Could technology help close one of the biggest education gaps in Australia? That’s the question the Chemistry Education Association (CEA) are setting out to answer with their innovative teaching and learning program.
Through their new project, Ensuring Great Science Teaching for All, and $49,100 in grant assistance from Telematics Trust, the CEA is creating an innovative, tech-enabled program that gives teachers the confidence, technology and skillset to deliver high-quality science education for every student - in particular those in regional, rural and low-income schools.
Across Victoria, it is estimated that as many as one in five general science teachers are “out-of-field,” meaning they teach without formal qualifications in the subject. This is most common in disadvantaged communities, where limited access to professional learning opportunities often compounds educational inequities. The CEA’s project addresses this challenge head-on by offering accessible, technology-driven professional development for teachers, which resources and empowers them to improve long-term student outcomes.
Supporting Foundational Knowledge
Chemistry underpins careers in medicine, engineering, manufacturing, agriculture and more, but many students never get the chance to develop a strong foundation in the subject. Without confident, well-trained teachers, students can miss out on engaging, experiment-based learning that sparks curiosity and opens pathways to further study, and, as such, professional opportunities and development down the line.
The CEA’s initiative combines interactive e-learning with live, online laboratory workshops that teachers can complete in their own classrooms. Additionally, with augmented-reality visualisation tools from ThingLink, participants can explore chemical processes in 3D and directly apply new techniques in real time, ensuring that professional learning is practical, tailored, and immediately relevant.
Starting a Cycle of Success
The ripple effect of great teaching is enormous. Over the three-year project, CEA will train 160 teachers, each reaching around 100 students a year, which will make an impact on over 16,000 young people across Victoria. The program will measure success through improved teacher confidence, greater use of lab-based learning, and rising enrolments in VCE Chemistry.
As CEA Project Officer and University of Melbourne Senior Lecturer, Mick Moylan explains,
“The Chemistry Education Association is really excited to have received funding from the Telematics Trust. We’re going to be working with science teachers all over Victoria, but particularly in rural, remote and low SES schools to improve the way they teach at Years 7 - 10. We’re doing this because great science education can lead to amazing careers in research, but also industry and medical fields, and we’re planning that our project will make the doors to these careers wide open.”
By supporting this project, Telematics Trust is helping bridge a knowledge gap in the delivery of high quality science education for every Victorian student aspiring to learn chemistry, regardless of their postcode.
The Chemistry Education Association’s partnership with Telematics Trust is one such powerful example of how technology, innovation, and community leadership can work together to lift educational outcomes for thousands of Victorian students and teachers alike.
To learn more about the Chemistry Education Association and their programs, visit www.cea.asn.au.
