A collaboration between the Sydney School of Education and Social Work, the Charles Perkins Centre, and LifeLab Sydney is providing pre-service teachers with the opportunity to create digital resources that simulate real-life situations for school students. This scenario-based learning approach allows students to navigate scenarios that mirror their everyday experiences, making decisions about their food choices, exercise, sleep, and other lifestyle factors. The content aligns with learning standards and addresses subjects such as Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM), English, and health education.

Undergraduate students majoring in education have created interactive scenarios that cover topics like creating a healthy school canteen and resisting social pressure to engage in drinking, smoking, and drug use. The goal is to enable pre-service teachers to develop engaging and effective learning resources that are aligned with current research and educational standards.

The project not only enhances students’ technical, pedagogical, and content knowledge (TPACK), but also exposes them to the latest research conducted at the Charles Perkins Centre and LifeLab Sydney. It provides a bridge between theory and practice, allowing students to understand how technology can be leveraged to create interactive and engaging learning experiences.

The collaboration has the potential to create social impact through multidisciplinary research translation. By involving pre-service teachers in developing classroom-ready resources that incorporate cutting-edge research, the project aims to have a direct impact on education and teaching practices. The approach also aligns with the use of real-world health education programs and incorporates them into the classroom setting, giving students practical experience with translating research into effective teaching tools.