STAO 2026: STEAM Driven: Full Schedule

8:30am EST

From Prompt to Practice: Unlocking STEAM Learning with AI

Thursday November 12, 2026 8:30am - 9:30am EST

Explore a free AI prompt generator that creates Ontario curriculum-aligned STEAM lessons, activities, coding tasks, rubrics, and resources while supporting responsible, practical AI use in the classroom.

Speakers

Andy Kwiecien

Administration/ Direction d'école, DPCDSB

Andy Kwiecien is an experienced Ontario school administrator with nearly a decade of leadership dedicated to fostering strong, student-centered school communities. As a former technology coordinator, he has led innovative initiatives that support the effective integration of technology... Read More →

Thursday November 12, 2026 8:30am - 9:30am EST
Newmarket (30 theatre)

STEM Skills and Connections / Compétences et connexions STIM; Matter and Energy / Matière et énergie; LIfe Systems / Systèmes de vie; Structures and Mechanisms / Structures et mécanismes; Earth and Space Systems / Systèmes terrestres et spatiaux, 1-3; 4-6; 7-8

1:30pm EST

Revivre les sciences!

Thursday November 12, 2026 1:30pm - 2:30pm EST

Oak Ridges (30)

Revisiter les composantes du curriculum des sciences et le rendre plus attrayant, efficace par de l’apprentissage par l’expérience et le jeu.

Speakers

Elfaiza Hakimi

Teacher/Enseignant (Public or Catholic School Board/ Conseil scolaire public ou catholique), Viamonde

Enseignante et consultante auprès du centre franco.

Thursday November 12, 2026 1:30pm - 2:30pm EST
Oak Ridges (30)

STEM Skills and Connections / Compétences et connexions STIM, 1-3; 4-6; 7-8; 9-10; 11-12

3:00pm EST

Preparing Students for Future Computer Engineering Career at McMaster University

Thursday November 12, 2026 3:00pm - 4:00pm EST

King City (60)

This workshop offers a panomaric view of two Computer Engineering experiential learning streams at McMaster University: software system design and digital system design, accompanied with an immersive short experiential learning activity.

Speakers

Scott (Wei Ting) Chen

Post-secondary instructor/Enseignant à l'université, McMaster University

Scott received his Bachelor of Applied Science with honour at Simon Fraser University in 2007, with the specialization in microcontroller- and FPGA-based embedded system design, and received his Ph.D. degree in 2015 at University of Waterloo with the research focus of RF resonating... Read More →

Thursday November 12, 2026 3:00pm - 4:00pm EST
King City (60)

8:30am EST

Teaching Science Through Discovery: Bringing Real Research to Your Students with the Tiny Earth Project

Friday November 13, 2026 8:30am - 9:30am EST

Solarium (60)

Move beyond “cookbook labs” with Tiny Earth, a well-established curriculum that brings real science into the classroom. Students explore microbes, apply the scientific method, and investigate antimicrobial resistance. Work through how this could fit your context while identifying key barriers and supports for implementation.

Speakers

Laura Pickell

Post-secondary instructor/Enseignant à l'université, Carleton University

Dr. Laura Pickell is an Associate Professor (Teaching Stream) in the Department of Health Sciences at Carleton University. She holds a PhD in Human Genetics from McGill University and has over 16 years of experience teaching life sciences. Her work focuses on experiential learning... Read More →

Friday November 13, 2026 8:30am - 9:30am EST
Solarium (60)

STEM Skills and Connections / Compétences et connexions STIM; LIfe Systems / Systèmes de vie; Structures and Mechanisms / Structures et mécanismes, 7-8; 9-10; 11-12

1:30pm EST

Du terrain au laboratoire : une approche intégrée de la biodiversité par l’échantillonnage, l’observation et l’identification

Friday November 13, 2026 1:30pm - 2:30pm EST

Newmarket (30 theatre)

Étude de la biodiversité en SBI3U par une sortie terrain : observation de la faune et flore, échantillonnage de plancton, identification du zooplancton et analyse de la qualité de l’eau, avec réflexion sur les limites des données et les impacts humains.

Speakers

Kahina Bouzidi

Teacher/Enseignant (Public or Catholic School Board/ Conseil scolaire public ou catholique), École secondaire publique Maurice-Lapointe / cepeo

Enseignante de biologie au secondaire, j’enseigne les cours SBI3UC et SBI4U, ainsi que les sciences générales et les arts visuels. Je m’intéresse particulièrement à l’apprentissage expérientiel et aux sorties terrain en écologie. J’intègre des activités d’enquête... Read More →

Friday November 13, 2026 1:30pm - 2:30pm EST
Newmarket (30 theatre)

1:30pm EST

Cognitive offloading and AI: Considerations for the science classroom

Friday November 13, 2026 1:30pm - 2:30pm EST

Solarium (60)

When individuals use AI, there are times when they are “offloading” some of the cognitive work involved in the task, to the tool being used. As Science educators, we need to be careful that we are certain about what types of cognitive work we want our students offloading.We also need to continually ask ourselves what is the goal of the task being assigned, is it to obtain a completed work, or...
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Speakers

Steven Floyd

Secondary Program Coordinator, London District Catholic School Board

Steve Floyd is a Secondary Program Coordinator with the LDCSB. He completed his PhD in 2022 with a focus on integrating technology and coding in mathematics and science curriculum and classrooms. He is an instructor at Laurier University and served as an Education Officer with Ontario's... Read More →

Friday November 13, 2026 1:30pm - 2:30pm EST
Solarium (60)

Earth and Space Systems / Systèmes terrestres et spatiaux; Structures and Mechanisms / Structures et mécanismes; LIfe Systems / Systèmes de vie; Matter and Energy / Matière et énergie; STEM Skills and Connections / Compétences et connexions STIM, 1-3; 4-6; 7-8; 9-10; 11-12

1:30pm EST

Building Learning Communities in STEM

Friday November 13, 2026 1:30pm - 2:30pm EST

Ballantrae (40)

Regardless if you are using inquiry based, phenomena modelling, Thinking Classrooms or other approaches, small group learning is a staple in science education. But have you ever wondered why some groups work better then others? Some classes gel more? Have you ever stopped to think about what skills students need to be able to effectively work in groups and how we can teach them these skills? In...
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Speakers

Ashley McCarl Palmer

STEM Educator (non-school setting), Wilfred Laurier University

Ashley is a high school teacher who spent over a decade in the classroom trying to maximize student learning. From guided inquiry to Thinking Classrooms, Ashley has taken best practices from across various teaching approaches and brought them together. Her goal is to have each student... Read More →

Friday November 13, 2026 1:30pm - 2:30pm EST
Ballantrae (40)

STEM Skills and Connections / Compétences et connexions STIM, 4-6; 7-8; 9-10; 11-12

3:00pm EST

Inspiring Future Builders, Innovators and Problem-Solvers

Friday November 13, 2026 3:00pm - 4:00pm EST

Aurora (60)

Explore how to engage students in solving real-world housing and climate challenges with emerging construction technologies. Receive curriculum-aligned resources to bring innovation and sustainability investigations into your classroom.

Speakers

Elaine Kachala

Other/ Autre..., Freelance/Orca Book Publishers

Elaine Kachala writes bold, curiosity-fueled STEAM nonfiction that empowers young readers to imagine—and build—a better world with technology. Her newest book, Building Homes for All: Technology for a Fair and Green Planet (March 2026), is a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard... Read More →

Friday November 13, 2026 3:00pm - 4:00pm EST
Aurora (60)

STEM Skills and Connections / Compétences et connexions STIM, 4-6; 7-8

8:30am EST

1:30pm EST

3:00pm EST

8:30am EST

1:30pm EST

1:30pm EST

1:30pm EST

3:00pm EST

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