The students from my school enjoyed the chance to team build with other schools and collaboratively problem solve . The day was very well structured and just the right length to keep all participant fully engaged. Students have come away from the event with a better understanding of how good design can help solve some of the issues society faces today . The whole day was a very worthwhile experience for both students and teachers.

Participating students are now their Ambassadors to ‘Creating Fair Spaces’.  The Bathroom project inspired many of our students to consider so many aspects of what assistive devices actually provide . The See Think and Wonder slideshows aim to capture the students thinking, as the thinking behind the building experience provides valuable evidence of the thinking required to be an Ambassador.

This Program encompasses both creative thinking and also the practical construction skills to think of a solution and then make it happen.

As teachers we are always looking for new ways to inspire our students, to encourage them to empathise with others and to look to see how they can make this world a better place. This project combines all these elements – it encourages students to think beyond their own daily problems and to see the needs of others in our society and then to be creative and use all their own personal capabilities to think of something that would be of benefit to someone whose daily routines are just that little bit harder. Watching how motivated our students were on the initial day and in follow up conversations about what all the possibilities are has in turn motivated us and ignited a spark for us to pursue incorporating this kind of problem solving into our Inquiry Units and possibly our specialist program.

During this hands-on ‘STEAM for Humanity’ workshop, Year 10 students were immersed in designing a public facility with the aim of making it accessible to all members of our community. Before designing, students participated in empathy building activities and were surprised to learn that 20% of our world’s population possess some kind of impairment that places restrictions on their lives. Students then experienced first-hand how difficult life can be for these members of our community by participating in a number of everyday practical activities using mobility equipment, such as wheel chairs, pickup frames, walking sticks, white support canes and crutches. Students described how difficult it was to complete everyday tasks when relying upon mobility equipment and how frustrating these restrictions were. They found the simple task of moving in and out of a wheel chair without the ability to move their legs extremely challenging and now noticed elevations in the pavement as an obstacle, particularly if the incline was of a short distance and steep. With the challenges experienced in this activity in mind, students worked collaboratively using the unique ‘Enable Kits’ to design and build an inclusive facility. Teams considered ways they could engineer the environment to allow all people to access the building’s features, such as including outside shelter and seating for those waiting to use the facility and pressure sensory on the ground to open doors for those in wheel chairs. We would like to thank Ms Georgene Bridgeman and Mr Adam Oldmeadow from Akorn Educational Services for presenting this workshop and assisting our Year 10 students to acquire new STEAM skills.

You [the students] have delivered a building – a project in accordance with a client brief with innovation and with great success. You’ve learned about energy, emissions, recycling of materials, transport and innovation and come up with a sustainable solution.

We were blown away by the enthusiasm, ingenuity and engineering problem solving shown by the students. In one day, they developed concepts far beyond any of our expectations and that resemble the solutions we are implementing in the field.