Report On STEM Workshop
Date: 15-17th November
Time: 10 am- 5.30 pm
Venue: IISER, Pune
Science and Mathematics are best understood by active and student-centered learning. Hands-on toys and models are a great way for students to explore concepts from the curriculum in a fun way. With this motive, IISER-Pune in consultancy with TCE, organized a workshop on STEM learning for teachers across the district. Through this workshop, teachers were engaged in developing low-cost interactive science toys that can be used to teach science in a participative and hands-on way.
On day 1, we were given a briefing of the workshop followed by an interactive session on exploring ‘STEM’. Following this, was a session by Associate Professor Ashish Arora who focused on the science aspect of STEM and there was a discussion on how Physics can be made more relatable to students and various models were demonstrated. Later, we had hands-on training where we created models which would demonstrate the concepts of magnetic lines of force, electromagnetic induction, Fleming’s left hand rule, etc. After a short tea break, we had hands-on training focusing on the math aspect of STEM. We were provided with various kits and puzzles and we worked on tangrams, area of triangles, area of quadrilaterals and explaining formulas through puzzles.
On day 2, we had hands- on training on making Geoboard and its applications in explaining concepts of the area. Following this, we had a session focusing on the engineering and technology aspect of STEM. We learnt to assemble Arduino Uno Board. All the teachers were divided into teams and were assisted by volunteers from VIIT, who explained to us the working of the hardware and software in detail. Subsequently, we had a session on ‘ Inquiry Based Science Education’ by Dr.Chaitanya Mungi, who conducted a game to explain the ‘Carbon Cycle’ to us and emphasized the importance of gamification in teaching concepts to students. Following this, we had a hands-on training session by Ashok Rupner Sir wherein we made models to explain the 3D structure of Icosahedron, center of gravity, centrifugal force, propagation of sound waves, anti-gravity ball, etc.
Day 3 began with an interactive session with Ashok Rupner sir wherein several models explaining myriad concepts of Physics such as static electricity, air pressure, total internal reflection, refraction, eye defects, etc were demonstrated. Post lunch, we underwent an explicit training wherein we made the brain cap, chromatographically separated ink, and assembled various 3D structures. Finally, an open forum and feedback session with Asst.Professor Aparna Despande was held wherein the participants shared their learnings from the three day workshop. The workshop came to an end with the vote of thanks.
