Australia’s Best Teachers: Science teacher Stella Ding’s clever application of gaming inspires students
Stella Ding’s unique way of relating to her students has seen the NSW science teacher develop engaging lessons based on gaming.
NSW
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When a student has that “light bulb moment” – when they finally understand something once so foreign to them – Stella Ding is reminded of her “why”.
The award-winning science teacher from The Ponds High School has a long list of professional achievements but Ms Ding counts her biggest wins by the progress of each individual student.
“The one thing that really makes me love teaching is when your students have that light bulb moment about something they’ve never understood,” she said.
“Being able to nurture students is something I feel I’ve always been drawn to. That’s what I love about my job.”
Ms Ding is known for bringing the fun to learning, having founded an after-school STEM (science, Technology, engineering and mathematics) Club, attracting more than 30 students a week.
She also developed coding and design challenges aimed at connecting students with real-world applications of STEM.
But it’s through her innovative approach and use of new technologies that sees students really engaging with her teachings.
Ms Ding developed a gamified unit of work called Project Medical School where elements of gaming – such as levels, characters and point systems – were built into learning.
“One of my Year 9 classes that were studying biology, I built lessons around role play of them being doctors who had to treat patients based on the knowledge they would gather from other lessons,” Ms Ding said.
“They would build everything together to create a diagnosis of a patient.”
Ms Ding shares her strategies with other teachers in and beyond her school through online workshop. This year, she plans to focus on driving data-supported change.
“While gamification is really fun and I’ve seen the engagement from students, I would really love to be able to look at whether the data supports their achievement, so whether that engagement actually translates to student outcomes,” she said.
“On top of that, another area of interest I’ve been delving into is what’s called science of learning. This is looking at the evidence behind cognitive psychology and how human’s brains work, and then being able to adapt learning strategies and lesson planning strategies around science-backed evidence-based research.”
Ms Ding was one of 22 teachers selected last year by national education non-profit Schools Plus to take part in a 12-month professional development program.
Schools Plus CEO Rosemary Conn said Ms Ding received the Early Career Teacher Award for being a “true innovator”.
“Stella has taken her students’ enthusiasm for technology and gaming and incorporated it in the classroom, like Project Medical School where her students demonstrated their knowledge by acting as doctors in a mock clinic,” Ms Conn said.
“What sets Stella apart is her remarkable ability to link technology and real-world concepts to the curriculum.
“Her approach keeps her students excited about learning and was particularly effective during periods of remote learning in lockdown.”
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Originally published as Australia’s Best Teachers: Science teacher Stella Ding’s clever application of gaming inspires students
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