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For the love of science: Community promotes fun STEM education among students
The event was hosted by SWE as the main part of their engineering week program, which provides coding, robotics and science engineering classes. Prior to the event on Feb. 22, the group visited five schools in Jakarta to boost the students' interest in STEAM.
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Students try to assemble robots while participating in robotic competitions at a junior science fair, in Ancol Eco Park, Jakarta, in this 2013 photo. (Jakarta Post/Jerry Adiguna)
“Leadership tomorrow depends on how we educate our students today -- especially in science, technology, engineering and math,” the 44th president of the United States, Barack Obama, said in one of his speeches on the Educate to Innovate campaign on Sept. 16, 2010.
Indonesia has also started to practice what Obama said. Students are expected to learn many things related to science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), especially at school. However, this is not without flaws, as the students are not taught how to use that knowledge.
In a bid to improve effective learning, several groups have called for more practice rather than memorizing.
“Science at Indonesia’s schools is taught theoretically through textbooks. In fact, science needs to be taught through hands-on experience. Otherwise, it won’t attract children,” the founder of the Jakarta Society of Women Engineers (SWE), Jane Nawilis, told The Jakarta Post during an event called “For The Love of STEAM -- Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math” in Jakarta on Feb. 22.
The event was hosted by SWE as the main part of their engineering week program which provides coding, robotics and science engineering class. Prior to the event on Feb. 22, the group visited five schools in Jakarta to boost the students' interest in STEAM.
“When I asked students what they thought of engineering, most of them related engineering to machinery, cars, hammers and nails,” Jane said, indicating the common misconception about science and engineering among students. She further added that there was a wide variety of fields within engineering study, including aerospace engineering, bio-engineering and civil engineering.
At the event, the students were given a chance to watch Dream Big: Engineering Our World, a 42-minute documentary film that celebrates the human ingenuity behind engineering marvels to transform what kids used to think about engineering.
