Laureate Professor Marilyn Fleer is a leading expert on early childhood education and development at Monash University. Aishwarya Kansakar is an award-winning engineer in the field of automation and robotics.
Fleer and Kansakar recognised that many girls do not get to experience STEM content at a young age – and decided to do something about it.
With support from the Australian Research Council, they created a program to introduce preschoolers to STEM in an accessible and engaging way.
The project uses Fleer's Conceptual PlayWorld, a research-based model for teaching STEM through play. Engineers and early childhood educators work together in a co-teaching model. Teachers bring concepts and practices of intentional teaching and play-based learning. Engineers bring deep knowledge of engineering concepts.
Using the fairytale of the Shoemaker and the Elves, the children help chief engineer Aishwarya when she announces that her shoe factory was burnt down. The children then try to build a shoe factory in their centre. The kids explore engineering concepts in practice through designing and manufacturing shoes for the elves so that Christmas orders can be filled.
The project successfully introduced children aged between 2 and 5 years to complex manufacturing topics like ‘design for manufacturing’ and ‘lean manufacturing’. It also simulated running a shoe manufacturing factory. This resulted in highly effective learning outcomes.
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