ECEC to be at the heart of new STEM space at ACU Strathfield

Freya Lucas

Feb 13, 2023

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The Strathfield campus of the Australian Catholic University (ACU) will soon be the site of a new innovative purpose-built centre that will provide a suite of educational opportunities to boost in-demand science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) skills among students of all ages, community groups, residents, and a wide range of industries in Strathfield and Western Sydney.

The STEM Centre of Education Excellence is being made possible thanks to the university securing a $45 million New South Wales Government WestInvest Community Projects grant.

Preschool programs designed to pique interest in STEM among young children will feature strongly in the centre’s offerings, along with a raft of courses for junior school students including robotics, coding, entrepreneurial thinking, and ‘Girls in STEM’, as well as homework and tutoring clubs.

ACU will also support senior school students by working with Western Sydney schools to increase subject offerings in STEM areas of learning impacted by teacher shortages through a blended mode of program delivery.

Educators are also set to benefit from the new centre with professional development opportunities in areas including maths, science, technology, and literacy designed to ensure they have the cutting-edge skills, knowledge and experiences required to support students learn skills of the future.

The centre will offer short courses and microcredentials covering general STEM skills for learners of all ages, supporting personal interests and changes in career. It will also offer new industry training opportunities harnessing the metaverse to enable ACU to work with industry partners to provide immersive virtual training to upskill workers and meet shortages, as well as support researchers to collaborate on STEM projects nationally and internationally.

Makerspaces will also provide access to innovative and emerging technologies for the local community to explore.

ACU Executive Dean of Education and Arts Professor Mary Ryan said the STEM centre would complement the work of ACU’s recently announced Australian Centre for the Advancement of Literacy.

“These two pioneering centres will put ACU further on the map as world leaders in educational excellence,” Professor Ryan said.

To learn more about ACU, please see here.

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