KUCHING – Swinburne and the PIBG committee members of SK St Dominic Pichin jointly organised a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) workshop at Balu Tayung Langui Hall at Kampung Pichin, Serian recently.
The workshop was led by project leader Shella Georgina Beatrice and facilitated by academics from Swinburne Sarawak’s School of Business, and School of Chemical Engineering and Science namely Dr Tan Vie Ming, Dr Yii Kwang Jing, Dr Irine Runnie Henry Ginjom, and Dr Ling Chui Ching.
Attended by approximately 200 students and teachers from 14 schools in Serian town, the workshop was held with the objectives to inculcate critical thinking skills in mathematics and science techniques, and enhance interest of students to be self-directed learners in STEM through interactive learning activities.
Throughout the workshop, students were engaged in activities such as Spaghetti Tower, Egg Drop Challenge, Self-inflating Balloon, and Mathematics Quiz with Clickers. The activities allowed the student participants from various schools to exchange ideas while solving real life STEM problems. A video presentation of STEM success stories was also shown to further inspire the participants.
In her welcoming speech, Shella hoped that the workshop would create wider awareness on the importance of STEM and that it will benefit the students in their future career. She added that the selection of students from Primary 4 to 6 was also to encourage different levels of knowledge sharing among themselves.
The working committee comprising the PIBG of SK St Dominic and represented by Cikgu Kenedy Iyik, as well as the school’s Headmaster Cikgu Henry Hon expressed their appreciation for Minister of Education, Science and Technological Research YB Dato Sri Michael Manyin Jawong for the financial support through the Education Programme Grant (EPG).
In line with Swinburne’s STEM outreach initiative, the university regularly engages with other higher institutions of higher learning and primary and secondary schools in the State by organising and hosting workshops, talks, competitions and related STEM activities for students. These include the Maybank GO Ahead. Challenge, Sarawak State Level Robotics and Coding Competition 2019, Science in Virtual Reality (SciVR) showcase organised in conjunction with National Science Week Australia, IET Faraday Challenge, STEM Challenge Sarawak, Young Innovators Challenge Sarawak and more.
For more information about Swinburne, visit www.swinburne.edu.my, Facebook page (@swinburnesarawak), Instagram (@swinburnesarawak), Twitter page (@Swinburne_Swk) or YouTube channel (Swinburne Sarawak).