Teacher professional development

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- Real-life experiences
for teachers are important,

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as it brings context back to the class.

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Often, students find it hard
to see the real-life value

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in maybe what you're teaching at school,

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so being able to show how
it applies in the real world

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is a fantastic opportunity,

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both for myself, and for the students.

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- It's one thing to just
teach the curriculum,

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but actually to be able to
link that to an application,

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how scientists are using that currently,

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that's more meaningful for students,

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and that's what they're going to remember.

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- Educator on Board is a

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teacher professional
development opportunity

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for Australian STEM teachers,

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where we offer the
opportunity for teachers

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to sail onboard Australia's
blue-water research vessel,

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RV Investigator.

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- As soon as I'd read the
objectives of the voyage,

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it was like it was written for me,

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so I was pretty excited
to be a part of it.

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- So it's a really rough day today.

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- I thought it would be a great experience

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to be able to see how a vessel runs,

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and to be able to bring
that back to the class.

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- What kind of requirements,
or experiences,

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would you need to get on a boat like that?

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- It was really fantastic to
see the kind of things that

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the teachers wanted to know,

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and what it was that the
students wanted to know,

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about working at sea, and
marine science in general.

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So it was really great as a researcher,

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to see that that excitement,
and interest in marine science

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exists at a very early age.

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- So one of the really important things

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about the Investigator,
and the teacher on board,

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is that they get that chance to reconnect,

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be inspired, be reinvigorated,

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and catch up with what the
modern, current technology is,

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and what the current research is doing.

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- Participants get to
see, and participate in

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an amazing diversity of science,

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from witnessing and observing
seabirds, and marine mammals,

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through to hunting for shipwrecks
that have never been seen

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for the first time,

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through to collecting
sediment core samples,

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to look at toxic algal
blooms that have happened

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10 or 20 thousand years in the past.

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So, sailing on board the Investigator

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as part of this program,

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it exposes you to a really
diverse amount of science,

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and each voyage is different,
and each voyage is exciting.

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- When the CPR first went over the stern,

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so that's the Continuous
Plankton Recorder,

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was really exciting, and
then when we opened it up,

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and could see the zooplankton,
and the phytoplankton,

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on the silk, and the excitement
of the scientists face,

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that it's been successful,

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it was infectious,

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and so I too was really excited
about seeing that plankton

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sitting on the top of that silk.

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I've already organized someone to bring

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some dinoflagellate samples

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into the classroom, and show the students

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exactly what they found on this voyage.

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- It was amazing to see the
technology on board the vessel,

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from up on the bridge,

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with their dynamic positioning system.

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- It will give us past
track of the vessel.

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It's quite responsive,

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and it's quite a clever system,

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taking into account all our
winds and seas and swells.

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- And the view you get
from the bridge as well,

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of all the marine life
as we go, was fantastic.

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Provides me with a better understanding of

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how a research vessel runs,

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and being able to bring
that back to the students,

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and provide them with information,

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and all the career opportunities,

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whether they're interested in research,

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or interested in a position as crew

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aboard a vessel like the Investigator.

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- Educator on Board program,

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it's professional
development at it's best.

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It is really important
for the CSIRO to connect

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researchers and teachers.

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Investing in STEMs discipline
is really important

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because those are the disciplines

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that will underpin the jobs of the future.

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- I think I'm a better teacher,
having been on the program.

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I've made so many connections

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with the scientists on board,

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and I'll have those connections
for many years to come.

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- The Educator on Board program will be

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developing curriculum-linked resources,

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based on the science of the voyage,

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and the operations of Investigator,

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and those resources will be available

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through the CSIRO website,

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for all Australian teachers to use.

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- If there's any teacher out there

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that's thinking about
applying for this program,

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I would say, grab it with both hands,

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and jump in boots-and-all.

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It is just a unique experience,

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and certainly one that
I will never forget.