Novel venture encourages curiosity and creativity in science and technology from Basic Education
Free online course presents the step-by-step process for creating a STEAM space, which aims to promote the set of knowledge between Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics in schools. The course is available on the Interactive Learning in Science and Engineering platform – APICE .
The STEAM project is an initiative of the Siemens Stiftung International Foundation in partnership with the Technological Integrated Systems Laboratory – LSI-TEC and support from the USP Polytechnic School. In addition to being a result of the efforts of the Brazilian Science and Engineering Fair (FEBRACE), it also has the scientific coordination of the professor and coordinator of FEBRACE, Roseli de Deus Lopes.
goal
According to the teacher, the courses available on the APICE platform aim to show how the research process works within the school, both in Basic Education and in Elementary and High School. There are three more courses in addition to the novelty: the first talks about research methodology, the second explains how to hold a science fair at school and the third deals with statistical methods.
“Now the novelty is a course focused on how to have a space in the school that is more inviting and suitable for stimulating children’s curiosity and creativity”, comments Roseli. She explains that certain spaces can favor this pedagogical work.
Young people
The teacher emphasizes the importance of providing young people with a space to encourage them to pursue their passions, since they feel a desire to find a purpose. Thus, offering freedom for this search from Basic Education in a safe space like the school is essential to involve the largest possible number of students.
project in practice
The courses available on the APICE platform are open to both professors and students and have a maximum of 30 hours. Roseli talks about the importance of not just doing it in groups, but putting the course into practice from the transformation of idle environments that can offer a more integrated activity in the areas of engineering and mathematics, for example.
“The materials help to understand what the maker culture is , the culture of intentionally carrying out projects at school”, says the teacher. In addition, she also pays attention to the issue of maintaining spaces, such as establishing partnerships.
Expectations
From the observation of the editions of FEBRACE, the professor emphasizes a greater diversification in the projects developed. “Because, when we get young people to think about real problems, we are in a country of continental dimensions, so, in each place and each territory, they will identify things that are more relevant”, notes Roseli.
This environment with diverse ideas and perspectives is the real objective of the project: to provide a specific space for each school and its needs. “What interests us is what we manage to provoke there at the end, in the schools of these students with the courses”, clarifies the teacher. For example, according to Roseli, the course has already reached more than 200 thousand people and, with the introduction of one more material, this potential increases even more.