I would like to say that Principal of Town H/S and Nodal H/S (Jharsuguda) were happy with our step towards education. When Nodal H/S was selected for the national level to represent the east zone in model making, parents appreciated STEM.
DEO (Jharsuguda) visited MSC and said it is a good opportunity for students to learn with the help of MSC exhibits. DM also visited schools and suggested the principal and teachers to utilize MSC daily.
Due to district level quiz competition at Town H/S, the teachers from the participating schools visited the Mini Science Centre and gave their positive feedback on how it helps students to clear their concepts.
My Experience In STEM
My name is Baikunath. I am a trainer and implementation associate in the Odisha region. I joined STEM Learning Pvt. Ltd. on August 2019 as a Program Implementation Associate. When we talk about STEM, we’re talking about Science, Technology, Mathematics, and Engineering at the school level. It is an organization that implements Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in the education sector.
On joining, I was trained by my colleague Mr. Rakesh. Then, my training session was conducted through Skype by Mr. Nagarajan where I got to know more about STEM Learning.
After my training session was completed, I came to Jharsuguda which is situated in West Odisha where I had to co-ordinate with 5 government schools about the Mini Science Centre implementation in association with CSR partner Vedanta Ltd. It was a challenge for me to visit schools because these schools were located in remote areas but I took it as an opportunity. Then I visited the schools everyday and thoroughly checked the hands-on exhibits.
As a coordinator, my role was to visit all the Mini Science Centres at the 5 schools, and coordinate with STEM and Vedanta while teaching the students. I prepared Monthly Progress Reports (MPR) and shared it with Vedanta every month.
Learning Beyond Books
I would like to say “Learning Beyond Books” is the tagline of Just Learning which is a branch of STEM Learning. It is another step from STEM Learning to bring about a holistic transformation in education. It is the platform where students get to know about science fair projects which help them to come up with innovative ideas. I encourage students to watch Just Learning science project videos which will help them to learn the concepts behind each science project.
Just learning also provides career guidance videos as well as inspirational videos. We know, students need the right guidance to build their career. Just Learning provides guidance about career options available which helps them to find the right path.
My First Teacher Training Experience
My name is Baikunath. I am a trainer and Program Implementation Associate at STEM Learning. I work at Jharsuguda as a coordinator. I would like to share my first teacher training experience. I had conducted my first training on 9th Nov 2019 for a cluster of 5 schools with one of my colleagues, Mr. Rakesh. We arrived at the school at 8 am and the training began at 10am.First I introduced STEM Learning then Rakesh began the program. This Teacher Training Program (TTP) was for 6 hours. I observed how Rakesh presented hands-on exhibits. Continuously learning for 6 hours can strain the mind and the attendees can lose focus. So he introduced parking puzzle and electric maze models to the training as an ice breaker. I asked to Rakesh if I could continue with the training and he graciously allowed me to take over.
After 3 hours of training session, CSR head Sundar Raj (Vedanta) visited to inspect how the TTP was going on. They asked the teachers for feedback and their kind words acted as positive reinforcement. I was confident in my ability to train teachers. This was my first teacher’s training experience with Rakesh and I’m grateful that he believed in me. After this, On February I conducted Refresh Teacher training of five schools.
PIA Role In STEM National Awards
PIAs (Program Implementation Associate) informed all model schools to participate in STEM award 2020. They informed the DEO and took permission to allow schools to participate in the cluster, regional and national rounds held at the STEM Awards 2020. PIAs ensured the smooth flow of NSA from Day 1 to Day 28. PIAs took responsibility of their schools to arrive at destination without any hassle. I as a PIA feel proud to conduct STEM National Awards 2020.
Does Every Schools Need To Establish MSC (Mini Science Centre)
My name is Baikunath. MSCs are established by STEM Learning. STEM is a curriculum based on the idea of educating students in four specific disciplines i.e. Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. It plays a key role in education at the school level.
I believe that MSC should be established in every school. It provides math and science hands-on learning of exhibits based on CBSE, ICSE and State board. It helps students to grasp the topic, concept and real life examples quickly. It focuses on the importance of practical learning, effective teaching with the introduction of new teaching style. MSC enhances critical thinking and sound communication for students.
Mini Science Centre also promotes peer to peer learning by which all students greatly benefit.
Schools Experience On Just Learning
MPL high school is situated at Jharsuguda in West Odisha. Teachers utilize MSC regularly. There are 378 students who greatly benefitted from MSC. As teachers know, most of the students are afraid of science and math subjects because they find it very difficult to learn numbers, algebraic equations, trigonometry, chemical reactions and physics concepts but they believe that hands-on exhibits are easy to learn and it enhances critical thinking which also inspires creativity. MSC brings in the pedagogy change which leads to peer to peer learning.
Once I shared a Just Learning link in a whatsapp group where they posted photos and videos of MSC utilization. As we know practice makes one perfect. Teachers watched the science project videos and concepts and began guiding the students to make science projects. Within a week, they asked the principal to conduct a science exhibition in the school. Students participated in the science exhibition monitored by the principal and teachers. They shared with me that, “Just learning is a good platform for students where they learn about science projects and its concepts like its tagline learning beyond books”.
Experience Of Teachers While Using Models
“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.”
A good teacher is like a candle, it consumes itself to light the way for students. A teacher eternally impacts and one can never tell where the influence stops. Establishing a positive relationship with teachers helps a student feel more comfortable and safe in the MSC environment. As a result, students are more likely to participate actively in the class and challenge themselves academically.
Teachers believe that models in MSC helps them to teach easily where they better explain concepts as well as they are enlightened briefly through these models. Models are easy to carry by which they can be taken to classroom. I am going to share what they have to share about the benefit of the models.
Town High School (Prince Smita Rani Bissi) – Models increases students’ curiosity to know more about the science concept behind it and it helps teachers to say no to the blackboard and chalk method. After using these models, students are able to share their knowledge and it helps them to challenge themselves academically.
MPL high school (Sushmita Pandey) – All models are good and it’s all related to state boards. It is easy to use. We encourage peer learning which improves their concepts. They are thankful to STEM for this support.
Debadihi school (Debendra Kumar Patel) – Before students only learnt in the classroom where they were not able to understand the concept but later after using the models they understood the concepts and real life examples behind each models. I believe that practical knowledge is more important than theoretical knowledge. Practical work includes experiments in MSC models. The advantages of practical knowledge are unmatched. Gaining theoretical knowledge has no value until students can apply it.
STEM Tinker Lab
To “tinker” is to make small changes in something, often to repair or improve it. In the context of learning, tinkering is part of a hands-on, trial and error-based process that rewards persistence, resourcefulness, and self-sufficiency.
STEM Tinker lab has been made to develop skill among students by providing technology and enable them to accept the challenges. After establishing the Tinker lab, STEM Learning provides Teacher Training Programs through which teachers are able to teach students without any difficulty.
Benefit from Tinkering Lab:
Building hobbies builds confidence. When Students have a chance to activate their creativity, their self-confidence grows.
Hands-on learning is powerful.
They’ll learn in a fun way.
They may just change the world.
About Author: Baikunthanath Champati has total work experience of 4 years in corporate world. He is working with STEM Learning from last 1.8 year as a Program Implementation Associate. He loves to train teachers.
