The phrase STEM has now become familiar even with teachers and students in regions which have difficulty in economy and sociology in the country; there is even a robotics team in the highlands that confidently went to America to compete. This shows that nothing is impossible, as long as the teachers are enthusiastic, the leaders have care…
Students in Si Ma Cai (Lào Cai) test the weight load of the bridge made of ice cream sticks and straws
According to the engineer Đỗ Hoàng Sơn – a STEM Alliance member, the person who observes the activities of STEM education in Vietnam, what the education department in the northern region is doing has proven that STEM education is very simple, has low requirements, and not expensive.
Practicing, testing, evaluating
“Our bridge is made from ice cream sticks and straws. We measure the length of the bridge and calculate the mass of the object on the bridge. We named the bride Bridge of Hope with a desire for people from the river region to be able to move easier”. “Does a highland like Si Ma Cai need brides?” “Yes, It needs. Bridge to cross through rivers”. “If I put a bottle on the bridge, will it collapse?” “No, It won’t!” “So what if I put a bucket on the bridge?” “You can’t” “But why?” “It exceeds the bridge’s load”… That was a confident presentation and answers of one grade 5 student in front of the judges in the STEM Festival of Si Ma Cai district (Lào Cai) in the school year 2022 – 2023.
STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. STEM education is the equipment for learners to know, and skills related to these fields so that the learners could apply them to solve problems in daily life. These are suitable for the general education program 2018: Teaching in the orientation of developing morals, and qualification of learners.
Since the school year 2019 – 2020, the Department of Education and Training SI Ma Cai has started STEM education. In 2021, the STEM festival of the Si Ma Cai district was for the first time organized and is maintained, and upgraded each year. The STEM festival of Si Ma Cai third time in the school year 2022 – 2023 has the biggest scale with 4 content: An exhibition of STEM/STEAM products, an experience of STEM, a competition of programming VEX VR virtual robot, and a competition of throwing robots.
In the STEM experience part, grade 5 students used their knowledge learned in Science class to design a bridge model; grade 8 – 9 used their knowledge learned in Physics, Math, Art, and Technology class to develop a flag pole model. The participating teams must present the knowledge that they used, the process to create the product (blueprint), and instructions on how to use the product.
Engineer Đỗ Hoàng Sơn pointed out the notable difference in the third STEM festival of Si Ma Cai: the experience activities were designed with clear steps, including practicing, testing, and evaluating. Secondary students even need to include a blueprint on big-size paper, in the blueprint, apart from technical drawings, which also need measurement. “None of the districts in Lào Cai has been able to achieve this. This on the country scale is also very little, most only make the product but skip the blueprint.
STEM festival and Yen Bai open robot competition in 2023 of Quang Trung Secondary School, Yen Bai City (Yen Bai province) also started to follow in the footstep. In the booths, traditional costumes of the ethnic minorities were displayed with blueprints and measurements; their traditional foods were introduced with blueprints, a list of ingredients, and a making process…
“This especially has meaning because the thinking of designing is very important in teaching engineering, this is also the foundation for developing and designing products” – Đỗ Hoàng Sơn emphasized.
Both teachers and students were excited
Sharing with us, most students show excitement in learning STEM because they were allowed to experience and be creative. Trần Âu Minh Phú, a grade 8 student, in Si Ma Cai, has known programming on his own since grade 6 and set a goal to get prizes in robot competitions in STEM festivals. Right when Secondary schools in Si Ma Cai were gifted robots in 2020, Lê Phương Diễm, a student in class 8A1, signed up to learn and can confidently control the throwing robots in the third STEM Festival. Diễm hopes to be able to create robots that can navigate for the elderly and the disabled.
For Primary students, STEM is more familiar with products made from recyclable materials or materials that they meet every day like stones, flowers… During the Lunar new year 2023, most schools in Si Ma Cai organize a cozy Tet program, where they presented STEM products made by students and teachers. Ms. Hoàng Thị Hồng Hạnh, the principal of a primary school in Bản Mế district, Si Ma Cai, excitedly showed off pictures of the colorful painting made from stones. “The school’s wall had now become a huge stone picture, thanks to the help of all parents”.
The headmaster of the Department of Education and Training of Si Ma Cai Nguyển Thị Kiểu Oanh recalled, at first when heard of STEM education, robots, teachers worried that it was too illusional, but after 3 years, students were very excited, so were the teachers, they were also researching. Schools, from the leaders, took more care of STEM education. “To promote STEM education, we need to change our thinking and be determined. Although Si Ma Cai is one of the poorest districts in the country, students are primarily ethnic minorities, when seeing the advantages of STEM education in the full education of students, learning goes with practicing, we have focused on commanding the schools to include STEM in every experience activity. Solve problems on sight. The leader of the Department of Education and Training directly traveled to many places to gain experience to organize STEM festivals and suggest to be helped.
Si Ma Cai district had a thematic resolution about STEM education for the 2020 – 2025 term. Lào Cai province also promotes STEM education while connecting the 5 school levels in the locality to form a STEM educational ecosystem…
With everything did and are happening, the experts believe that STEM education in Si Ma Cai in general and in highland provinces, will not stop there.
Artical and photos: Nhật Linh
