The Ministry’s Connected seriesConnected 2013 - Level 2 I Spy, Level 3 Food For Thought and Level 4 Are You Sure? resources prioritise science, technology and maths concepts so students can apply them to real life issues in a critical and informed way.
“New Zealand needs young people who are at home with, and even passionate about, science, technology and mathematics but our research indicates our students underperform in these areas.
“The Connected series is part of a coordinated resourcing effort by the Ministry of Education to address challenges for science education raised by the Government’s chief science advisor,” says Graham Stoop, Deputy Secretary Student Achievement.
Mr Stoop says much of the world’s knowledge is accessible only to those who have some interest, knowledge and understanding of science, technology and mathematics.
“The Ministry is specifically interested in improving teaching quality and confidence – the Connected series offers an opportunity to do this by strengthening the support available to teachers and students,” he says.
Mr Stoop says the resources are unusual in that they have an open license so teachers can reuse them to suit the specific needs of their students.
“These resources have a digital component which allows for the greater use of rich content – content within content – such as links to video. Some of the articles have been released as Google slides so teachers can directly access the component content.
“It’s very exciting and innovative and I’m very proud of the team responsible for developing the series.”