilities enhances educational outcomes and
Teaching these key STEM skills through hands-on real-world applications is crucial for preparing students for future careers and a rapidly changing world
The STEM Connections research project by ACARA found that STEM understanding, knowledge and skills are strengthened when connections between learning areas are emphasised and when learning areas combine to find authentic learning opportunities for students in answer to an identified problem or in the creation of a solution.
When teaching STEM skills and projects it is also important to:
Yes! Our courses are mapped to the Australian Professional Teacher Standards (AITSL), and your completion can be logged as elective PD hours with your state's teaching regulatory authority. To do this, grab your certificates of completion from your personal dashboard once each individual course is complete.
This sequence is designed to be undertaken over the course of a year. 16 hours over 8 Professional learning courses.
You will get a cool.org certificate of completion for each individual course you complete.You can access this certificate (and your course progress!) anytime via your personal dashboard. We also offer a certificate for those who reach the innovation level of this pathway. Please email us at info@cool.org
This course is mapped to the Professional Standards for Teachers. It is accredited for teacher professional development hours in the following states and territories:
Proficient Teacher - all states and territories (except NSW and ACT)
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