RCE Western Australia-2011

rce_proj_title
Submitted by RCEwesternaustralia on Thu, 2011-07-14 17:31
1. General Information
Contact Name(s): 
Deborah Bowie
Chris Hale
Organizational Affiliation : 
UWA
UWA
Role in the project: 
Coordinator
Coordinator
E-Mail Address(es): 
deborah.bowie@uwa.edu.au
chris.hale@uwa.edu.au
Project-relevant information: 
http://www.celt.uwa.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0011/1194086/AIM.pdf
2. Project Information
1. Project title: 
Activities for Inspiring Minds (AIM)
2. Project Description: 
Project aims to provide hands-on laboratory experiences for secondary students, many from disadvantaged low socio-economic or outlying regional areas. All activities have a link to current research in development of sustainable solutions to local issues, including biodiversity and future farming. There is also an emphasis on developing a connections and synergies between the traditionally exclusive areas of science and art.
3. Project Status: 
Finished
4. Key Words
Key Words: 
Biodiversity
5. Project categories
Project categories: 
Education
Awareness building
Networking and partnership development
Material production
6. Expected outcomes:: 
The results and consequences of the program have a direct impact on development of individual teachers and learners by providing the types of experiences that support the competencies of ESD, such as knowledge and awareness, participation and action, and commitment to learning as a life-long journey and a transdisciplinary approach. This supports the model of teaching and learning that RCE WA is promoting to successfully embed key competencies of ESD within the compulsory education sector in Western Australia.
7. Duration of the Project:: 
May 2010 - 2012
3. Project Leadership & Vision
8. Project coordination (e.g. teams): 
This project is jointly coordinated and its activities are overseen by a shared leadership model operating as a working party involving representative stakeholders across the project. The vision is to create effective systems for delivery of the program to facilitate future growth.
9. Leadership structure
a. Administration: 
3
b. Transactional: 
3
c. Transformational: 
4
4. Project results
10. Project results : 
In the last year of operation our AIM project has provided hands-on experiences for almost 1000 students. Through our program we have raised awareness of local sustainability issues and current research. Students participating in our program have also had the opportunity to investigate and develop links with higher education opportunities and explore the synergies between science and art.
11. Contribution to reforms and innovations: 
This is a local level project with a focus on providing enriching hands-on educational experiences with a transdisciplinary approach that link to sustainability issues, such as biodiversity and future farming.
12. Unexpected / unplanned results: 
One of the unforeseen areas of demand for the program came from teachers, who requested training in some of the activities we were undertaking with the students. This resulted in RCE WA, Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences and SPICE running two well attended workshops on Bacterial Transformation with guest speakers being researchers working in the field of future farming.
13.Core Partners: 
Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences at UWA, SPICE, PICSE and ASPIRE programs, various secondary schools within both the metropolitan and regional areas.
5. Partnership and networking
14. Project Network
a. Information network: 
2
b. Knowledge network: 
4
c. Innovation network: 
4
6. Participation
15. Type of involvement: 
Partners can participate in the development and management of the project through participation on the working party overseeing the project. Partners and other participants are encouraged to provide feedback and are invited to provide input into the types of activities offered and the development of accompanying resources to support learning experiences.
16. Participation opportunities
a. Informational participation: 
2
b. Consultation participation: 
3
c. Decision influencing participation : 
5
7. Education & Learning
17. Educational activities: 
Hands-on laboratory activities are supported by opportunities to discuss and field questions about current research.
18. Learning activities: 
Experiential learning is the basis of the project and students are encouraged to work collaboratively using peer tutoring and to view "teacher" and other experts as reference points to extend their area of interest in the learning experience.
19. Educational activities
a. Theory: 
1
b. Discussion: 
3
c. Interactive and Multidimensional "action oriented education": 
6
8. Research Integration
20. Research & Development (R&D): 
N/A
Type: 
Project Reports
Region: 
Asia-Pacific
Community: 
SCP,Livelihood and Well-being
Issue: 
Poverty Reduction
One More Issue: 
Sustainable Consumption and Production
Country: 
Australia