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Teacher professional accreditation demands that secondary teaching graduates have a strong professional knowledge of discipline-specific curriculum and pedagogical studies within their chosen teaching areas. This course examines advanced pedagogical approaches within the broad cluster of STEM type disciplines. The content and skills in this course builds upon and extends the curriculum and pedagogy that was undertaken in the Teaching Area Specific Curriculum & Pedagogy Course taken in an earlier semester. This course enables preservice teachers to develop advanced pedagogies relevant to teaching areas within the sciences, mathematics, technology, engineering, geography and health through concentrated attention on the dispositions of your teaching area.

The course extends upon the earlier Curriculum and Pedagogy course and explores skills, knowledge and processes that are shared amongst the STEM disciplines. So often in practice, secondary teachers are required to teach beyond their two specific teaching areas that they learnt during their initial teacher education degree. This course specifically aims to increase preservice teachers' ability to teach beyond these areas by extending pedagogy and pedagogical content knowledge to other teaching areas within a broad cluster of STEM. You will develop an understanding and appreciation of the complexity and interrelatedness of the cluster of STEM disciplines and begin to see potential for designing learning experiences that broaden perspectives. There will also be opportunities in this course to extend your focus on discipline specific practices when you break into smaller groups that are discipline specific.

On successful completion of this course preservice teachers should be able to:

1. demonstrate an understanding of curriculum concepts, substance and structure, and how to organise content selection for effective teaching and learning, and understanding of a wide range of teaching strategies within the broad STEM cluster of teaching areas (Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (APST) 2.1, 2.2);
2. apply credible research to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of how learners learn and the implication for teaching with specific focus on teaching strategies that are responsive to the learning strengths and needs of students from diverse linguistic, cultural, religious and socioeconomic backgrounds within the broad STEM cluster of teaching areas (APST 1.2, 1.3);
3. demonstrate knowledge and skills specific to curriculum and pedagogical theories and practices, and appropriate assessment reporting practices within the broad STEM (APST 2.1, 2.3);
4. create innovative learning experiences and set learning goals that that incorporate a range of resources including ICT that challenge and engage a diverse range of students (of varying abilities and characteristics) in their learning within the broad STEM cluster of teaching areas (APST 3.1, 3.4);
5. demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the relevant legislative, administrative and organisational policies and processes and strategies related to the successful integration of general capabilities and cross-curricula priorities of the Australian Curriculum within the broad STEM cluster of teaching areas (APST 7.2);
6. engage a broad range of strategies to work effectively, sensitively and confidentially with parents/ carers, and involve them in the educative process, demonstrate understanding of the role of colleagues, professional teaching networks and broader communities to enhance teachers’ knowledge and practices in ways that improve student learning within the broad STEM cluster of teaching areas (APST 3.7, 7.3, 7.4);
7. demonstrate advanced cognitive, literacy and communication skills, including spelling, grammar, punctuation and bibliographic referencing.