As the Head of Faculty for Mathematics and Digital Technologies at St Patrick’s College Townsville, Adam Juang teaches both one of the oldest subjects in the world along with one of the newest. To bridge the gap between the two, he has developed an innovative “STEM Coding” course for Year 7 to 10 students such that new possibilities are appropriately implemented into the pursuit of learning for a STEM-related future where computational thinking and coding are essential problem-solving skills. Adam’s “STEM Coding” course has been presented and published at several national and international education conferences.
Adam brings a wealth of experience and content knowledge from his nine years of teaching as well as his ongoing Doctor of Education research at the Queensland University of Technology. He has led, supported, designed or developed major innovative practices. In one program titled “Say YES to Mathematics”, Adam selects and sequences curricular content into coherently organised learning programs to establish three positive and empowering environments, enabled with differentiated teaching strategies, to support the engagement and full participation of students. In another program titled “Monitoring and Mentoring’, Adam seeks out low-achieving students to support with tasks and out-of-class tutoring, that are targeted for them to succeed and grow in confidence as a result. Parents have praised the “walk together” (partnership) approach of the program to help their children overcome learning difficulties. “I strongly believe that every student can succeed in Mathematics and I lead my faculty staff to act on such belief.” Adam says. In 2018 Adam coached four students for the Queensland Science Contest Mathematical Investigation to win both the Year 7 and 8 Division and Year 9 and 10 Division. There is a shortage of quality STEM programs designed with girls in mind around regional Queensland, so St Patrick’s College Townsville started in 2017 “#STEM Like a Pats Girl Conference” to run during the National Science Week. As Head of his faculty Adam has been supporting his colleagues to ensure its successful operation. It has since become the premier event for STEM-focussed girls in the Townsville region, attracting last year 170 students from 30 schools and receiving coverage from local media. The school was recently recognised by the Queensland Association of Mathematics Teachers as the only Gold Level Maths-Active School 2019/2020 in North Queensland thanks in part to the innovative practices and leadership of Adam as the Head of Faculty. Congratulations Adam on your nomination.