Pacific E-learning Programme
Improving science education for high school students in the Pacific
CHALLENGE
Improve science outcomes for high school students in the Pacific.
OUTCOME
Local context science content delivered through videos and lesson plans to hundreds of teachers across four Pacific countries via custom offline e-learning platform.
APPROACH
Co-design 100 practical science lessons with local and regional experts that incorporate local context learning.
IMPACT
Increased student engagement with science lessons, and increased teacher confidence in teaching science.
IN PARTNERSHIP WITH
The Pacific e-learning Programme (PeP) is designed to support the national and regional education priorities of Cook Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu.
It promotes innovative approaches for high school teachers to help increase young people's use of scientific knowledge with a local context. The programme is designed to help improve the science learning for Year 10 students in all four countries. Specifically it is targeted at non-specialist teachers who are currently teaching science, some of whom have limited access to teaching and learning resources designed with a local context.
Nanogirl Labs specialises in creating accessible and relevant science content designed to be fun, accessible as well as aligning to the curriculum.
The project resulted in the co-creation of 100 science lessons designed with local context and knowledge at its core thanks to a collaboration with science teachers and experts from across the Pacific region. These ‘Science Fellows’ brought their local experience of teaching and working in scientific industries while helping to ensure that the science content respected indigenous knowledge and culture.
The science content was delivered to the teachers along with embedded Professional Development resources from Wintec which was hosted on a custom e-learning platform developed by Catalpa. To ensure accessibility for all, the program was supported by regional ICT infrastructure and a free mobile device program for all participating teachers.
“Students' assessments results and grades have really improved compared to last year. Last year many students got E and D grade whereas this year with the use of PeP e-content, only 3 needed a nudge whereas the rest have passed.”
—Year 10 Science Teacher, Vanuatu
“The app has helped with simplifying the notes as compared to the yr 10 textbooks. The content is easy to understand and it has helped speed up the delivery of lessons for students.”
—Year 10 Science Teacher, Vanuatu
The program is currently being used by over 100 teachers, reaching over 3000 students across the Pacific region.
Teachers reported that using the lesson content provided by this project increased their students’ confidence in and engagement with science, and has raised their science outcomes. Teachers also reported that their own confidence and ability to teach science has increased since using the content.
The program is currently active in Samoa, Cook Islands, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu and was funded by the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
