Project STEM: Synergy from a Young Children’s Conference in Trinidad Sabeerah Abdul-Majied & Sandra Figaro-Henry

greater Synergy: …the interaction of elements that when combined produce a total effect that is greater than the sum of the individual elements, contributions,

Key Points Trinidad Childhood Experience Aim of STEM Intervention program Collaborating to produce synergy Benefits of the STEM program

Map of Trinidad

Trinidad Childhood Experience Diverse childhood experiences Children from privileged homes Children from average households Children from disadvantaged communities

Synergy: The whole is greater than the sum of the parts

Purpose and Overview A Yearlong STEM Project: used the curriculum & integrated STEM Our Questions… 5 teachers Focus 5 Projects Synergy Childhood future 3 Sites Methodology

The Study Professional development Participants Data collection Coaching- 2 periods Introduction Creative & Critical Thinking Problem Solving ICT _____________________ Characteristics of STEM The Integrated Curriculum & STEM Project Based Learning ICT for STEM Integration Projects

STEM intervention model Project Titles 1. Bees 2. The mosquito, 3. The dump truck, 4. A car 5. The traffic light 2 professional development sessions Three weeks coaching For months classroom implementation Children’s conference

Digital technologies used Electronic tools, systems, devices and resources that generate, store or process data. These multimedia, productivity applications, videos, cameras, digital screens, mobile devices. Facilitators: EC specialist, ICT specialist, scientists, engineering students

Synergies from Collaboration Professional Support 1) Coach/ teacher synergy 2) Engineer/ teacher synergy 3) Administrator/teacher synergy

Teacher’s comment “My head teacher, sat down with me, and she let me talk about my ideas… and they (head teacher and coach) showed me, well, you know, how to start from Point A”

Synergies from Collaboration Teamwork Support 1) Teacher/teacher; 2) Teacher/school; 3) School/school & 4) Teacher/student collaborations 5) Student/student

Teachers’ comments “When other teachers look at it, they wanted to follow suit”. “This little girl name Kerry in my class, and she would come every week, ‘Aunty, what are we going to do in STEM today?’ Now, when you look at that little face, you can’t just say, “Okay, I not doing anything.” You know, she was one of the motivators for me. So, I just want to say that that’s what helped me along.”

Synergies from Collaboration Outreach Support 1) Teacher /Parents 2) Family/ community/ school 3) Sponsor/ coaches

Teachers’Comments “Parents, they were…they were amazed, because they couldn’t understand- my child is coming home, and my child can recognize symbols.” “I met a lot of new teachers, and some of them are within the environment that I could go to now. So I think we actually building a learning community. That is one of the beneficial aspects of …of the STEM project. Networking with teachers in a learning community helped.”

The Synergies Professional Support Teamwork Support Outreach Support

Benefits of the STEM program New learning experiences for Children: Gardener (1999) verbal/linguistic, musical/ rhythmic and logical/mathematical. Two intelligences not observed- Intrapersonal- understanding and appreciating innermost feelings & Existential- the spiritual dimension of understanding others and the world through shared values. Naturalistic intelligence- concern for living things and the environment was more evident in projects related to the environment.

Mapping new synergies Professional Support Teamwork Support Outreach Support School – Administrators & Teachers Children Parents and Families Community

STEM Integration Poem

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