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July 7, 2014

Bright young minds visit UOW

More than 250 of the state's brightest young minds have descended on UOW for the annual Learning Labs event.

The gifted and talented program, which has doubled its primary school aged intake this year, last week saw students from Year 3 to Year 6 participating in series of workshops focused on debating, digital media, LEGO robotics, maths, creative writing, methodology of games and sports and Egyptian history.

The high school program, which took place on 7-8 July saw high-achieving students participating in a new workshop called ‘Understanding the Grammar of Games and Sports’, which used GoPro and iPad technology to analyse real time game performances, allowing them to analyse the movements of their opposition and themselves and plan for improvement. The students also tested wave energy extraction devices and toured the Australian Institute for Innovative Materials at Innovation Campus, where they were introduced to the world of nanotechnology, 3D printing and electric car research. 

Professor Paul Chandler, executive director of Early Start and Pro Vice-Chancellor (Inclusion & Outreach) said the Learning Labs helped to foster a lifelong love of learning among children.

Learning Labs Project Officer Sarah Smith said the Labs had been steadily building the program since its conception in 2012.

“Each workshop was developed and presented by university academics who are leaders in their field,” Ms Smith said.

“We wanted to give gifted and talented students from the region something different to what they can achieve at school which is a real university experience with a variety of dynamic and challenging workshops,” Ms Smith said.