STEM Works for Schools is a dynamic and impactful talk show hosted by Dr. Sarvjeet Herald, the director at India STEM Foundation , national organizer of World Robot Olympiad in India. The talk show aims to promote STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) education in schools and highlight the importance of integrating STEM concepts into the curriculum.
Through engaging interviews with STEM mentors, teachers and principals, STEM Works for Schools showcases innovative teaching methods, hands-on implementation of STEM concepts, and the role of STEM programs like Robo Siksha Kendra as well as STEM tinkering labs to enhance students’ learning experiences.
About the latest talk:
In this episode of STEM Works For Schools , Dr. Herald interviews Mr Aditya Bhatnagar, who is a STEM mentor at St. Kabir Public School, Chandigarh and engages into an insightful conversation with him about the initiatives that are been taken by the school and teachers to provide STEM education to students. The importance of hands-on learning at an early age and the role it plays in shaping the students to be a future-ready workforce.
About the Speaker:
Mr. Aditya Bhatnagar is an engineer by profession and a passionate STEM enthusiast. With a degree in engineering from IIT Delhi, he brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to the field. Having spent 30 years in the electronics manufacturing industry, he has now dedicated the past 13 years to the advancement of STEM education. As a STEM mentor, he has been actively involved in shaping the minds of students, particularly in schools, for the past 6-7 years. His commitment to fostering STEM learning and inspiring young minds is truly commendable.
Highlights of the talk include:
Q1 – What initiatives the school and teachers are taking to expose students to STEM education?
Mr Bhatnagar emphasises that the most important discipline in STEM is developing a habit of thoughts. They run curriculum linked STEM program from grade 3rd to 8th with integrated lesson plans and assessments revolving around the chapters being taught from the syllabus to develop a connect between the students and the program. This results in maximum level of understanding and productivity.
Q2 – How STEM education can strengthen the implementation of NEP 2020?
NEP 2020 talks about scientific temperament, curriculum framework, logical reasoning, problem solving etc, all of which are essential components of STEM education and hands-on learning. For example: Making students design a paper plane to perform a specific task is a playful way to boost creative thinking and problem solving through experimentation and competitive spirit.
Q3 – Why is hands-on learning important for students?
Hands-on education focuses on giving students the practical learning of different STEM concepts and skills to make them future-ready. Mr Bhatnagar emphasises that making students overcome a challenge through STEM programs at an early age not only teaches them the discipline to learn from failures but will turn out to be really important in industry and day to day life.
Q4 – Which is your favourite formula/law/quote and why?
His answer to this question was Newton’s law of universal gravitation. To support his answer Mr Bhatanagar mentions that the law of gravitation seems fascinating because the equation itself is incomplete. The equation can only be used to calculate the force of gravitation between two objects but not multiple objects acting together at the same time. The equation itself creates a world of limitless outcomes and possibilities as Einstein’s law of relativity explains gravity as distortion of space caused by presence of matter or energy.
Q5 – How you personally deal with failure?
Mr Bhatnagar shares his experience on how he use to deal with failure as a student as well as how he deals with it now as a teacher and mentor. He mentions that, when faced with failure as a student during an experiment, rather than blaming himself , he used to perform an analysis and look for the exact cause which led the experiment to fail. On the other hand, when he faces failure as a teacher or mentor, he analyses the reason or the point where students lost their interest and re-creates a new method of teaching even if it takes him repeating the same lesson more than twice.
Conclusion
We extend our heartfelt gratitude to Mr. Atul Bhatnagar for sharing his invaluable insights and experiences on our talk show, STEM Works for Schools. His wise words shed light on the commendable initiatives undertaken by St. Kabir Public School and their dedicated teachers in providing STEM education to students.
We invite you to stay tuned and subscribe to STEM Works for Schools as we continue to bring genius minds and STEM enthusiasts like Mr. Bhatnagar on board. Together, let us nurture a generation of young minds who are equipped with the skills and knowledge needed to thrive in the ever-evolving world.
Thank you, Mr. Atul Bhatnagar, for your invaluable contribution and for being a driving force in promoting STEM education.