SiMERR Australia is an Australia-wide research body. Its National Centre is located at the University of New England

University of New England (Australia)

The University of New England is an Australian public university with approximately 18,000 higher education students. Its original and main campus is located in the city of Armidale in northern New South Wales....

, Armidale, NSW, Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

.

SiMERR Australia's main goal is to improve learning outcomes for students in regional and rural areas, particularly in the areas of science

Science

Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...

, mathematics

Mathematics

Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...

 and Information and Communication Technology (ICT).

History

The National Centre of Science, ICT, and Mathematics Education for Regional and Rural Australia (SiMERR) grew out of the Centre for Cognition Research into Learning and Teaching (CRiLT), which was part of the School of Education at the University of New England

University of New England (Australia)

The University of New England is an Australian public university with approximately 18,000 higher education students. Its original and main campus is located in the city of Armidale in northern New South Wales....

. Unlike CRiLT, SiMERR focused on the curriculum areas of science, mathematics and ICT.

SiMERR opened its doors on 1 July 2004, with branches, or hubs opening in each state of Australia in the twelve months that followed in partnership universities, such as the University of Tasmania

University of Tasmania

The University of Tasmania is a medium-sized public Australian university based in Tasmania, Australia. Officially founded on 1 January 1890, it was the fourth university to be established in nineteenth-century Australia...

 and the Deakin University

Deakin University

Deakin University is an Australian public university with nearly 40,000 higher education students in 2010. It receives more than A$600 million in operating revenue annually, and controls more than A$1.3 billion in assets. It received more than A$35 million in research income in 2009 and had 835...

in Victoria.

The SiMERR National summit in 2005 brought together educators and other stakeholders for the first national meeting of its kind since the National Centre opening. The two-day summit brought together people from diverse bodies, such as teacher associations, Federal Government departments, universities, parent groups and educational authorities. Delegates discussed ways in which the educational disadvantage experienced by students in rural and regional areas may be addressed

Aims

SiMERR Australia's vision is to work to improve outcomes for students in science, ICT and mathematics so that:

• Parents can send their children to rural and regional schools and know they will experience equal opportunities for a quality education;
• Students can attend rural or regional schools and realise their academic potential in Science, ICT and Mathematics; and
• Teachers can work in rural and regional schools and be professionally connected and supported.