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The ROOT of the STEM

For a recent article in a magazine, i got to thinking about the state of STEM education in India.

STEM education in our country is lagging behind due to various reasons. Our schools are not equipped with the right kind of labs and tools, curriculum is not current. Our teachers are not properly trained in the subjects they are teaching and there is a lack of interest generation in the minds of students and their parents. Yes there are centres of excellence all over the country but in general things are not good even in private schools, govt schools are a whole other matter.

STEM education needs to start early in school to build the interest and to capture the natural curiosity in children and channel it. Maths for instance, the foundation in the early years is very important for a sound knowledge. By the time the students are in grades 11-12 its too late to bridge the gap if the foundation was weak.
Stress on practical and experience oriented learning plans rather than theory based. Just today i saw a hilarious image that said "Another day has gone by … and i still haven't used Algebra". If the practice of rote learning of formulas etc doesn't change then neither will this thinking. Algebra is used is various ways, sometimes when people don't even realise they are using algebra. If you need to calculate the return on investment for an expense or justifying the need for a diesel vehicle over petrol, you need algebra. Yes these examples are not suitable for school but more suitable examples for real world issues can be found.

STEM cannot be learnt , it has to be experienced and understood so its principles can be applied. There should be a shift in the education from learning to calculate the square root of a number to why it needs to be calculated and what practical problems it can solve, the actual calculation can be done by computers.

STEM education is best done with an element of fun and games, so it keeps the students interested. Schools also need to do a lot of mentoring with the students and show them the importance of STEM education. Various studies have also shown that STEM education encourages the brain to innovate. So by encouraging STEM education we also hope to encourage students to push innovation.

A lot of the quality of education imparted is dependant on the quality of teachers, so if the teacher professional development becomes an important issue then it will have a direct impact on the students. The kind of teacher the student has usually has a major influence on the subjects the student chooses later in life and therefore the career. A students lack of interest in a particular subject or immense interest in another subject usually points to what the student feels about the teacher of that subject.

Getting the right teachers to be able to teach the STEM subjects and also be inspirational enough for the students to fall in love with the subjects is vital. A good STEM student will make a great STEM teacher so we should try and get some of the STEM graduates to become teachers even if for a temporary period.

Parents also need to be roped in and if they also become believers in the need for STEM education then their influence on the students is going to be vital. One of the challenges in imparting STEM education is to be able to convince people of the importance of STEM for everyone and not just science students.

Due to a very poor rating in the PISA study, we need to give extra emphasis to these subjects so our nation remains competitive in a global scenario. STEM promotes research and development and as a nation we need to push that to create innovation and intellectual property which is something we severely lack as a country.

There is a huge need for professionals in the STEM based careers so it highly likely for someone with a good STEM education to land a job as against one who doesn't. Career growth is also faster in STEM based jobs which are also usually higher paying than non STEM based jobs. Most of the fastest growing industries are those that require STEM based skills in their employees. So a focussed STEM push will help reduce the unemployment in the country and boost the economy.

Regardless of the careers picked by students in the future, STEM education promotes analytical thinking and problem solving for real world issues, it helps one understand the world around us. For example in the rural environment people are more likely to build proper toilet facilities if they understand hygiene and how it effects the human body. Science education also encourages the use of medicines and reduces the belief of superstitions.

There is barely any avenue left where technology has not penetrated. The use of technology has become a basic need. Private sector aside, even to avail of government schemes most of the information is disbursed electronically and also the transaction process is gradually becoming electronic.

Todays children think and learn differently, we cannot use the same teaching methods and infrastructure of yesterday to be effective and relevant. So the biggest challenge is to overhaul our entire education system to be able to teach the learners of today and tomorrow.

Just my 4 cents.

 

 

When i was app-spired

Appspiration , is that a word ? If it is, it should mean inspired by an app.

I have always enjoyed tinkering around with tools and enjoyed making something. This joy has recently been put to use in order to make projects for my school going son. As the years go by, the nature of the subjects he is studying is becoming more interesting so making models out of those is a fun filled activity for me.

This year the topic was force.

Earlier in the year my company released an iPad app for science, called Xperica HD (Full disclosure : I manage the development of that app). This app features interactive experiments covering a few topics in Physics. During the development of this app, i learnt quite a bit about those topics, much more than when i was in school.

This is when i was appspired.

I decided to take one of the experiments featured in Xperica and make it into a physical model.

  The selection of the experiment was the first hurdle, any of the 10 experiments could be made into a model but would the model be interesting and meaningful ? After much deliberation, i settled on the experiment involving pulleys. The idea was to show how the use of pulleys can reduce the need for muscular force. On one hand, the model had to be made and on the other, the my son's team needed to be educated on the model so they could present it in their school.

After going over the various elements in my mind with several options, i sketched out a rough  idea as to what the model may look like. Since there were weights involved and force, i know the basic frame had to be tough. I went to a construction site i knew where wood work was going on and got a hold of one of the carpenters. With his help,i was able to make a strong rigid frame of wood that could take quite a punishment, if needed.

There were going to be 2 systems for comparison, one with a single fixed pulley and the other with one fixed and one movable pulley. The system with the movable pulley would need much lesser effort to lift the same amount of weight than the single pulley system. At least that was the theory. I myself had never expreienced a comparison of this sort. The two systems would be built side by side on my wooden frame for easy comparison. Each of the systems would have a 1 KG weight suspended on one side and the string could be pulled to move the weight.

Next up, i cannibalised my sons mechanical modeling set to build the pulley system. Using the basic pieces it provided, i made my pulley frames and fitted them on the wooden frame. Next up was the acid test, would the double pulley system actually feel lighter on the load ? Absolutely :) . While pulling the two strings you could certainly feel the double pulley system had a major advantage.

But how could i make this even clearer and visible ?

I decided to attach spring scales to each of the pulley systems so one could visibly make out the force applied on each. Finding spring scales was another matter. After a couple of days of searching both on the real world and on Google, i found a vendor who dealt in wholesale supplies of scales including spring scales. But i wanted only 2. After some explaining and cajoling on the phone i managed to convince them to sell me just the 2. Although they were located in a different city from me, it wasnt too far. Without wasting any time, i dashed to their warehouse location and picked up my scales :).

Once i got back home, i attached them to my model and was thrilled to see the double pulley system was using almost half the force and the single pulley system. Mission accomplished.

 

Why i think the iPad will be a game changer in the classroom ...

I have seen from up close the introduction of computing into the classroom, for most schools this means handing out laptops to the students. And while i lectured on the usage of technology, i found that the problems with having laptops in the classrooms far outweighed the advantages. The end result was that the laptops really didn't add any value to the classroom. I must point out that i am talking from an Indian context and the classrooms of higher education institutions.

I honestly feel the iPad will change how the classroom computing game is played world over. And Apple who used to call themselves the largest education company, are going to position this product so. This is also evident from the education targeted multiple iPad packs which have also been announced.

Many of the students who enter higher education institutions are handed a laptop as part of their educational material, most have never owned a laptop before and many are not properly IT literate. As a result a large part of their productive day is spent in 'managing' this new tool. I used to see frustrated students trying to cope with malware, software updates, connectivity issues,configuration problems and general usage issues. The seemingly simple task of connecting to the campus wireless network could be considered herculean when one doesn't understand all the different options and settings. The IT support staff were doing more re-installs of operating systems than anything else during their work days. This issue was also the same for the faculty and non teaching staff, all dealing with usage issues and not really spending all their time on the work they were supposed to do.

I have been using an iPhone for a few months now and i see what that platform brings. Following with the keeping it simple and stupid philosophy, the high technology is hidden behind a clever and very intuitive interface. This interface magnified becomes the iPad. The touchscreen interface makes the performing of various computing tasks very simple. The lack of too many configuration options don't confuse the user who can concentrate on doing the job at hand and not worry about the settings. Something that remains to be seen is how effective the new touch version of the iWork suite will be for the various tasks a student needs to perform. I am certainly sounding like an Apple fanboy here but as a user, i find that things just work. Small apps are basically widgets that don't have the complexity of standard software and are focused on performing various tasks. Keeping the single tasking approach, Apple has also reduced the instability of an operating system. This however is a much debated topic and it is rumored that they will finally start some sort of multitasking ability in their OS this summer.

Usually the people in the know would say that one should stay away from first generation Apple products as they have kinks that need to be worked out, i kind of agree with that. The iPad however is not first generation. Yes the processor is new but the general hardware is from the hugely successful iPod/iPhone products as is the operating system.

The iPad will most certainly benefit from the success of the app store as well and while iPad specific apps will start appearing, most present apps should also work, giving the iPad a HUGE advantage through available application right out of the door. Not only do the existing apps make life simpler but the framework allows developers to create apps much more easily than regular applications. I wont be surprised to see schools coming out with their own specific apps that combine various school specific information into a easy to use app, not to mention the communication capabilities and syncing of school calendars. This would be a major factor working on the side of the iPad when competing with other tablets.

The pricing of the iPad also, i feel, may be right for mass adoption in the classroom with the lowest end model selling for $499 in USA and i am sure there will be education discounts. The Indian pricing has yet to be announced but with the duties and various resellers involved it will be much higher. The iPad will be certainly easier for schools to manage and support and the need for support personnel will be much lower providing a lower total cost of ownership than laptops.

Books can be finally made in electronic form and should be cheaper than the printed books, the environmental impact of not using paper is an added bonus. Converged books seem to be more possible with images or videos embedded into the text. Book updates can finally be handed down to the students. Books could also be combined with activities and exercises at the end of any topic to reinforce the learning. Virtual labs could be made as apps and allow students to perform experiments either on their own or collectively by connecting multiple iPads together.Tests could be taken right on the iPad and the results available in minutes. With the ability to receive background updates the students can be kept informed of various information the school wants to disseminate. The ebook reader is limited in its scope while the iPad brings ebooks along with all the other functionality, making it a much better equipped computing product. The younger generation is more in tune with using electronics and i think they will be far more open to reading on a screen as opposed to picking up a book, this hopefully will get the youngsters to read more, which is becoming somewhat of a lost activity.

I can see iPad docks built into table in classrooms and libraries where students can simply place their iPads and work. Combine the iPad with a nano projector and you have a portable teaching tool that can be used either in a classroom or out of it. In India it can serve as an inexpensive community teaching tool.

I would also combine the classroom iPad with bump technologies solutions. Think about it, students can simply bump their iPads with the teachers iPad and their homework or reports gets downloaded into the teachers iPad. Students could also bump their iPads with a central computer (which also supports the bum technology ofcourse) and get all their schedules and any updates.

The iPad is certainly more mobile than a notebook or laptop computer and offers much the same usage while bettering the phone in size and battery. As the Apple has positioned it, right in between the phone and the laptop.The form factor is also great, the screen is decent enough to be able to read out of and the on screen keyboard will be easier to type on as compared to the tiny one on the iphone. It can slip into any bag without trouble, ofcourse in a protective casing. If Apple could create a control panel for administrators to manage multiple devices like the Blackberry Enterprise Server it will allow schools to control the content on the apps, which can be set free once the students leaves the school.

The problems i foresee are to do with the pricing and issues of theft and breakage.

So is the iPad the gun in a knife fight ? Are the days of physical books in the classroom numbered ? That remains to be seen but i am betting on a huge presence of iPads in classrooms.