Sparking 'creativity' in rural India through hands-on Science education
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Presentation by Ajith Basu at School Choice National Conference 2013
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Sparking 'creativity' in rural India through hands-on Science education
- 1. Sparking ‘creativity’ in rural India through hands-on Science education SCHOOL CHOICE NATIONAL CONFERENCE Dec 2013, New Delhi www.agastya.org Ajith Basu Chief Program Executive ajith.basu@agastya.org 0
- 2. Which route? ABOUT AGASTYA MINDS-ON vs. HANDS-ON or MINDS-ON + HANDS-ON shiksha . samskara . sansara
- 3. Gandhiji on Education! “Education does not mean knowledge of the alphabet. This type of knowledge is only a means to education. Education implies a child’s learning how to put his mind and all his senses to good use. That is to say, he really learns how to use his hands, feet and other organs of action and his nose, ear and other organs of sense.” (Gandhiji, Navajivan, 2 Jun 1929) 2
- 4. Gandhiji on Education! “I would develop in the child his hands, his brain and his soul. The hands have almost atrophied. The soul has been altogether ignored. I therefore put in a plea…. For correcting these grave defects in our education.” (Gandhiji, Young India, 12 March 1925) 3
- 5. focus of education…? ABOUT AGASTYA THINKING RESPONSE … vs. WHOLISTIC RESPONSE MECHANISM shiksha . samskara . sansara
- 6. focus of education…? ABOUT AGASTYA WHOLISTIC RESPONSE MECHANISM shiksha . samskara . sansara
- 7. Introduction to ‘Agastya’ 3 min. film Link: http://youtu.be/ZgDyZUObt5w 6
- 8. AGASTYA VISION AGASTYA VISION Creative Rural India Creators Humane Tinkerers Anchored Solution - seekers Connected shiksha . samskara . sansara
- 9. KEY PROBLEMS IN INDIAN EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM KEY PROBLEMS IN INDIAN EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM • Uninspiring • Rote-based learning discouraging creativity • Lack of hands-on methods of teaching & learning • Lack of school labs & access to quality education 8
- 10. KEY PROBLEMS IN INDIAN EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM A MOVEMENT TO TRIGGER WHOLISTIC RESPONSE MECHANISM, “NATURAL INTELLIGENCE” IN A CHILD ! 9
- 11. UMA’S STORY UMA’S STORY “ After my experience at Agastya I am not afraid to speak anymore” 5 4 Sparked curiosity Improved learning Increased confidence Interest in science Motivation to succeed 87 % in Class X school exams ENTERS CITY COLLEGE Pursuing degree in Electronics & Communications Engineering (first in her family to do so) 6 Career in engineering, electronics, software… PRESENT (2013) FUTURE 3 UMA’S TRANSFORMATION THE AGASTYA EXPERIENCE • • • • • Makes school visits to campus Creativity Lab Participates in summer camp project-based learning Engages in Mobile Lab sessions at her school Participates as Young Instructor in Science Fairs Becomes member of Young Instructor Leader program SELF RELIANT ADULT Higher income ATTENDS VILLAGE SCHOOL Gutharlapalli School, A.P. (near Agastya Campus) – headmaster takes personal interest in her progress LOW INCOME FARMING FAMILY 1 “I will train and motivate other children in my village” 2 earning Rs. 3,000 (USD 75) per month Recycles skills to her village Sustainable development shiksha . samskara . sansara
- 12. AGASTYA’S STAKEHOLDERS Resource Persons 150,000 Teachers Partners 5 million Schoolchildren, Dropouts NGOs Government YIL 0.2% 2% Young Instructors 100 % 3% Parents & Community Media Investors/Donors shiksha . samskara . sansara
- 14. AGASTYA’S EDUCATIONAL PROCESS Contd. Taking science to the village doorstep…. Mobile Lab 13
- 15. AGASTYA’S EDUCATIONAL PROCESS Contd. Why do things act a certain way? 14
- 16. AGASTYA’S INFRASTRUCTURE 80 Mobile Labs Lab-on-a-bike (Pilot) 15
- 17. AGASTYA’S EDUCATIONAL PROCESS Contd. School teachers embracing hands-on learning Lab in a Box 16
- 18. AGASTYA’S EDUCATIONAL PROCESS Contd. How can I understand things I cannot see? 17
- 19. AGASTYA’S EDUCATIONAL PROCESS Contd. Resource hubs for the community Science Center 18
- 20. AGASTYA’S EDUCATIONAL PROCESS Contd. How do I know if what I’m doing is right? 30 SCIENCE CENTERS 19
- 21. AGASTYA’S EDUCATIONAL PROCESS Contd. Interactive, project-based activities Workshops 20
- 22. AGASTYA’S EDUCATIONAL PROCESS Contd. How do I use what I know? 21
- 23. AGASTYA’S EDUCATIONAL PROCESS Contd. Leveraging peer-to-peer learning Science Fairs & Young Instructor Program 22
- 24. AGASTYA’S EDUCATIONAL PROCESS Contd. How can I spread to others, what I know? 23
- 25. AGASTYA AND ACHIEVEMENTS COLLABORATORSKIDS WIN IRIS - Intel NATIONAL SCIENCE AWARDS Contd. Agastya’s children win IRIS-INTEL national awards for scientific innovation Hari and Murali Conservation of Energy through Dry Leaf Pads (2009) Supriya and Dharani The Best Oil for Lamps (2009) Rani and Roja The Cooling Effect of Leaves (2008) Poornima & Nandini along with Prashanth & Ganashekar Innovative Fire Extinguisher System & Renewable Energy to Increase Efficiency of Solar Panel with Plant Extracts (2010)
- 26. AGASTYA’S EDUCATIONAL PROCESS Contd. Santosh Banakar Poornima Gunashekhar 25
- 27. AGASTYA’S EDUCATIONAL PROCESS Contd. How do I change the world? 26
- 28. AGASTYA’S EDUCATIONAL PROCESS Contd. Seeking solutions to real-world problems Innovation Fairs 27
- 29. AGASTYA’S EDUCATIONAL PROCESS Contd. How can I build things of value? 28
- 30. AGASTYA’S EDUCATIONAL PROCESS Contd. Commitment and effort towards long-lasting change National Platforms 29
- 31. AGASTYA’S EDUCATIONAL PROCESS Contd. Present coverage – 12 states National-wide scale-up model presented to Prime Minister Creativity Labs 20 STATE (1 per State) Science Activity Centers 600 DISTRICT (1 per District) Mini Science Centers 3600 TALUK (6 per District) Mobile Labs 6000 (10 per District) Lab-in-a-Box 30
- 32. Contd. AGASTYA’S EDUCATIONAL PROCESS Pilot project - Ecosystem in Karnataka State School System School System 50 Mobile Labs Mini Science Centers HUBLI-DHARWAD Core Science Centre Core Science Centre SHIMOGA Mini Science Centers 28 School System APEX Campus RAICHUR Core Science Centre BIDAR Mobile Labs Core Science Centre School System BAGALKOT BIJAPUR 31
- 33. AGASTYA’S EDUCATIONAL PROCESS Contd. Transforming Attitudes to Learning ‘Yes’ to ‘Why’ ‘Looking’ to ‘Observing’ ‘Passiveness’ to ‘Exploring’ ‘Textbook-bound’ to ‘Hands-On’ ‘Fear’ to ‘Confidence’ 32
- 34. AGASTYA’S ACTIVITIES ART PROJECTS – VESSEL MURAL, SCULPTING 33
- 35. Contd. AGASTYA’S ACTIVITIES ECOLOGY PROGRAM • Created biodiversity rich campus – sustainable in water • Current achievements - Biodiversity taxonomy by children guided by researchers from Indian Institute of Science - Ecology open lab - Preserve endangered species • Future plans - Butterfly park and bird park 34
- 36. AGASTYA’S ACTIVITIES NIGHT COMMUNITY VISITS ENGAGE ENTIRE VILLAGE Contd. NIGHT COMMUNITY EDUCATION
- 37. Contd. AGASTYA’S ACTIVITIES BUILDING SKILLS USING COMPUTERS AND ROBOTICS COMPUTER & ROBOTICS
- 38. AGASTYA’S ACTIVITIES Contd. 600 DISCOVERY MODELS
- 39. AGASTYA SUPPORTERS INCLUDE EMINENT SCIENTISTS, COLLABORATORS AND ACHIEVEMENTS EDUCATORS President Abdul Kalam Prof. CNR Rao Prof. VS Ramamurthy Dr. Aatre & Prof. Balaram, IISc Dr. V. Kasturirangan National Knowledge Commission Himachal Pradesh Cambridge University Dr. MS Swaminathan shiksha . samskara . sansara
- 40. COLLABORATORS AND ACHIEVEMENTS AGASTYA AMONG TOP 11 INNOVATIVE NGOs Best Practices Foundation study of 1348 children in Karnataka shows: Increase in Awareness on alternative learning methods, motivation to study science and curiosity Increase in Creativity, Problem-solving and Leadership among Young Instructor Leaders (YILs) MHRD study of 2048 children in 256 schools: 70% + children and teachers welcome Agastya & demand increase of interventions Enriches and fills gap in the curriculum and Increases interest in Science Provides professional development for teachers shiksha . samskara . sansara
- 41. KEY PROBLEMS IN INDIAN EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM AGASTYA’S “SPARKING HUMANITY” PROJECT ! 40
- 42. New Learner Consortium (NLC) Consortium led by 15 Member Organizations from 8 countries working on 15 STEM based sandbox projects exploring one theme- ‘New Learner’ “A student who has a personal learning network of people and resources from formal, informal and non-formal institutions” New Learner Consortium-HP catalyst Initiative 41
- 43. AGASTYA INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION Identification of Giftedness with Special Focus on Science and Mathematics In association with Office of Principal Scientific Adviser to the Govt. of India & National Institute of Advanced Studies DATE: 11th May 2012
- 44. Approach : 11 CRITERIA 1.Considered outstanding as per feedback from teachers, Parents, Fellow students, Community. 2. Highly apparent level of inquisitiveness and curiosity, questioning & perseverance. 3. Analytical ability: seeking depth, consequential thinking and problem solving. 4. Interdisciplinary thinking, consequential behavior. 5. Pattern recognition – creativity connected to patterns. 6. Exhibiting above normal capacity of memory, network memory and then retrieval. 7. Exhibiting divergent thinking, lateral thinking and extension thinking. 8. Innovative and creative. 9. Intuition – exposure & experience leading to a pattern intuition. 10. Expression, communication and articulation. 11. Deductive and Inductive Logic. shiksha . samskara . sansara
- 45. Approach : Search Methods Organized Opportunistic Media & Public Agastya Events
- 46. THANK YOU! •Sparking creativity through hands-on science education •A program of rural transformation •World’s largest hands-on science education program •Reached over 5 million children and more than 200,000 teachers AGASTYA MOBILE LAB YOUNG INSTRUCTOR LEADERS and IRIS An instrument to revolutionize education at < 50 cents operating cost per exposure • Children teach children • Enhance Self-belief, Leadership and Confidence • Over 5 years, Won 11 awards at the Intel IRIS competition • Won Awards at Design For Change competition ajith.basu@agastya.org • Up to 30,000 exposures p.a. • 150 + experiments • Mega Science fairs AGASTYA’S MISSION Global Collaborations with… ABOUT CAMPUS …of unlocking the creative potential of disadvantaged children and teachers across India is being achieved through: • 75 Mobile Science Labs • 2 i-Mobile Labs (Blended Classroom) • 27 Science Centers • Arts Mobile Lab • Ecology Mobile Lab • Recommended by PM’s National Knowledge Commission • Among top 100 in Rockefeller Foundation’s next century innovators awards. • Agastya is the global leader for HP Catalyst Initiative’s New Learner consortium. • Won a grant at World bank’s Development market place • Recognized by Clinton Global initiative • Received grants from Dell, IBM, Agilent, Synopsys, HP, United Way etc… • • • • • • • • 170-acre Creativity Lab [Campus] Teacher training Model making Arts Robotics Eco restoration program Media Arts Program Astronomy Center(Planetarium) 45
- 47. AGASTYA MISSION AGASTYA MISSION Spark creativity through… Experiential, hands-on science education Teacher education Scalable learning methods Sustainable and environment friendly Make learning Fun! Useful! Accessible! shiksha . samskara . sansara
Editor's Notes
- So Agastya started to create opportunities for hands-on, multisensory, experiential learning that would trigger and stimulate the mind.Through a series of innovations – Agastya nudges children along the path of creativity – from observation to assimilation to application.
- The mobile lab – the earliest innovation is the mobile lab.Filled with hundreds of science models made of low-cost, easily available material, the mobile lab takes science to the village doorstep. Children see trained instructors demystify science concepts with simple, attractive models.From passive receivers, children become excited learners.
- In a typical mobile lab session, children are able to see, touch and feel… and understand why things behave a certain way.Low-cost, effective and scalable, today Agastya has 65 mobile labs across 10 states in India. Each mobile lab makes unto 3 visits to each school. With each additional visit, children become more willing to ask questions. They go from being passive receivers… to excited learners… to active observers.
- Agastya’s model having won acceptance from the teacher community at large evolved into the recently launched the Lab in a Box.In this program, willing and enthusiastic teachers are trained by Agastya and given access to theme based boxes of models which are circulated between member schools. The learning urge kindled by the mobile lab program is continued intensified by the teacher in the LIB program, with models staying in the classroom for over a week. And by including the teacher who is perhaps most aware of her students’ learning levels, we’re finding that the quality of teaching and child-teacher interaction is significantly raised.
- With hands-on learning continuing in the everyday classroom, children becoming adept not just at understanding things, but also learning how to understand.Even though the program is recent, the LIB model has already seen a lot of success.Teachers and schools are coming forward and funding the building of their own lab – an offshoot called the “make your own lab” program. From active observers they become keen participants of the learning process.
- Agastya has also set up science centers – which act as resource hubs for teachers, students and the community.In these warm and child-friendly spaces, children begin to build their own low-cost models and tackling scientific puzzlesBy demystifying science with abundant examples drawn from everyday-life, children begin to assimilate information beyond their classroom. And we also begin humanizing and contextualizing science.
- At the science centers, children are given probing projects.Here, for instance, children are learning the science behind waste generation and management by actually conducting two mock birthday parties – one that used plastic cups and plates and the other which usedOrganic flowers and stainless steel plates and cups.They begin to ask deeper questions such as : how do I know if what I’m doing is rightIn yet another improvement of the program, children get to gether with a variety of implements. Maybe a solar lamp. Or a water pump. Or a bicycle.Children break It – todUnderstand how it works – fodAnd put it back together – tod fod jodFrom keen participants in a class, they become tinkerers – each child on their own unique adventure.The biggest of these resource hubs is the 170 acre Kuppam campus – with over 13 subject labs, including an open-air eco park and an astronomy center and even a model-making workshop.
- With each intervention, children continue to break free from barriers and ask more and more questions.In workshops held over winter and summer breaks, children begin tackling larger problems. With interactive, project-based activities, the questions are about applying the knowledge learnt.
- How do I use what I know?Here for instance is a workshop to understand the habitat of animals and birds.Over a week, children study the lifestyle of birds, observe their patterns and nests, build a new nest, and install these nests for the benefit of more birds.And slowly, children begin to go further along the path of observation… assimilation and application.From tinkerers, they become explorers.
- Agastya also organizes science fairs to leverage on peer-to-peer teaching and learning. Children, ever excited to share what they know, don the role of teachers during these fairs and in many cases manage the fair.
- Here, they spread to others what they know.Realizing the positive impact they make on their peers andreflecting on their own innate ability, children emerge self-assured with renewed condence.At Agastya, we call these children Young Instructor Leaders - children with a willingness to learn, share and take initiative. Agastya has held several mega science fairs with over 10,000 children visiting the fair. Peer learning is a powerful form and has taken all sorts of shapes.School children on bicycles.Teacher leader fairs
- I’d like to start with the story of 3 students from rural Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.Santosh Banakar from Karnataka was drinking juice with his friends one day in a typically mosquito infested area. He noticed something surprising – that near a pile of orange peels, there were no mosquitoes. He wondered if there was something about the orange peels that repelled the mosquitoes.Poornima, from a village near Andhra Pradesh witnessed a tragic fire incident in her village and realized that she, her family and friends were ill-equipped to handle fires. She wondered if perhaps there was someway she could build an inexpensive fire extinguisher.Gunashekhar, another boy from Andhra Pradesh was on a journey back home one day with his uncle when they lost their way and his uncle’s cell-phone ran out of battery. Stranded beneath the hot sun, he wondered if there was a way to use solar energy to recharge his phone.Their questions formed the basis for award winning projects at the IRIS Science Fair where prestigious schools from all across India submit research projects.But beyond the awards and accolades, underlies something far more important in their stories… and this is the power of curiosityCuriosity – to observe wonder why something happens,To see something amiss and question if it can be changed,To ask where one can get resources to make the change happen, The answers to these sorts of questions go beyond simple information –Because it is from the understanding and faith in one’s comprehension that creative action arises – resulting in innovations – in Santosh’s case, an organic mosquito repellant, in Poornima’s a low-cast fire-extinguisher, and in Gunashekhar’s – an inexpensive way to recharge cellphones.These children are but diamonds in the rough. And there are many, many more. Agastya International Foundation was founded with a vision of sparking curiosity and making creativity a life skill for the millions of rural and disadvantaged children of India.
- Recently, Bhargavi and Jyothsna , two rural girls from Kuppam won an IRIS award for comparing oxygen levels in various trees and suggesting a better plant to place on highway dividers.Simple and elegant, this project took them all the way to Pittsburgh, America to visit the international science fair.When Bhargavi and Jyothsna asked a simple questions about the highway plants, they could not have known it would take them to Pittsburgh. It started with a simple desire to learn more.Gifted children program. NIAS100,000 children across 824 schools in AP/ Karnataka & shortlisted 360 children.
- Students channel their hunger to learn andtheir will to achieve by applying scienceconcepts to generate ideas and solutions tofamiliar problems. At innovation fairs such asJignyasa and Anveshana, children see theircollective knowledge get transformed intothings of immense utilitarian value and
- In Anveshana – a science fair that encourages engineering students to mentor a group of high-school students, the award winning project went to this group of boys who made a portable spectrophotometer to indicate quality of drinking water.Other projects include leg-operated washing machine, in reaction to lack of enough electricity in rural areas. Fairs such as Jignyasa and Anveshana encourage children to recognize not just the problems around them, but also their own ability to create solutions for them. Children become Young Innovators
- I’d like to come back to the stories we started with of Poornima, Gunashekkar and Santosh – winners of IRIS awards.Winning IRIS Awards are, but examples of the potential unleashed withthe power of curiosity and creativity.Agastya has been able to nurture their creative spirit with constant support and encouragement with central and state governmentthat Agastya helped spark in partnership withcentral and state government programs such asSarva Shiksha Abhiyan.
- Agastya wishes to achieve the same level of penetration in the rest of India.What have been proposing is a model in every state – supported by a hub of creativity labs, science activity centers, mini science centers, mobile labs and Lab in a Box.
- SSA and the Karnataka government have hugely supported Agastya’s operations. Already we operate in 24 of 30 districts in Karnataka.Working with them, Agastya is helping to buildan ecosystem comprising an Apex campus in Raichur which is supported by a hub of mini and core science centers going all the way to mobile labs and into the schools with LIB.
- By simply providing effective and simple ways of multi-sensory learning, Agastya is transforming attitudes to learning.Yes to WhyLooking to….