Scitech respectfully acknowledges the Whadjuk people of the Noongar nation, who are the traditional owners of the land on which our Discovery Centre and offices are located. We are honoured to be welcomed as guests on lands in regional and remote across Western Australia.
We recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the first STEM practitioners, and value their knowledge as engineers, problem-solvers and innovators of this land.
We pay our respects to the Elders past, present and emerging.
This year at Scitech we have been looking to the future with exciting developments in the Discovery Centre that will engage our current generations in how science affects them now and show how they can be part of the innovations that will create our future.
Scitech’s Discovery Centre offers children and adults of any age the ability to be inspired and engage their mind through multiple areas and a diverse range of experiences.
Participating in research allows Scitech to better understand the impact our programs, content and resources have for our audiences, as well as supporting and contributing to the scientific studies and research happening in Western Australia. This year, Scitech collaborated on research with the University of Western Australia, the University of Notre Dame and Curtin University.
Collaboration with the University of Western Australia
Scitech approached the Science Communication unit at the University of Western Australia to conduct a detailed study of the social impact of Scitech in the Western Australian community.
While many of Scitech’s programs and experiences are thoroughly evaluated to investigate short-term outcomes, we wanted to capture a holistic understanding of the impact of everything we do and how that influences the wider WA community.
Using the framework of science capital, as described by Archer et al. (2015)1, a pilot study was developed to measure the science capital of adults in Western Australia who had previously engaged with Scitech and understand how their Scitech experiences contributed to their overall science capital. The science capital survey, originally developed for high-school students, was adapted and sent to subscribers in Scitech’s database, including Members, Educators and recent visitors who were interested in participating in research projects.
The pilot survey received over 700 responses, and findings showed that even within Scitech’s database of subscribers, there was a representative spread of people with lower and higher levels of science capital, meaning Scitech is connecting with people who are highly engaged and less engaged with science in their everyday lives.
A random sample of survey participants was also invited to participate in follow-up interviews, to understand more about their relationship with science, their work and everyday lives and their engagement with Scitech’s offerings. Data collection is still happening across July, and the research team expect to be able to share findings by the end of 2024.
1 Archer, L., Dawson, E., DeWitt, J., Seakins, A., & Wong, B. (2015). “Science capital”: A conceptual, methodological, and empirical argument for extending bourdieusian notions of capital beyond the arts. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 52(7), 922–948. https://doi.org/10.1002/tea.21227
Collaboration with the University of Notre Dame
The Chevron Lighthouse Maths program was established in 2021 to develop the capability of primary teachers as leaders in structured inquiry maths approaches.
The program aims to upskill and enable participants to mentor other teachers to teach mathematics using problem-solving and reasoning techniques to develop a deeper conceptual understanding through challenging tasks.
In 2023, Scitech approached researchers from the School of Education at the University of Notre Dame to evaluate the program, aiming to understand how it influences teachers’ self-efficacy and approaches to teaching maths. The four coaches and 30 teachers participating in the program in 2024 were approached to participate in the evaluation at the start of this year. The University of Notre Dame research team conducted interviews with the Lighthouse Maths Coaches.
Participating teachers have completed pre- and mid-program questionnaires, and a random sample also participated in a short focus group following the mid-year meeting to gather further detail about their self-efficacy in mathematics, problem-solving and teaching mathematics. This research project is due to conclude at the end of this year, and the findings will be used to inform the direction of the program moving forward.
The Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for the Digital Child, based at Curtin University
Scitech has been collaborating with the ARC Centre of Excellence for the Digital Child since 2020, with a range of different research collaborations and projects investigating how children growing up in the 21st century engage with digital technologies. Over the last 12 months, there have been exciting developments in three of these projects: Scitech Online Learning, The Creative Cove, and a Transmedia PhD project.
Scitech Online Learning
Following data collection in 2022, PhD student Kimberly Maslin and colleagues published the first article from the project Fostering children’s creativity with STEM activities in online learning environments, based on findings from the virtual delivery of a series of science demonstrations, a puppet show and hands-on science activities.
The article2, titled “Sky’s the limit: a case study in fostering young children’s creativity during STEM online learning experiences” discussed the importance of providing the school with materials for students to participate in a hands-on experience (to accompany the virtual presentations), and using communication strategies such as questioning to encourage problem-solving and creative thinking amongst the students.
The authors discussed how structuring the activities and scaffolding the information actually encouraged the children’s creativity as they took the time to slow down and consider the possibilities, further exploring the STEM concepts they were investigating (Maslin et al., 2024). This article is the first scholarly publication from Scitech’s collaboration with the ARC Centre of Excellence for the Digital Child, and highlights important guidelines for future program development and opportunities to expand our reach using virtual program delivery.
The Creative Cove
The Creative Cove also has its first article published3, discussing how digital coding discussing how digital coding devices can encourage creative thinking amongst young children. The Creative Cove study was hosted at Scitech in Term 1, 2023, with a small group of 4- and 5-year-old children visiting each week for a Digital Discovery Program. Over the eight weekly sessions, the children were introduced to three different tangible coding devices and encouraged to learn how they worked and share their learnings through photos, drawings, and other digital artefacts. Key findings included understanding more about the process of creative thinking in young children, and the multimodal nature of such learning experiences, including visual, auditory, reading and writing, and kinaesthetic learning. Implications for practice included the value of incorporating everyday items (such as building blocks and cardboard boxes) as well as digital technology devices to encourage curiosity, experimentation and risk-taking to foster children’s creativity. The authors also outlined the importance of resourcing these programs appropriately, including providing educators and facilitators (such as science communicators) with appropriate professional development to include digital coding devices in early childhood settings appropriately and how to facilitate conversations during play. Importantly for Scitech, the study also highlighted the importance of educators role-modelling good techniques to parents, such as asking open questions, encouraging children’s agency in their play and allowing children time to solve their own problems and achieve outcomes independently.
Transmedia
PhD student Simon Daniele began recruiting participants for his project, Child Problem-solving
in STEM: Using a transmedia approach to foster engagement with science discovery centre
experiences. The project launched in August 2024 and aims to investigate how transmedia learning
approaches can be incorporated into Scitech’s activities, programs and experiences. The transmedia
learning experience will run during August and September, with children aged 6 to 8 years old and
their families invited to complete activities at home and at the Discovery Centre. Participants will share photos, drawings and reflections with other children to showcase their experiences, and interviews will be conducted at the end of the transmedia learning experience to understand more parents’ and children’s perceptions of their learning.
2Maslin, K., Murcia, K., Blackley, S., Lowe, G. (2024). ‘Sky’s the limit’: a case study in fostering young children’s creativity during STEM online learning experiences. The Australian Education Researcher. 1-22. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13384-024-00739-8
3Tang, K. S., Murcia, K., Brown, J., Cross, E., Mennell, S., Seitz, J., Phillips, S. R. P., Sabatino, D. (2024). Exploring the multimodal affordances of digital coding devices in fostering creative thinking in early childhood education. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 53, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsc.2024.101602
For those who live in the Perth metropolitan area, Scitech is often synonymous with the Scitech Discovery Centre in West Perth. However, we know that for many in Western Australia, access to the Discovery Centre isn’t possible due to location or financial barriers. This is why we take our experiences to the community across the state through our Statewide outreach programs, events and cross-organisation collaborations to ensure as many Western Australians as possible have the opportunity to be inspired by science.
Scitech is a not-for-profit organisation and registered charity, and this year we launched our Philanthropy Program giving individuals, trusts and foundations a formal avenue to support our crucial work.
Admission to the Discovery Centre and other events and programs only covers a portion of the vast services we provide. We rely heavily on generous contributions of corporations, foundations, and the government to fund our work so that we can reach as many people as possible. Expanding into fundraising for the first time is an important and essential step for Scitech to be able to continue to deliver science learning, including to those who have financial and accessibility barriers.
A new Scitech donations platform was created where individuals and organisations can make one-off or ongoing donations or leave a gift to Scitech in their will. Our first fundraising appeal was a Tax Appeal which ran during June and focused on raising money for the School Access Program. Funds raised will allow us to provide free admission to 400 children who otherwise could not afford it.
We also launched the Luminosity Circle, our donor circle program which aims to bring together a collective of like-minded philanthropists who want to ensure that all Western Australians have access to world-class science experiences. Donors gifting $1,000 or more over 12 months can direct their gift to an area they are most passionate about: Exhibitions, First Nations, Regional Access, or Access and Inclusion.
Scitech is on a mission to engage as many Western Australians in science as we can. Our Philanthropy Program gives the WA community, who we know are as passionate about science as we are, the opportunity to join us on this mission. Together we can invest in the next generation and a better future for WA.
Scitech’s Statewide team takes our science workshops, shows and experiences on the road to regional and remote Western Australia, from Kununurra to Albany.
Our school engagement program visits every primary school every three years to ensure students across the state get to experience science in a way that is fun and interactive, allowing them to see how relevant science is to them and their everyday life. Regular collaboration with the School of the Air allows further isolated students to experience hands-on science lessons through virtual workshops.
Scitech’s presence at community events allows us to introduce new audiences to the fun and interactivity of a Scitech experience, providing families a chance to play, learn and connect and find their love of science. Our community activation includes transportable exhibits, lawn activities, science demonstrations and interactions with our passionate Science Communicators.
In September, we were part of the Perth Royal Show and over eight days engaged more than 19,500 people via stage shows and our activation, a 20% increase on 2022. We also saw deeper visitor engagement from people staying longer, with the average activation dwell time up by more than 60% from 2022.
In March, we attended Mandurah Crab Fest for the first time, engaging more than 8,500 people over two days. The event offered a great opportunity to be part of a hugely popular community event which sees Mandurah locals and families from across Perth attend.
May saw us at the Career’s Expo, our first time at this annual event. We were one of more than 100 exhibitors who across four days engaged 13,500 visitors including 6,886 secondary students. The Careers Expo was the perfect context to nurture an interest in science and technology in teenagers and young adults who are actively considering what they want their future to involve. The Scitech booth was a collaboration with Particle, Scitech’s independent media hub featuring online articles and podcasts that connect young adults to science from Western Australia and beyond.
We were also invited to join TEDxKingsPark for the first time, at their event at the State Theatre Centre around the theme of Future Technology. Among five speakers from the WA science community, Scitech presented a specially curated show about how we use performance and humour to deliver science communication that engages multiple senses and sparks curiosity, to showcase how informal science experiences are an important part of inspiring young people to be the next generation of innovators.
Scitech attended events in regional areas including the Telethon Kids Institute Broome Festival of STEM in August, Coolgardie Day in September, the Albany WA Festival in June, and the 2023 Desert Dust Up, an annual camp which brought together the seven campuses of the Ngaanyatjarra Lands School in the Western Desert, more than 700kms west of Alice Spring, for three days of activities.
Another way Scitech engages with the community is through partnering with like-minded organisations, who share our purpose of inspiring Western Australians in science. In November, we co-hosted Astrofest as part of the Astrofest Committee. Held at Curtin University Stadium, this free annual family event brings together astronomy enthusiasts and experts to enjoy all things space with Scitech bringing a pop-up version of our Discovery Shop and performing our science show Under Pressure.
Our ongoing collaboration with Women in Technology WA began in Term 4, 2023, with their Techtrails STEM Incursion program. This program connects high school students with STEM professionals, with a focus on women working in STEM fields, to empower young people and particularly girls to see themselves in these careers. By participating in the program, our Science Communicators are able to directly talk to secondary students and engage them in activities to show them the different ways science has real world applications.
After inspiring and engaging Western Australians in the Discovery Centre, Scitech’s feature exhibitions travel around the world to international science centres to showcase Western Australian exhibit design and innovation to international audiences.
Scitech has 9 exhibitions touring internationally, all designed and built in our onsite workshop, hired by sciences centres across North America, Asia and the Middle East. International touring is valuable in expanding Scitech’s outreach beyond Western Australia to global audiences.
It presents a great opportunity to form partnerships with other science museums to promote WA as a leader in science and innovation and develop international relationships that can support those being built in other areas. International touring also provides an important revenue stream for Scitech and as a not-for-profit organisation this helps us to continue to support Western Australians with science engagement through the ability to create new exhibitions, programs and show experiences for local audiences.
Ensuring our experiences are accessible to everyone is hugely important to us at Scitech. Across the organisation, this focus on accessibility and inclusion has led to the development of shows, events and initiatives that mean we can ensure all our visitors can take part in science experiences and see themselves in science.
The Scitech Discovery Centre hosted several events including our regular Sensory Mornings for those with sensory needs. These see the Discovery Centre open earlier with limited numbers for a quieter, less busy experience. A Sensory Station includes ear protectors, fidget gadgets, sunglasses, and cotton gloves for visitors to use. A tailored planetarium show is also offered as part of the session.
In October on White Cane Day, Scitech tailored an event for sight-impaired visitors. The Scitech Discovery Centre was adapted to allow for easier physical movement, staff were available to help visitors find exhibits that had been identified as accessible for sight-impaired visitors, and a special science presentation with audible and tactile science was put on. A science theatre show was included which featured a touch tour as well as being audio described.
We worked with the deaf community in WA to host students and educators from Mosman Park School for Deaf Children and Shenton College Deaf Education Centre at the Scitech Discovery Centre. This event tailored coding challenge activities and Auslan-interpreted shows including a captioned planetarium show.
Two new live shows were created, focussing on inclusivity and accessibility. Mix and Make was a science show performed silently to ensure that hearing and language were not barriers to enjoying the show and understand the science behind the experiments. A brand new puppet show Quokkavision aimed at under 5’s explored the sense of sight, demonstrating how we all perceive the world differently and how we can use optics and lenses to adjust and enhance what we see. The show was created in collaboration with Optometry WA.
Support from our partners allows us to deliver a range of key programs that develop teachers’ skills, engage with schools in regional areas and provide experiences to students and families who face financial barriers. Through collaboration with organisations who share our purpose, we are able to expand our reach and impact in the community.
It’s a common misconception about maths that you are either good at it or not. Lighthouse Maths is a year-long professional learning program that aims to dispel that myth, showing that for students and teachers who struggle with learning and teaching maths, it comes down to confidence.
Delivered in partnership with Chevron Australia, Lighthouse Maths builds teachers’ skills and confidence by using a problem-solving approach to teaching maths. This approach sees students working together, using their shared knowledge and understanding to find a solution, with teachers using targeted questioning to prompt further learning. This way students discover how many different approaches and solutions there are to the same problem, and build their problem-solving, collaboration, and reasoning skills.
The program includes an after-school community event called Mystery of the Mathematical Menace where families must work together to solve problems at interactive stations, finding clues to uncover the suspect’s identity. This allows parents and carers to see the problem-solving skills their children have been learning in action and shows them that working on maths problems with their children can be fun and as easy as asking questions.
In an increasingly digital world, it’s important we equip students with the skills to participate in the future workforce and in everyday life.
The Alcoa Digital Technologies Enrichment Program supports teachers to develop their skills and confidence to introduce digital technologies learning across all subject areas, leading to enhanced student understanding and engagement.
Teachers are provided with support and resources, including a class set of micro:bits, pocket sized computers, allowing students to learn how to use block-coding by applying problem-solving skills, creativity and collaboration across the curriculum.
For example, students could use the micro:bit to measure distances without a ruler or tell a story through animation and sound.
The program gives teachers the opportunity to become leaders in their school by helping other teachers to implement learning through digital technologies in their classrooms. Participants from each school also come together for several workshops and reflection sessions, further developing teacher networks, skill sharing and community.
Future Computing is a professional learning and student workshop program delivered to a focus primary school in the Pilbara each year and aims to build teachers’ confidence in teaching physical computing.
Facilitated by Scitech with support from Mitsui Iron Ore Development, the program provides coaching and hands-on workshops, allowing teachers to gain experience in planning and delivering physical computing lessons in their classroom. Students engage in problem-solving and collaborative learning through coding activities with the Raspberry Pi technology provided by the program.
In 2023, the focus school was St Paul’s Primary School, who finished last year’s program with Pi-Jam Day. This saw students, along with students from last years’ focus school Tambrey Primary School, challenged to build and code an interactive colour changing mood lantern using the Raspberry Pi technology, demonstrating the coding skills they have learnt through the program.
STEM Club is an after-school program delivered by Scitech at select Perth metro primary schools running weekly for eight weeks.
The program is designed for Year 4 – 6 students and immerses them in hands-on science projects that extend their design skills and allows them to discover how STEM concepts have real world applications. Schools are able to pick one of four unique modules for their STEM Club: Electrifying Circuits, Motion & Energy, Animatronics and mBots Coding.
Students engage in projects such as building a gravity defying glider or coding and constructing an animatronic figure which sees them developing skills such as collaboration, creativity and problem solving. STEM Club aims to provide a safe and supportive environment where students can feel comfortable making mistakes as they test and refine their designs. The program is delivered free, thanks to support from Woodside Energy.
The program targets students at schools with a low Index of Community Socioeducational Advantage (ICSEA) score, ensuring that students facing financial barriers are able to access the hands-on science and technology experiences provided by the program. In 2023, 247 students who participated in the program were surveyed with 92% agreeing they had learned new things since starting STEM Club, 82% agreeing they had gained new skills and 71% agreeing they felt more confident problem-solving.
Launched by the Australian Government in 2009, the Inspiring Australia initiative was created to meet the growing demand for skills in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Inspiring Australia aims to raise awareness of the crucial role science plays in everyday life and spark curiosity and excitement about science across Australia.
In Western Australia, Inspiring Australia program is delivered through Scitech and the Department of Jobs, Tourism, Science and Innovation. The program aims to build a vibrant, statewide STEM network that connects communities with the wonders of science and provides grant funding to support science-focused events across the state.
Inspiring Western Australia partners with STEM organisations throughout the state to bring National Science Week to life, Australia’s annual, weeklong celebration of all things STEM. With the program’s support, communities from Perth to the farthest reaches of the state are able to host exciting events that inspire and engage people of all ages.
Beyond National Science Week, Inspiring Western Australia is dedicated to promoting science learning and innovation, especially in underrepresented communities. By funding events and building partnerships, the program ensures that everyone, especially those often excluded, can explore, discover, and engage with science.
Scitech is a not-for-profit organisation proudly supported by the Western Australian Government through the Department of Jobs, Tourism, Science and Innovation
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