EUB452 Integrated STEM Investigation Project
To view more information for this unit, select Unit Outline from the list below. Please note the teaching period for which the Unit Outline is relevant.
| Unit code: | EUB452 |
|---|---|
| Equivalent(s): | CRB047 |
| Credit points: | 12 |
| Timetable | Details in HiQ, if available |
| Availabilities |
|
| CSP student contribution | $1,192 |
| Domestic tuition unit fee | $5,364 |
| International unit fee | $5,952 |
Unit Outline: Semester 1 2026, Kelvin Grove, Internal
| Unit code: | EUB452 |
|---|---|
| Credit points: | 12 |
| Equivalent: | CRB047 |
| Coordinator: | James Davis | jp.davis@qut.edu.au |
Overview
Practitioners of STEM almost always require an ability to define problems connected with the needs and values of others, formulate justifiable questions, develop investigation methods that are rigorous and evidence-based, interpret data, and communicate findings verbally and in writing. This unit will build on foundational and specialist discipline knowledge, skills, and capabilities gained throughout your units of prior study. This unit prepares you to think critically about complex problems that can be addressed with STEM knowledge with a focus on the sciences (i.e. physics, chemistry, biology, earth science, or geography) and mathematics. During this unit you will critically analyse and reflect on your work and that of your peers, you will gain a deeper understanding of scientific methods, technology design and/or mathematical modelling and reasoning, and will become confident in applying them.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this unit you will be able to:
- Apply comprehensive professional knowledge by evaluating STEM investigations to understand the connections between real-world scenarios, researchable problems, research aims or questions and STEM methods.
- Lead and create innovative, integrated STEM knowledge by critically analysing a published STEM investigation and planning your own STEM project relevant to your disciplinary interests.
- Collaborate and develop professional networks while applying advanced skills in a scientific and/or mathematical investigation involving the translation of STEM knowledge, skills and capabilities to a STEM education context of your choosing.
- Critically interpret, reason with, and evaluate scientific and/or mathematical data in an integrated STEM context with an emphasis on your disciplinary interests.
- Communicate complex scientific and/or mathematical knowledge by translating in writing, aspects of a STEM investigation into a STEM education context.
- Reframe challenges into opportunities for human capability development through STEM projects, by applying the Entrepreneurial Competency Framework as a heuristic for self-determined learning, self-learning and capability development in STEM education contexts.
- Ethically and responsibly conduct STEM practices as applied to investigation contexts.
Content
In this unit you will undertake the following:
1. Critically analyse and evaluate a published STEM project from your discipline of interest and report on its structure and features with respect to its connectivity to a real-world context and complex problem, its coherence across context, aims, research questions, methods, findings and value creation for others.
2. In a group, plan an integrated STEM investigation, with guidance from more experienced scientists and/or mathematicians (i.e. your unit coordinator and/or tutor). The plan will illustrate your group’s understanding about the coherence of a STEM project, a detailed understanding of analytical methods and the ways in which the project may create value for others.
3. Reflect on your capacity for developing capabilities as a STEM learner that may promote agency and self-determined learning in professional STEM education contexts.
4. Communicate your understanding of STEM project coherence, the potential for human capability development through STEM projects and the translation of STEM knowledge, skills and capabilities to STEM education contexts.
Learning Approaches
This unit will be framed with heutagogical principles to promote learner capabilities for self-directed and self-determined learning, relevant for becoming a professional STEM teacher. Self-determined learning will be promoted with a learning heuristic to promote reflection on the ways in which STEM projects may support human capability development. In this unit you will learn by engaging with discipline-specific knowledge in integrated STEM contexts. You will: (1) critically explore a published STEM project and report on your analysis of the project; (2) co-create an integrated STEM project with a group of peers; (3) translate aspects of your co-created project into a STEM education context of your own choosing; (4) reflect on the development of human capabilities as a learning outcome of STEM projects in educational settings. Your learning may be supported by Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) with ethical and responsible use of the technology. The parameters of ethical and responsible use will be outlined by the unit coordinator and your tutor.
Feedback on Learning and Assessment
Assessment for learning will be applied in this unit, which means participation in learning activities is important for addressing the assessment items. You will receive tutor feedback during workshop discussion, and tutor-peer feedback following your workshop presentations, as formative feedback. Summative feedback on Assignment 1 will be provided during the semester. Assignment 2 will include student-led workshop presentations, and this will involve an opportunity for tutor-peer feedback. Both assignments adopt an assessment-for-learning strategy so that weekly workshops support assessment.
Assessment
Overview
Formative assessment by peers, teaching staff, industry, and external end user stakeholders will occur throughout the semester, including opportunities to meet formally with your tutor and via tutorial activities designed to assist with specific aspects of investigation. Summative assessment in this unit is in two parts:
- Report on Published STEM Project
- STEM Translation Project
These two parts are designed to support your analysis, design, implementation, communication and translation of your project work.
Unit Grading Scheme
7- point scale
Assessment Tasks
Assessment: Report on Published STEM Project
This assessment is based on learning activities across weeks 1-6. You will select a published article that describes a STEM investigation project with a disciplinary emphasis of your choice and ideally connected to your teaching area discipline. You will apply STEM knowledge to explore your chosen project by critically analysing and evaluating the article and creating a report that illustrates your knowledge of the STEM investigation processes. Your report will be presented in a Powerpoint format using text, figures, tables and/or embedded video with annotated commentary that illustrates your knowledge and its application. If you choose to use GenAI you will also detail your methods for prompting the technology and critically evaluating the technology outputs consistent with ethical and responsible use of AI in STEM investigations.
The ethical and responsible use of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools is authorised in this assessment. See the relevant assessment details in Canvas for specific guidelines.
This assignment is eligible for the 48-hour late submission period and assignment extensions.
Assessment: STEM Translation Project
This assessment will be based on learning activities across weeks 7 to 12. These learning activities will comprise of: (1) co-creation of a STEM project with a group of peers; (2) ongoing learner reflection using a weekly capabilities heuristic; (3) opportunities to collaborate with peers via weekly student-led presentations on work-in-progress; (4) development of your project to translate aspects of STEM to an educational context. Assessment will comprise of an individual STEM Translation Project that will reframe and communicate aspects of your group STEM project into a STEM education context of your choosing. A STEM education context may include a specific K-12 school year level(s) and subject area(s), or an informal, online, gamified or extracurricular learning context, or another context as approved by your tutor. Whilst the group STEM project and tutorial activities are a vehicle for this assessment, the individual assessment component focuses on how you translate aspects of the group project into you chosen educational context.
The ethical and responsible use of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools is authorised in this assessment. See the relevant assessment details in Canvas for specific guidelines.
This assignment is eligible for the 48-hour late submission period and assignment extensions.
Academic Integrity
Academic integrity is a commitment to undertaking academic work and assessment in a manner that is ethical, fair, honest, respectful and accountable.
The Academic Integrity Policy sets out the range of conduct that can be a failure to maintain the standards of academic integrity. This includes, cheating in exams, plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion and contract cheating. It also includes providing fraudulent or altered documentation in support of an academic concession application, for example an assignment extension or a deferred exam.
You are encouraged to make use of QUT’s learning support services, resources and tools to assure the academic integrity of your assessment. This includes the use of text matching software that may be available to assist with self-assessing your academic integrity as part of the assessment submission process.
Breaching QUT’s Academic Integrity Policy or engaging in conduct that may defeat or compromise the purpose of assessment can lead to a finding of student misconduct (Code of Conduct – Student) and result in the imposition of penalties under the Management of Student Misconduct Policy, ranging from a grade reduction to exclusion from QUT.
Resources
The following resource materials will be used throughout this unit.
Resource Materials
Recommended text(s)
Bacigalupo, M., Kampylis, P., Punie, Y., & Van den Brande, G. (2016). EntreComp: The entrepreneurship competence framework. Luxembourg: Publication Office of the European Union; EUR 27939 EN; https://doi.org/10.2791/593884
Valiela, I. (2001). Doing science: Design, analysis, and communication of scientific research. New York: Oxford University Press.
Risk Assessment Statement
There are no out-of-the-ordinary risks associated with the general conduct of this unit. Workplace health and safety protocols in relation to computer use will apply.