Engineering Bridges – Queensland Teacher Professional Development

To support the Spaghetti Bridge Competition, as well as teachers delivering Physics, Engineering and/or Specialist Mathematics, The Engineering Link Group is offering teachers a FREE professional development workshop. Due to the fact that the competition is open to schools from all across Queensland, this workshop will be online.

The Spaghetti Bridge Competition is proudly supported by The Queensland Government and engineers from the Department of Transport and Main Roads and Engineers Australia (Qld Division).

When: Wednesday 24 April 2024

Time: 3.30 pm (for a 3.45 pm start) to 4.30 pm

(Note: if you are unavailable at that time, please register and a link to the recording will be emailed to you post-event.)

Hosted by Engineers Australia Queensland Division, the workshop will consist of two parts:

1. A presentation by Mike Whitehead (Director – Structures Construction Materials, Department of Transport and Main Roads) on the engineering, physics and mathematics of bridges and other fixed structures.

Mike will discuss real bridge designs, including the different types of bridges and how these designs can be adapted to using lighter materials, such as spaghetti.

1. A presentation and Q & A session with Greg Millican (TELG) providing advice and strategies on how to run the competition in your school.  Greg is a teacher and Curriculum Leader, with nearly 30 years of teaching experience in Physics and Mathematics, as well as 10 years running the Spaghetti Bridge Competition in Queensland.

The workshop is virtual, with opportunities for participants to ask questions. Resources to help promote and administer the competition in your school will be available to all participants.

Participation in this workshop is free. A recording will be available after the workshop for teachers to use with their students and peers.

A link and instructions to join the workshop will be emailed to all registered teachers before the event.

A certificate for 1 hour of Professional Development can be emailed to all registered teachers, on request.

Objectives of the workshop:

• Demonstrate context-based teaching and learning to secondary science, engineering studies and mathematics (STEM) teachers.
• Offer a range of real experiences in the engineering world, from which to draw contexts for teaching.
• Provide potential contacts of local engineers and scientists, who could provide further contextual experiences and advice in the future.
• Extrapolate these experiences and models into the classroom.

Teachers learn about the roles of engineers and scientists in society and how their problem-solving approaches can be applied to teaching in context. We also supply resource materials for current or developing contexts in Physics, Chemistry, Technology and Applied Studies and Mathematics, gathered from workshops held in three states. The program gives teachers direct experience with science and engineering so that they can motivate and engage their students in maths and science-based study.