STEM resources now widely available to students, teachers
Teaching and learning the basics of science, technology, engineering and mathematics will no longer be distant or remote to students and teachers as the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) has made STEM resources widely available to them through weekly national radio broadcast, the use of social-media channels, and access to digital and online platforms.
“STEM teaching and learning resources are now accessible to both public and private school students and teachers,” said Dr. Ruby R. Cristobal, chief science research specialist of the DOST- Science Education Institute (DOST- SEI) during the weekly online program “DOST Report” aired on DOSTV on October 2.
The STEM resources are also available even to parents, private companies and institutions and media outlets who would like to use them. Syndication plans to DOST regional offices can also make these resources aired freely over community radio stations and academebased broadcast stations.
The blended format of teaching and learning— that involves the use of online, modular or broadcast methods—is being resorted to by the Department of Education this school year in lieu of face-to-face teaching amid the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic. It is part of the protocol to prevent the children from contracting the virus.
Coming on the heels of the late opening of classes for the School Year 2020-2021 on October 5 owing to the pandemic, the resources include 20 science radio episodes of Radyoeskwela sa Siyensya, roughly translated as “Science School on Radio,” for elementary pupils, and 15 STEM video modules under TuklaSiyensya sa Eskwela, or “Discover Science in School,” for high- school students.
“Both Radyoeskwela sa Siyensya and Tuklasiyensya sa Eskwela serve not only as alternative learning resources for [school children], but also as instructional materials for teachers as these come with teacher’s guides,” Cristobal said.
The DOST-SEI is also making available 24 10-minute science films from its Indie- Siyensya Film Collection— the fruits of its four-year- old annual science filmmaking competition— and 400 downloadable lessons for Grades 1 to 8 from the DOST Courseware, a Filipino- made multimedia software in science and mathematics.
As STEM education partners, 285 teachers continue to avail themselves of the online training under the Science Teacher Academy for the Regions (Project STAR) with 13 video topics currently available online through the Project STAR Youtube channel and the DOST- SEI web site.
New normal approaches to promote STEM education, careers
Before the Covid-19 pandemic, DOST brought “mobile interactive learning facilities” to various underequipped schools all over the country. They are buses called “Science Explorer” for elementary pupils, which first rolled out in 2010, and the “nulab” for high-school students.
Now the Science Explorer’s laboratory, or nulab’s STEM- in- motion buses, can reach more schools as they have been transformed into engaging narratives in the forms of science radio episodes and STEM video modules.
“Both Radyoeskwela sa Siyensya and Tuklasiyensya sa Eskwela are products of the new normal,” which work began in April and June, respectively, when the country was under the enhanced community quarantine status owing to the pandemic, Cristobal said.
“Combining the expertise of those involved in the sciences and the arts, we converted our science modules for elementary and high school into modules that can be disseminated without in- person contact,” she said.
Cristobal said that even while the schools are physically closed, they continue to bring these services to the students to encourage them to take up courses in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
Nationwide reach over radio broadcast
Radyo Eskwela sa Siyensya consists of 20 dramatized science lessons that make use of the extensive reach of radio to enhance the interest of young children in STEM.
Its first episode for Grades 3 and 4 pupils, titled “Mikrobyo” on the topic “microorganisms,” had its initial airing on October 4 could not have been more aptly timed.
The 30-minute science episodes can be heard for the next 19 Sundays at 4 p.m. over the nationally broadcast DZRH’S “Radyo Henyo” and livestreamed on DZRH Manila’s Facebook page.
The award-winning science and technology program, which is also simulcast through cable television, is anchored by former Agham Party-list Representative Angelo Palmones and Cristobal herself.
The episodes will also be broadcast in more than 120 FM stations across the country by the community radio network Radyo Natin of the Manila Broadcasting Co.
Both learners and teachers will follow the story of pupils Kaikai and Bart, teacher Melai and mommy Elsa up until the lessons for Grade 6 pupils are discussed.
The topics include stars and constellation, food safety, carbon footprint, insects, water, basic genetics, soap, matter, acids and bases, levels of the ocean, marine biodiversity, energy, measurements, plants, buoyancy, thunderstorms, sound, gravity, and the science of smell.
Once the episodes are aired, the DOST will give copies to its regional offices and the Deped for use in their respective social-media channels and online accounts.
The DOST- SEI is open to the noncommercial airing of the story-based science lessons by media networks.
As instructional materials for teachers, these radio episodes can “reinforce or jumpstart lessons” in STEM classes.
Engaging STEM videos
Temporarily taking the place of the nulab bus is the Tuklasiyensya sa Eskwela, which consists of 15 STEM video modules for high-school students to be streamed in DOST social media accounts and Youtube channels every week starting on October 26.
The 20- minute video modules employing a “multidisciplinary approach” were developed by experts and scientists from the academe with topics that are not commonly taught in schools, according to Cristobal.
Like the Radyoeskwela sa Siyensya, the Tuklasiyensya sa Eskwela modules can be used by both public and private schools, the Deped, the DOST regional offices, and media networks for noncommercial screening.
“The DOST- SEI tapped the expertise of scientists from the University of the Philippines in Los Baños (UPLB) and Diliman campuses, Ateneo de Davao University, and the Balik Scientist program as well as the creativity of [veteran science journalist] TJ Dimacali and film director Jeffrey Hidalgo to make these video modules,” Cristobal said.
Distinguished scientists and scholars will be shown on camera as facilitators to discuss such topics as the “mathematics of the pandemic,” which will be tackled in the episode on biomathematics by Dr. Jomar F. Rabajante of the UPLB biomathematics research team and one of the country’s known modeler- experts of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Other Tuklasiyensya facilitators are Dr. Rogel Mari D. Sese of Ateneo de Davao University and the project’s lead resource person; Dr. Aimee Lyn A. Barrion-dupo of UPLB; DOST scholar and researcher Jose Mari C. Lit of UPLB; Balik Scientist Dr. Vallerie Ann I. Samson of Dost-philippine Nuclear Research Institute; Dr. Aletta T. Yñiguez of UP Marine Science Institute; science researcher Pamela Louise M. Tolentino of UP National Institute of Geological Sciences; and science researcher Miko Lorenzo J. Belgado of UPLB.
The module topics include stoichiometry (chemistry for junior and senior high-school students about the measure of elements in a chemical reaction), climate change, aerospace engineering, geology, environmental science, marine science, physics, biodiversity, entomology, mathematics ( logic, common errors in algebra), and hydrologic cycle.
Through online platforms, the video modules can be seen constantly by formal and informal learners.
Winning ‘Citizens’ Science’ films
What ’s more, the Indie- Siyensya Film Collection will make available 24 winning science films that can be used by the Deped for both the public and private schools for their STEM lessons.
The 10-minute films made by scientists in tandem with filmmakers and high-school students were from the four-year run of the Indie- Siyensya Science Filmmaking Competition conducted annually by the DOST-SEI.
Indie- Siyensya is among the DOST- SEI’S main platforms to promote a culture of science in the country, as well as its response to the growing field of science communication, particularly in using film as a medium of information dissemination and behavior change.
Digitized lessons in science, mathematics
Aligned with the K-12 curricula, the DOST- SEI has also made available supplemental resources suited to e-learning and blended teaching and learning as packaged under the DOST- SEI Courseware, a locally produced multimedia software in science and mathematics.
The DOST- SEI Courseware was made with the help of the DOST-Advanced Science and Technology Institute, the Deped, Philippine Normal University and the Up-national Institute for Science and Mathematics Education.
The digitized interactive lessons made by science and mathematics teachers themselves can be downloaded and run through Microsoft Windows, Android and Apple IOS platforms for free by both learners and teachers besides accessing them through the DOST- SEI web site and Starbooks.
The “self-learning modules” can also be downloaded and viewed using Android and IOS mobile devices, such as smart phones and tablets.
The lessons have also been made available to the Deped Commons as well as to Smart Communications’ “School-in-a-bag” program, a digital learning platform given to students of 13 schools in remote areas across the country.
The DOST- SEI Courseware consists of three groups of interactive science and mathematics lessons: 102 lessons for Grades 1 to 6 (first edition); 60 lessons for Grades 1 to 6 (second edition); and 120 lessons for Grade 7; and 118 lessons for Grade 8.
“These resources have different approaches, concepts, reviews and evaluations that can be used as standalone or complementary to lessons about basic concepts in science and mathematics from Grades 1 to 8,” Cristobal said.
The DOST- SEI plans to produce Courseware modules for Grades 9 and 10, and Grades 11 and 12 by the end of 2020.
Online STEM training for teachers
The innovative STEM training, professional development and recognition program Project STAR took the online platform starting in April in response to the threat of the pandemic.
“We have covered 13 topics during the STAR webinars attended by 285 participants,” Cristobal said.
DOST- SEI plans to conduct more webinars during the quarantine period when face-to-face training is still not be possible.
Teachers can avail themselves of the free bimonthly trainings conducted by resource persons from partner-universities by registering through the STAR Facebook page.