SEAMEO BIOTROP, in collaboration with SEAMEO QITEP in Mathematics (SEAQIM) and SEAMEO QITEP in Science (SEAQIS), organized a workshop on developing agri-based STEM education materials for 25 teachers from partner-schools in Indonesia on 3-5 December 2018 at the Centre’s Headquarter in Bogor.
STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) education is a major component in SEAMEO’s Seven Priority Areas. In particular, STEM education is integrated in the following Priority Areas: Promoting Technical Vocational Education and Training (Priority 4), Revitalizing Teacher Education (Priority 5), and Adopting 21st Century Curriculum (Priority 6).
“STEM education plays a critical role in meeting the demands of Industrial Revolution 4.0. Students need to develop their knowledge and capacities in STEM to succeed in their future careers and become the next generation of innovators that would develop new technologies, products and processes to sustain our economy and environment,” said Dr Indrawati, SEAQIS Director, in her welcome remarks. “Through this workshop, we hope to formulate effective STEM education models which will be integrated into school curriculum. Moreover, we can design a STEM-based extracurricular activity for students. In this case, we not only focus on STEM, but we also put the entrepreneurship aspect in it,” she added.
Dr Jess Fernandez, BIOTROP Deputy Director for Program, stated in his opening remarks that agriculture sector provides various opportunities where STEM can be applied and STEM education can be practiced. He said that BIOTROP has developed several agricultural production technologies such as hydroponics and aquaponics production, tissue culture propagation, mushroom cultivation, essential oil production, and compost making. These technologies hold great potentials to introduce STEM concepts and principles to students.
“SEAMEO Centres in Indonesia have started promoting STEM education activities to partner-schools. For example, SEAMEO QITEP in Mathematics in Yogyakarta has initiated the establishment of Kampung STEM wherein all other SEAMEO Centres could also contribute. SEAMEO BIOTROP has also been extending technical assistance to SMK Wikrama in Bogor to develop its own mushroom production activity from cultivation to products marketing with applying some STEM concepts and principles,” conveyed Dr Jess.
This three-day workshop featured Dr Elly Herliani, Mr Reza Setiawan, MT, and Mr M. Haidar Helmi, SP from SEAQIS; Mr Wahid Yunianto, MSc, MA, from SEAQIM; Mr Alfan Pudjo, MDs, and Mr Aji Wicaksono, SST, from SEAMOLEC; as well as Dr Jess Fernandez, Dr Erina Sulistiani, Ms Riana Hartati, SSi, and Ms Shella Marlinda, MSi, from BIOTROP as resource persons. They delivered lectures on: 1) STEM Education Concepts and Principles, 2) Status of STEM Education Implementation in Indonesia and Southeast Asia, 3) Sharing of Experiences on STEM Education Implementation from Selected Schools, 4) Agricultural Technologies Available in BIOTROP, 5) Review and Identification of Topics in the National Curriculum for Secondary and Vocational Schools, 6) Developing STEM-oriented Lesson Plans and Learning Materials in Mathematics and Science by Utilizing Agricultural Technologies in BIOTROP, and 7) Augmented Reality Application for Developing STEM Education Materials.
The workshop also provided the opportunity for some of the participants to share their schools’ experiences in implementing STEM education models.
Also present during this activity was SEAQIS Deputy Director for Program, Dr Indarjani.
