To commemorate the National Teacher’s Day on 25 November 2022, SEAQIS collaborated with SEAMEO CECCEP and Monash University conducted a blended mode (online and on-site) Open Lecture on STEM for Early Childhood and Basic Education. The onsite event was held at SEAMEO CECCEP office in Jayagiri, Lembang. Meanwhile, the online mode was streamed live via Zoom Meeting and YouTube Channel.
This event was attended by 100 Kindergarten teachers, Elementary teachers, pre-services Kindergarten teachers, as well as SEAQIS and CECCEP personnel. Furthermore, there were two experts from Monash University who became the resource persons in this event, namely Assoc Prof Gillian Kidman and Dr Hazel Tan.
In this open lecture, the speakers provided material on how to introduce STEM to early childhood student through several group simulation activities. The first activity was giving instructions to colleagues who acted as robots. The instruction was a model of the code written in the robot programme. Participants also gained new knowledge regarding an effective way of conveying information to early childhood student by giving clear instructions. After that, the resource persons asked the participants to sketch a flower image and create its 3D version using the available materials. Then, the 3D flower should be compared with the 2D version. This activity is a simulation of the engineering design process.
The event was ended with a limited discussion between the resource persons, SEAQIS, and CECCEP personnel regarding the current development of STEM education. For SEAQIS, the input from experts will be used as a reference in developing and updating the STEM programme that SEAQIS currently has.
