Scientist-teacher collaboration: exploring the nature of successful STEM placements in primary school

This paper reports on the processes and impact of STEM volunteers working with primary schools. STEM volunteers are often undergraduate or postdoctoral science or engineering students, or professional scientists and engineers. Primary school teachers can request involvement with STEM volunteers through a range of placement schemes. The teachers involved are often those who hold specific roles for the development of science teaching, learning and assessment practices across the school. In this project, the University of Manchester’s Science & Engineering Education Research and Innovation Hub (SEERIH) acted as project developer and the broker for ‘setting up’ the associations between the schools and the STEM volunteers. This paper reviews what a consultative group (formed from stakeholders, including teachers, STEM volunteers, SEERIH staff, STEMNET staff and University of Manchester Widening Participation staff) identified as features of successful STEM volunteer placements in primary schools, and reports on the findings, observations and interviews with the STEM volunteers and teachers about their experiences.