STEMTronics Zambia

 Learning and teaching about cross-cutting subject matter The photograph above show a fully disassembled mini digital camera - Only the plastic housing and the metal chassis does not contain electronic elements. Everything  inside is related to sophisticated electronics and computing -  Using cross cutting principles in STEM, learners can quickly see how this small camera uses principles of : Physics (electricity, mechanics, energy, optics and light and sound),  Design and technology (Design Thinking, engineering, electronic, metalwork and production),  Computer Science (microprocessors),  Chemistry (plastics and coatings). Mathematics (engineering calculations)  

  MONEY! MONEY! MONEY! A serious obstacle to the advancement of STEM in schools is the lack of funding. STEM needs materials/gadgets and tools for experiments, engineering, research projects and making. These materials are relatively cheap to buy but schools need a lot of it to give all learners a chance to experiment hands-on. Also , once you have stimulated the curiosity of the learners, they want more! And more! They want (and need) to make their own things and this is VERY important because this is where the REAL learning and innovation comes from.  The core concepts of STEM dictate that learners do their OWN research, engineering and innovation and thus a "cookie cutter" approach with 40 learners doing the exact same thing defies the objectives of STEM A way for schools to address this funding issue is to create a STEM club which can be funded by parents as an extracurricular activity. If parents contribute a K150 per ANNUM , the funds will be enough to pay for ...

  StemTronics aim to promote and streamline the teaching and uptake of practical electronics technology in Zambian Schools Electronics and Computing can be seen as the "glue" sciences that stick all scientific disciplines of the 21St century together. Computing(and the electronics that underpin it) is found in every piece of equipment and technology and machinery used for modern-day research, engineering and manufacturing. It thus makes a lot of sense to expose our learners to ICT and Electronics at an early age and in a much more intensive manner.  The Zambian Ministry of Education has rolled out a pilot curriculum for STEM education in select Secondary Schools some years ago and although the effort should be lauded, the initiative had little impact so far because of the following reasons: Teachers not adequately prepared to assist with research/engineering projects for learners and most teachers do not have sufficient cross-curriculum experience to make links between subjec...