Centre ignites student interest
tawell educational leaders are confident a program linking into the southern hemisphere’s first dark matter centre is boosting student enthusiasm for science subjects.
Late last year, ARC Centre of Excellence for Dark Matter Particle Physics formed a partnership with Stawell Secondary College to develop learning resources and activities for students.
The program will link into the location of Stawell Underground Physics Laboratory, SUPL.
College principal Carlos Lopez said the programs had ignited greater student interest in science subjects across all year levels at the school.
“One of the strengths this program has had is there has been a huge promotion of STEM, science, technology, engineering and mathematics, subjects,” he said.
“Another important factor has been a very enthusiastic cross-section of science teachers, which is unusual for a regional town because staffing schools in the regions is often tough.”
Mr Lopez said the dark matter programs also contributed to an increase in the number of female students participating in physics.
“Anecdotally in 2020, I was teaching physics across Stawell and Horsham and for the first time I know of, there were more girls than boys in those classes,” he said.
“Part of that was due to the dark matter lab, but the other part was due to girls getting more enthused about science.”
Mr Lopez said the Stawell college was confident its engagement with the dark matter centre would promote the importance of curiosity and inquiry in the context of major developments in the field of physics.
“It’s been really refreshing to see the scientific community embracing education,” he said.
“This is really at the cusp of human knowledge and it’s almost like getting into an explorers’ boat in the 1700s and saying, ‘we don’t know what we’re going to see, but we’ll embark on that journey’.”
Mr Lopez said he hoped the college’s renewed interest in science subjects would encourage students to pursue careers in science and ultimately give back to their community.
“It would be very advantageous for rural Victoria to train students in the country to work in regional areas in the field of science in sectors such as agricultural science or renewable energies,” he said.
The college worked with dark matter centre education and outreach co-ordinator Jackie Bondell to design the education program.
Ms Bondell said the partnership and the proximity
to the potentially world-changing research inspired an interest in science and physics among Stawell students.
“Students have just had so many follow-up questions and are very engaged,” she said.
“That circles back around to all the work Carlos and all the teachers do there because they have such a great culture for science.”
Australian template
Ms Bondell said the program developed for Stawell would likely be used as a template for other schools across Australia.
“We’re piloting our ideas with Stawell Secondary College,” she said.
“The idea is that we’re going to create regional hubs with various partner schools.
“The idea is that we’re going to be running this program in other states where our scientists at University of Western Australia, Australian National University and University of Sydney can be the institutions to deliver these activities and work with schools.”
ARC Centre of Excellence for Dark Matter Particle Physics in Melbourne was established last year to bring together physicists from across Australia, in partnership with key international researchers and institutions, to pursue the discovery of dark matter.
Dark matter is a mysterious substance that holds galaxies together and constitutes 80 percent of the matter of the universe.
Its existence is inferred from its gravitational interaction and the exploration of the nature of dark matter is considered science’s next frontier.