Singapore’s educators share e-learning science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) pedagogies with Indonesia’s secondary and high school teachers, to enhance their understanding of key industrial trends and enable them to better prepare students for a growing STEM industry.
STEM (Digital) Programme in Indonesia
Introduction
The STEM (Digital) Programme in Indonesia aims to strengthen the teaching capabilities of 200 STEM teachers by enhancing their e-learning pedagogies.
Piloted by Temasek Foundation in partnership with Amazon Web Services (AWS) and youth-serving nongovernmental organisation (NGO) Prestasi Junior Indonesia (PJI), teachers from Singapore’s National Institute of Education (NIE) shared digital skills and curricular knowledge in integrated STEM lessons designs, enactment and assessment with Indonesia’s STEM teachers.
Gap
Digital literacy is critical to many Asian economies undergoing digital transformation today. In Indonesia, a booming STEM industry relies on a steady stream of talents in technology.
However, said Bapak Wardani Sugiyanto, Director of Vocational High Schools, Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology, Indonesia: “We are facing a learning crisis.” At the first workshop in Bandung, Indonesia, in September 2022, he highlighted the urgency for teachers to learn how to design and run STEM lessons well.
He pointed out the importance of using multiple approaches and disciplines to problem solving. Today, this is enabled by technology that allows blended forms of learning. This is now a necessity rather than a choice.
Intervention
Collectively, the programme’s partners introduced technology-centric STEM curriculum into Indonesian schools.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic opened up classrooms to the use of technology to teach and learn through hybrid formats, NIE teachers were able to use hybrid modalities in their engagement with Indonesian secondary and high school STEM teachers of students in Grades 9 to 12.
Hybrid modalities comprise self-paced learning modules and in-person, hands-on workshops. The online learning modules include theoretical knowledge about STEM education, ways of integration, and basic digital knowledge. This accelerated the acquisition of skill sets during in-person hands-on workshops on coding the Internet of Things (IoT)-enabled devices, and the planning of STEM lessons involving real-world problems solving using IoT.
Important STEM skill sets including computational, design, engineering, and heuristic thinking were imbued through practical work, discussions, and presentations during the workshops.
The programme has four phases:
Temasek Foundation supported Singapore’s NIE programme delivery, enabling the NIE team to conduct training. AWS provided BBC micro:bits coding and Inventor Grove Kits to all teachers on the programme.
PJI played a critical role in the selection of schools and providing local support for the teachers throughout their learning journey. They also co-developed the curriculum with the teachers, translated teaching materials, conducted ‘live’ translations for all workshops, and localised the experience. They assisted in logistics, printed special guidebooks, and facilitated in-person workshops.
Outcomes & Impact
This pilot programme demonstrated an efficient and effective means to scale this to other parts of Indonesia, and beyond. It has since attracted potential funders to partner these efforts across Indonesia.
The co-constructed STEM lesson plans serve as exemplary models for other STEM educators who can adapt and contribute to the emerging STEM communities.
The programme will benefit 200 Grade 9 to 12 STEM educators in Indonesia. The initial run with 96 educators from 20 schools has received positive response from over 90 per cent of its participants.
To date, more than 3,280 students have experienced this new integrated STEM lessons. This integrated STEM approach will be implemented to motivate students to learn STEM and consider STEM careers.
The programme will benefit 200 Grade 9 to 12 STEM educators in Indonesia. The initial run with 96 educators from 20 schools has received positive response from over 90 per cent of its participants.
Efforts to Scale Impact
The programme reflects the importance and utility of strategic STEM capacity-building programmes through multi-stakeholder collaboration. The direct impact of the programme in building a stronger supply of talent for this industry demonstrates a strong potential for scaling to bridge the gap between STEM education curricula and industry needs.
This pilot in West Java with AWS, PJI and NIE is a working template for industry-NGO-university partnership in the region and beyond.
The co-constructed STEM lesson packages will seed and sustain efforts in developing the craft of STEM curriculum design and implementation. The collective efforts of STEM education communities will support the longer-term efforts to make quality STEM education more accessible through technologies.
