Evaluating the outcomes of the Curious Minds South Auckland Participatory Science Platform

Recently, the Te Hononga Akoranga - COMET STEM Team have been evaulating the outcomes of the Curious Minds program in South Auckland.

Intern, Joshua Lai from the University of Auckland, analyzed post-project reports from the region looking for specific statements related to outcomes of interest in the projects. His findings are summarized in the following poster by intern Ruchi Bhuta, from Auckland University of Technology:

Participating in the programme has given students the opportunity to recognise the importance of STEM skills in their everyday lives. Teachers who supported students participation have gained new insights and knowledge that they can apply to their teaching. Not only that, teachers have built partnerships with community members and STEM experts as they worked together to answer the science question posed via the programme. Although there was little evidence to suggest that that teachers have gained confidence in developing new partnerships – due perhaps to the timing of the post-project reports – the hope is that the teachers continue to benefit from the relationships established during their participation in the programme. One long term impact of a school’s participation was the attainment of science based teaching and learning materials. We aim to continue to investigate other long term benefits of participatory programmes by carrying out follow up interviews with teachers and students.