SIBUR will hold intensive educational sessions for teachers in Kstovo as part of the STEAM School project
15 march 2021
On March 27, SIBUR will be supporting STEAM School’s intensive educational sessions for teachers of mathematics, physics and robotics that will be held in Kstovo. Implemented as part of the Formula for Good Deeds social investment program, the project seeks to help develop relevant teaching skills and competencies that will allow to turn today's school students into sought-after professionals of the future. The project also involves exchange of innovative practices and demonstration of unorthodox teaching techniques.
One of modern education’s most relevant areas is the development of students' engineering competencies based on their knowledge in such fields as physics, mathematics, computer science, and robotics. This interdisciplinary approach known as STEAM (an acronym derived from the first letters in the names of five disciplines: science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics) amalgamates all five elements into a single teaching framework. STEAM School’s participants will learn the theory and practical aspects of how to apply this approach to their own teaching practice.
The training sessions were developed with the input from leading teachers and methodologists from innovative schools and education centers. They will be conducted using on-site format.
The program will feature a presentation by veteran educator Yury Bobrinyov, a winner of the 2009 edition of the Moscow’s Teacher of the Year contest and a two-time winner of the Contest of Russia’s Best Schoolteachers held within the framework of the Priority National Initiative in the field of Education. He will be sharing his experience in setting up an engineering-focused education program at school and will introduce class participants to Arduino, an engineering and technology platform, while explaining how its potential can be used for project-based work and in study groups.
Yuri Podkopaev, Deputy Principal for Education Environment of Moscow’s "New School" and teacher of mathematics and computer science, will give a lecture about pressing challenges that high school education is currently facing. The talk will be especially useful for school principals, deputy principals, mentors, and homeroom teachers. The lecture will cover the following topics: how students can combine studying for university and their search for self-identity, understanding the world around them and their inner selves, and learning to make real-life choices. The course will include a practical session devoted to designing a course that will be based on one’s skills and competences and not just on the contents of a math textbook.
Yuri Mikhailovsky, a physics teacher at Moscow's innovative Khoroshkola Pro-Gymnasium, will give a talk about personalization, a new trend in education, and about applying personalized approach to physics classes. He will also share his professional tips and present some of his most striking physics demonstrations using available everyday items.
Andrei Peshkov, Director of the Moscow Robotics Academy and a certified Lego Education instructor, will give a talk on effective integration of STEAM methods into the standard school curriculum and will lead a hands-on robotics workshop. With the help of SPIKE Prime, LEGO Education’s state-of-the-art STEAM solution, participants will be introduced to modern principles of education and their use in practical training. Class attendees will be offered to design a navigation system and apply their programming skills to displaying a movement-tracking trajectory on a map. In addition, they will learn the basics of computer numerical control (CNC). The goal of the workshop is to demonstrate the value of game-based learning and to strengthen interdisciplinary links between such school subjects as technology, computer science, and mathematics.
During a hands-on class, attendees will see a demonstration of the process for assembling tubular polyhedrons conducted by Boris Mironov, the author of the method and of the term "tubular polyhedrons". By putting together such models on their own, students will build mental images of various spatial shapes that is guaranteed to get translated to an easier acquisition of scientific knowledge about shapes of these kinds. Class participants will learn basic principles of creating tubular polyhedrons. The needed sets of tubes for the exercise will be provided by the program’s authors.
In addition to its lecture-based and hands-on parts, STEAM school will also feature a booth session where participants will be demonstrated, among other things, the devices and materials that either were or will be covered at the classes.
For example, the Lego Education EV3 area is where the attending instructors will be learning about educational robotics and its use in education. They will be taught how to use the principles of robotics in teaching science using various installations and set-ups as an example. The best engineering practices showcased by Gekkon will serve as a vivid demonstration of the principles of mechanics and will be useful in the framework of long-term cooperation with educational institutions as part of their study-group activities.
At the booth session titled Mathematics Suitcase, students will be introduced to a teaching kit packaged into a custom-built case designed for being taken on the road when shuttling between schools in a city and presenting mathematics to people in an exciting new way. Yet another place to draw active interest of the participants will be a section called "Experiments for Engineering Study Groups" showcasing various items that could be used for developing basic engineering skills: a flashing lamp producing a "photophone" sound; a bathtub-filling sensor transmitting sound using a light beam; an audio amplifier; a binary counter; and an electronic postcard with an LED heart flashing in imitation of heartbeat. What will make the booth stand out is the fact that class participants will be able to hand-solder these devices’ circuits on their own, being provided with everything they would need for this.
The bulk of our curriculum is focusing on practical assignments, since the best way to acquire and retain new knowledge is through applying it in practice. And there will be a lot of new knowledge! We would like to not just share our new instruction methods with our colleagues but we also want to "reset" the way their thinking works. This will be a starting point for further transformations that I am confident will assure their truly impressive performance in their work as educators, said Yuri Bobrinyov, the project’s spokesman.
This is one of the most fascinating projects that are being implemented as part of the Formula for Good Deeds. Our city was fortunate to have become its participant. By promoting scientific knowledge, by contributing to our school students’ greater interest in learning basic school subjects, and by helping them develop independent research skills we’re helping to mold today's schoolchildren into responsible and caring citizens who will go on to build and grow Kstovo of tomorrow, noted Dmitry Shadymov, Head of SIBUR's Corporate Communications in Nizhegorodskaya Oblast.
"STEAM School" is a project that is being implemented with the support of the Department of Education and Youth Policy of Kstovo’s Administration