Stemiverse 0034 – Dr Jane Hunter on High Possibility Classrooms 

In this episode, Dr. Peter Dalmaris and Marcus Schappi talk with Dr. Jane Hunter.

Jane is a former primary and high school teacher. She is currently leading a series of postdoctoral research studies in Australia to build teacher capacity in STEM and STEAM in schools. Her work reinforces the importance of pedagogy and ongoing teacher professional learning through action learning in school-university partnerships.

The pedagogical framework featured in her recent book: “Technology integration and High Possibility Classrooms: Building from TPACK” is leading education change and new thinking in schools. Jane also teaches pre-service teachers in the Master of Teaching Program (Secondary) in the School of Education at the University of Technology, Sydney.

This is Stemiverse Podcast episode 34.

Stemiverse podcast is brought to you by Tech Explorations, a leading provider of educational resources for Makers, STEM students, and teachers. Go to techexplorations.com to see a complete list of our books and courses covering the Arduino, Raspberry Pi, and electronics.

Show Notes

• [00:00] Introduction – Introducing Dr. Jane Hunter
• [03:15] Jane talks about her childhood and her innate love for learning and teaching
• [05:05] Jane’s parents’ influence during her childhood years
• [07:34] Jane talks about her background and what lead her to be “a humanities’ person working in the STEM space”
• [10:44] Jane’s current research and teaching activities regarding classroom teaching & learning and pedagogy
• [13:03] Professor Russell Tytler
• [14:27] High Possibility Classrooms and their Conceptions: Theory-Creativity-Public Learning-Life Preparation-Contextual Accommodations
• [14:55] Student Learning Processes and Teaching Strategies – New South Wales model of Quality Teaching – Fred M. Newmann
• [16:07] Ken Robinson – Anna Craft
• [16:30] Jane’s Book: Technology Integration and High Possibility Classrooms: Building from TPACK
• [17:16] Introduction to TPACK: Mishra and Koehler built on Lee Shulman‘s idea of Pedagogical Content Knowledge
• [20:03] How the framework of High Possibility Classrooms can be applied in a classroom
• [24:57] “Planning hard to teach easy”
• [26:03] Life preparation examples – Working on real-world problems
• [30:25] Reforming pedagogy in earlier years of school vs. later years
• [33:50] Parramatta Marist High School
• [35:23] Jane’s opinion of changes in University entry methods such as project-based vs. exams – Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Vice-President of UTS Professor Shirley Alexander, Ted Dintersmith, Tony Wagner (book: Most Likely to Succeed: Preparing Our Kids for the Innovation Era)
• [38:02] Assessing projects with the use of AI
• [38:39] Women in subjects like engineering – Professor Michelle Simmons horrified at the “feminized” nature of the HSC physics curriculum
• [42:23] The work of the teacher is becoming more complicated – Teachers that inspire students – Paying teachers more & having teaching assistants
• [45:58] What workload would Jane offload to teaching assistants?
• [49:32] Parents struggling with their kids’ screen time – Ruha Benjamin, Princeton University (keynote speech in ISTE 2016 Conference & Expo, Denver)
• [51:41] How should Public Schools get money from the government and the need for resources
• [52:54] Dr. Jane Hunter – High possibility STEM classrooms Talk at UTS
• [53:51] Auxiliary but central issues in Education
• [55:29] Quantum Physics for Babies, by Chris Ferrie
• [56:15] Is STEM really about STEM or something else?
• [59:30] Thoughts regarding STEM as a field of Teacher Education
• [01:00:39] Book Recommendations – Jane’s Academia Profile
• [01:03:50] Will AI take over the role of teachers? Professor Genevieve Bell, Boyer Lectures: Fast, Smart and Connected
• [01:05:04] Mark Scott and The Education for a Changing World – Symposium 2017, #futurefrontiers
• [01:05:27] What happens to Teachers when you can download whatever you want to learn?
• [01:06:11] New Vision for Education by the World Economic Forum
• [01:06:37] Beyond just transmitting data to the students
• [01:08:14] How should new Educators get prepared for teaching STEM?
• [01:11:26] Teacher Education at UTS
• [01:12:14] Jane’s Contact Information: Email, Twitter, HPC Website