Linking Engineering & Scientists with Teachers 

Programs designed to suit the teacher!

LEaST is a program specifically developed for teachers involved in the teaching of contextual material in senior science, with applications for mathematics.

You will learn about the roles of engineers and scientists in society and how their problem solving approaches can be applied to teaching in context.

You will gain enrichment and resource materials for your current or developing contexts in Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics.

You will network with real engineers, academics from your local university and other teachers to form enduring partnerships that will assist you to enhance your classroom experience.

You will develop a contextual unit in consultation with other teachers, academics and engineers.

Getting our hands dirty, actually doing the experiments	Working collaboratively with fellow teachers	Site visits and introductions to engineers and scientists.

Why is LEaST important?

Teachers these days have an average age of 47. This implies that during the next 10 years a wealth of experience will begin to retire from the profession, leaving a lot of younger, relatively inexperienced teachers stranded.

Secondly, a large number of teachers have gone directly from school to university and then back to school. This doesn't allow them to gain any real understanding of the real world outside education.

There is a strong need for teachers who:

• are more experienced.
• have a deeper and broader knowledge of their subject.
• are more confident in the classroom.
• can apply the concepts to the real world more easily, and
• have a network of practicing engineers and scientists to call upon for expert advice and guidance.

 At the same time, many states, particularly Queensland, are moving towards context-based senior science syllabuses. Modelled after the highly successful Engineering Link Projects, LEaST aims to give teachers direct experience with Science and Engineering, so that they can, in turn, better motivate their students to pursue a Maths and Science-based career.

What do past participants think of the courses?

• "I would never have attempted it without being put in the position of having to do it."
• "The exercise was informative and gave many new ideas for class activities."
• "As I was reading through it I thought it would be too simple but it wasn't and therefore gave me a much better idea about how things work from the student perspective."
• "Great to see maths and science in practice and to see a lab."
• "Provided a better idea of the big picture and the importance of maths and science and provided some ideas of how to show the students the importance of these subjects."
• "We need this current info to pass onto our students."
• "I enjoyed visiting the industrial sites and learned at each site that I could use with the students."
• "Renewed my enthusiasm to try new projects in the classroom."
• "Very professional and informative."
• "I've got new ideas on how to make my lessons more interesting."