School program has been 'a hit'

摘要

This month marks the 10th anniversary of Engineers Australia's remarkable primary school outreach program EngQuest. From its beginnings as a volunteer-run program in Victoria, EngQuest has become a national program now reaching 44,000 students and one of the largest primary school outreach programs in Australia. It is timely to reflect on the critical factors that have led to this success. EngQuest was originally developed as a competition-based program in which primary school classes undertook engineering tasks in small groups and competed against others. A competition structure is widely considered key to a successful outreach program and in due course we developed regional, state and national finals. We coordinated members to help at the schools and to perform judging. These created great media moments and a visibility for our members.