A flight of STEM activities piloted by Dr. Corrienna Abdul Talib a senior lecturer from the School of Education (SOE), Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities (FSSH) this time around shot out of Johor State and landed in Melaka State at Politeknik Merlimau, Malacca, together with Mrs Hasnah Md Amin and Mr Faruku Aliyu. The team conducted the STEM Program, namely the CREATE Attack Program on Friday 27th September 2019; the team was warmly welcomed by the Head of the Department of Science and Mathematics. The STEM program enables them to work collaboratively, critically think individually and in a group, creatively design and develop, confidently solve the problem and collectively communicate their results, which are all the components of 21st-century learning skills. The students were given all the necessary facilities and encouraged to use their talent and initiative to create their own solutions. The students were able to creatively design and develop their prototype in line with sample copies, that amazed students and teachers alike leaving them wondering about their abilities and potentials. The students later realized their potential and are now confident that they can play greater roles in both engineering and technology or any domain that requires 21st-century skills. After each activity, a discussion took place highlighting the connection of the activity with Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics as individual disciplines and the winner group was identified and rewarded with some gifts and words of encouragement by the coordinator and team leader of the activities. Both the staff and students were glad and joyfully displayed their excitement with the activities making their day and emphasizing their willingness to continue welcoming such activities anytime for the development of their community and country at large. The activities ended with kind gratitude and appreciation to the management and students of Polytechnic Merlimau, Malacca. For query, please email to corrienna@utm.my.
Written by Faruku Aliyu, Dr. Corrienna Abdul Talib & Dr. Rainer Zawadzki.