STEM Hour: Supporting Transitions through Place-Based STEM Learning

When children move between home, early learning, and school, they often face new people and expectations. Children’s confidence in these transitions will depend on whether they feel a strong sense of connection between and belonging in each space — and STEM is a powerful tool to support this.

In this STEM Hour, Dr. Jayson Cooper from the University of Melbourne will draw on examples from the early years research projects STEM Bridge and STEM Learning Ecologies to illustrate how:

• Educators can design STEM learning experiences to support children’s transitions.
• Early learning settings, schools, families, and communities can work together to create connected STEM environments that foster children’s belonging and agency.
• STEM can help educators create culturally responsive practices, for example, by connecting STEM learning with children’s cultural identities, languages, and lived experiences.

At the heart of this approach is multimodal place-based education: the understanding that children learn in a variety of ways — through drawing, building, storytelling, movement, and digital tools — while also engaging with the real-world places and communities that matter most to them.

In this STEM Hour, educators will explore:

• The many ways children learn and express themselves through STEM.
• How STEM can ease transitions and build children’s sense of continuity.
• Practical examples of multimodal, place-based education in action.
• Strategies to connect STEM with children’s cultures, communities, and identities.
• How STEM can foster belonging, agency, and connection across learning environments.
• Provocations and ideas to inspire culturally responsive STEM practices.

This session is designed for educators and teachers working with children 0-8 years who are eager to deepen their understanding of STEM’s role in supporting transitions and fostering meaningful, place-connected learning.

This STEM Hour will be held on:
Monday 16 November 2026
Time zones: 1-2pm (AEDT), 12-1pm (AEST), 10-11am (AWST), 12:30-1:30pm (ACDT), 11:30am-12:30pm (ACST)

About our speaker:

Dr. Jayson Cooper is a Lecturer in Early Childhood Education at the University of Melbourne. His research and teaching explore how STEM, the arts, and place-based pedagogies can create meaningful connections between children, families, and communities.

Jayson leads projects such as STEM Learning Ecologies, Listening In and Sounding Out (Gowrie South Australia), STEM Learning Ecologies (Catholic Education South Australia), and STEM for Community Action, all of which explore culturally responsive, multimodal approaches to STEM that connect children, families, and communities.