Grand challenges are ambitious but achievable goals that harness science, technology and innovation to solve important national or global problems and that have the potential to capture the public’s imagination.
The program engages students as they explore deeply some of the biggest challenges facing the 21st century. Students will have the opportunity to enrol and collaborate with other like-minded science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) students in developing solutions to the challenges that face our world. Students will become collaborative problem solvers with expert input from our partners in university and industry as they find possible solutions to these problems.
Students develop connections between their understanding and the real world so they can actively pursue and use STEM based knowledge beyond the simple transmission of content and consider future careers in STEM. A grand challenge has the following key components:
- Accessibility virtual
- Authenticity
- Academic challenge
- Applied learning
- Active exploration
- Adult relationship (experts)
- Assessment (reflection and evaluation).
A grand challenge:
- is organised around an authentic open-ended question and a real world challenge
- is current and involves innovative learning experiences
- requires critical thinking, problem solving, curiosity, creativity, collaboration and communication
- requires students to explore and develop ideas
- incorporates and values student developed questions
- requires inquiry to learn and/or create something new
- incorporates self-reflection and peer feedback to feed forward learning.
Students in the grand challenge will surround a STEM problem with a variety of thinking processes to help them engage, inquire, create and evaluate solutions. A problem-based approach to learning will support students as they collaborate on solutions, apply disciplined reasoning and communication skills to develop a deep understanding and develop the Australian Curriculum P-10 general capabilities.
Australian Curriculum P-10 general capabilities addressed within a grand challenge include:
- critical and creative thinking
- personal and social capability
- ethical understanding
- intercultural understanding and
- information and communication technology capability.
At the completion of the chosen grand challenge, students will receive a certificate of acknowledgement of their new capabilities.
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