A journey to Mersing made up the news flash for today. It describes how both lecturers and students of Polytechnic Mersing received science refreshing through STEM activities that enhanced their creative minds through Scientific Creativity in learning STEM in conjunction with Minggu Sains Negara under the theme Sains untuk Kesejahteraan. On July 24, 2019, the one-day program started with a journey of about 2.5 hours to the town of Mersing and upon arrival, Dr. Corrienna Abdul Talib with her hard-working, five-member team from the Faculty of Science Sciences and Humanities engaged in the necessary preparations and coordination to get ready for the program. They received a wholehearted and a warm welcome from the academic staff of the institute. In the early morning hours of Thursday, July 25, 2019, the program began with a seminar presentation on Scientific Creativity in STEM by Dr Corrienna Abdul Talib. The audience were lecturers of the Science Department and this lecture challenged their scientific creativity with hands-on activities. They were so excited to join the amazing and cheerful session. The second session of the program was a workshop where 250 first year diploma students participated. The students were grouped into forty groups, supported with the necessary materials and tools necessary for them to demonstrate their creativity, collaboration and communication skills through a project-based product. After the students constructed their projects, a competition was staged and the winners were sorted, announced and rewarded with gifts. The activities were stimulating and thought-producing for both lecturers and students alike, as indicated by the responses to a Google-form survey on the STEM activities and students’ future career development. They voiced their satisfaction with the program and how it would enhance and promote their creativity, collaboration, and many other skills. The team from the Faculty of Social Science and Humanities, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia thanked the organizer and reiterated their willingness to continue partnering with the polytechnic management for these sorts of programs. For requests of information on STEM/STEAM programs please email corrienna@utm.my.
Authored by Faruku Aliyu, Dr Corrienna Abdul Talib and Dr Rainer Zawadzki