Volunteering in the Classroom: Planning and Organising Practical STEM Activities

Discover how to plan inspiring and engaging STEM activities

Improve the way you support the teaching and learning of science, technology, engineering, and maths (STEM) subjects as a volunteer with this course designed to help you plan effective practical activities for young people.

This course will help you develop your skills as a volunteer from a STEM background. Upon completion, you will understand how to create an activity plan, with the aim to increase student engagement and inspire more young people in STEM subjects and careers.

Deliver more effective practical classroom activities for STEM subjects

This course will teach you how to organise and prepare for your STEM activities, whether it’s for a lesson in science, technology, engineering, or maths, or for a community group.

Learn the importance of connecting your practical STEM activities with your students’ learning framework and curriculum when supporting teaching of STEM subjects in schools.

Explore ways to link your experiences as a STEM professional to the curriculum. Discover why educators need clear learning objectives when planning and organising STEM activities.

Boost student engagement with inspiring practical STEM activities

Building on your existing skills, this course will give you the tools to inspire young people about STEM careers.

The course walks you through best practice when planning and organising classroom activities for STEM lessons.

You’ll come away a more effective volunteer, ready to work with educators in schools and youth groups. Gain confidence when engaging young people in STEM subjects as well as experience in using learning frameworks and objectives to plan practical classroom activities to promote STEM in schools.

This course has been created for anyone volunteering with young people in STEM. You may be part of a formal volunteering scheme and be known as a STEM champion or STEM ambassador, or you may be a youth volunteering group organiser, field trip educator, working with scout groups (and similar), outdoor pursuit centres, outreach from NGOs.

To get the most out of this course, learners should complete the introductory course beforehand:

• Resources and diversity

This course is not designed for teachers. Please see other courses from STEM Learning for teacher professional development in STEM subjects.