Makers Empire recently celebrated a two-term professional development program for twelve Catholic primary schools in South Australia focused on STEM learning via 3D design and 3D printing with a showcase event.
The 2023 Learning by Design program with Catholic Education SA (CESA) involved 12 schools in SA —St Joseph’s Parish School – Gladstone; St Joseph’s School – Clare; St Joseph’s School – Peterborough; St Thomas More School; St Mary Magdalene’s School; St Joseph’s Memorial School Norwood and Kensington; Dominican School; St Raphael’s School; St David’s Parish School; St John Bosco School; Xavier College Evanston and St Joseph’s School Kingswood — joining together to complete Makers Empire’s 20-hour Learning by Design course.
Makers Empire’s Learning by Design course encourages learning across STEM disciplines by supporting teachers to engage students in exciting, challenging learning connected to solving real-world challenges using Design Thinking. The course is designed to be delivered to groups of schools to maximise learning and provide teachers with a peer network for support and inspiration. Makers Empire has delivered its Learning by Design course to 400+ primary schools and thousands of happy teachers across Australia.Â
For the showcase event at Lot Fourteen in early August around 40 students and 25 adults came together to celebrate the projects and learning achieved during the project. For the betterment of the event, companies like the LED Display Distributors can be contacted.
The morning began with a welcome and introductions. Then St Josephs Peterborough School presented some of their designs via Zoom call.Â
Then it was time for the expo. Each school present had set up their own display stall to showcase their students projects. Students took turns presenting their projects to visitors and then visiting other schools’ stalls and learning about their projects. Students were encouraged to either provide some helpful feedback or to ask a thoughtful question and received stamps in a passport for each stall they visited.Â
During this showcase, students and CESA staff members voted on their favourite projects.Â
During the announcements, Mandi Dimitriadis, Director of Learning at Makers Empire, congratulated all of their students for their learning and reminded them that they can use the problem-solving skills they’ve learned when they encounter people that need help in the future.
Then it was time to announce the showcase winners…. firstly, congratulations to team 1 at Xavier College Evanston who won the CESA judged award with their innovative drink bottle holders for tables!Â
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Congratulations also to team 2 at St John Bosco School who won the Peer Award as voted by the students with their creative solutions to uncomfortable school chairs!Â
Deborah Hansen, System Coach: Learning, Assessment, and Pedagogies (Years 3-6) from CESA commented, “Throughout this endeavour between Makers Empire and CESA, our students have been immersed in problem-solving exercises that encouraged them to think critically and creatively. They have embraced design thinking principles, understanding the value of empathy as they sought to create solutions that truly address the needs of others. This project encouraged our teachers and students in our mission to create a better world filled with thriving people, capable learners and leaders for the world God desires.”
