Kindling the Joy of Engineering, Design and Innovation is the theme of the Jed-i program. They have launched the Jed-i Project Challenge for engineering students in India - an annual event designed to identify and showcase the best final year engineering project. The challenge is open to students from all branches from all engineering colleges across India. For more details, check out their website or contact [email protected] - registration closes on March 15, 2011.
A similar program to expose school children in India to the joy of exploring the physical sciences is A World in Motion organised by the Society of Automotive Engineers India.
The A World in Motion curriculum joins together teachers, students, and industry volunteers in an exploration of physical science while addressing essential mathematic and scientific concepts and skills. Industry volunteers play an essential role in motivating the next generation to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and math by bringing their everyday experiences into an AWIM classroom. Each of the AWIM activities is designed around current math, science, and technology standards, and SAE India provides the AWIM curriculum and materials at no cost to classroom teachers who complete a Statement of Partnership.
Current (courtesy of SAE International)
Students make balloon - powered toy cars that meet specific performance criteria like travels far, carries weight, or goes fast. Jet propulsion, friction, air resistance and design are the core scientific concepts students explore in this challenge.
Electricity & Electronics - Standard VII to IX
The Electricity & Electronics - High School activities guide student teams through in-depth experiments involving transistors & semiconductors, analog integrated circuits, and digital integrated circuits.
SAEIndia conducted the AWIM Olympics 2010 in many schools across India. The AWIM project is a part of the worldwide A World in Motion and A World in Motion II programs developed by the Society of Automotive Engineers. Here's how they describe the program.
A World in Motion and A World in Motion II are two programs developed under the leadership of the Society of Automotive Engineers that are designed to enable teachers, supported by engineers, scientists, and other technical professionals, to give students in grades 4-6 and 7-8 respectively hands-on inquiry-based experiences in which they learn about certain physical principles. In AWIM II especially, they also learn about the many aspects and challenges of engineering design. Because engineering bridges the gap between pure science and the "real world", the students in A World in Motion II become familiar with its many strands: science, technology, planning, design, making presentations, marketing, etc. The programs are thus truly interdisciplinary, involving the academic disciplines of science, mathematics, technology, social studies, and language arts.
The educational experiences provided by the instructional materials and led by teachers benefit from the presence of volunteer technical professionals who can make one-time visits, can play a more frequent consulting role, or can even become mentors in the classroom. In the elementary-school program, there is a partnership between a teacher and a volunteer. In the middle-school program, the partnership is established between school administrators, and a business or organization. In both cases, the partnership is a valuable feature and is key to the success of the program.
Goals. The goals of these two programs are 1) to educate children about certain physical principles, 2) to introduce them to the nature of engineering design and the excitement that its challenges can generate through teamwork, 3) to provide interdisciplinary learning opportunities for students, and 4) to involve engineers, scientists, and other technical professionals and their employing organizations in support of scientific and technical education in grades 4-8.
Strategy and Scope. These two programs are designed to teach children in grades 4-6 and 7-8 about certain physical problems and many aspects of engineering design. To accomplish these goals, engineers, scientists, and other professionals go into the classroom in support of teachers who are using these materials. These professionals are usually supported by their employing organizations or other interested organizations. More than 33,000 elementary-grade kits have been distributed, while the middle-school kits are, less than a year after their publication, spreading rapidly to middle-school classrooms.
In an earlier post, I had looked at Design Kids, a very interesting reality TV show on PBS in the United States, to promote engineering concepts to school children in the age-group of 9-12 years.
Jed-i and AWIM are a good start towards impressing upon children at an early enough stage the joy and excitement of science and engineering. I hope they continue to do well and more such initiatives come about.
