Sowing Seeds for a STEM future

A 2023 report released by the Annual Status of Education Report of India highlighted that STEM enrolment among the rural Indian demographic rests at 31.7%, with the percentage of enrollment for female students (28.1%) lower from rural India being lower than that of male students (36.3%) . In a future where STEM-integration will form the backbone of the global job market, it is imperative to ensure the inclusion of this section of the population.

TFG Changemaker and STEM-enthusiast Adam Bashneen had a clear vision of what he wanted to accomplish. He wished to push the boundaries of STEM education to be a more inclusive space for students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds and create a more holistic approach to STEM learning in general.

Being the socially-conscious changemaker that he is, Adam sought an interesting STEM learning space for all students who earnestly wish to engage with STEM but have previously been excluded from it. He leveraged the capabilities of burgeoning tools robotics and AI to integrate STEM learning into the daily lives of his target audience to facilitate a more organic learning experience. Read on to find out how he went about his TFG journey.

Part 1: Inspiring Curiosity through the Virtual Medium

Recognizing that the best way to access a larger and more diverse audience is through virtual resources, Adam kicked off his program with his virtual education workshops. For his first session, he decided to introduce the kids of the Shakti Foundation to the popular design platform Canva. During the session the kids were familiarized with the various functionalities of the platform and developed posters and brochures using Canva. Impressively, the kids displayed the interest to explore the other functionalities of the platform by themselves.

In his next fieldwork session, Adam worked with the kids of the NGO Chaitanya Kul to introduce them to the fundamentals of programming in Python. He taught the kids important concepts such as variables, arrays, and basic operators. By the end of the session, the kids were even able to write simple programs!

To further captivate his audience, Adam also introduced them to the MIT App and created a digital calculator. However, the highlight of Adam’s session was the digital drum set application he created using programming to show the kids the myriad interesting ways in which they can use programming to achieve some really inspired outcomes. 

Part 2: Hacking the Process of Learning

The magnum opus of Adam’s TFG program was undoubtedly RootXFalcon, the hackathon he conceived and executed for the highschoolers of his school. The hackathon was covered in the following steps:

Orientation Session: Students were briefed on the nature of the competition 10 days prior to the hackathon. Fifty participants were divided into pairs thereby forming 25 teams that would take part in the first round.

Round 1: Code-breaking under Pressure

The teams had to solve 15 Python challenges in 30 minutes using the originally curated hackathon structure. The round concluded with 15 teams qualifying to the next one.

Round 2: Survival of the Fittest

The qualifying teams were required to solve a math challenge involving password discovery, which would give them access to a locked file that contained information for the upcoming round.

To add another layer of conflict, students were then brought to a new location where they were given the option of retaining their own partner or stealing someone else’s!  The decision had consequences and in the end, only eight teams advanced to the third round.

Round 3: Tic Tac and Code

This round was a good old-fashioned face-off. The eight teams were split up into block A and block B where they played each other tournament style…with a twist, of course.

As they worked through the Python problems they also played tic tac toe. The first team to finish the Python puzzles would get to mark a cross or circle on the tic tac toe board. Thus, the team that solved the programs first finished the tic tac toe and moved forward. 

Only three teams qualified for the grand finale.

Round 4: Winner takes All

Three files that scattered across the school, one for each of the remaining teams.

The last assignment for the finalists was to create a programme based on a problem description in these files. 

Once they located their file, they had to go back and begin coding. The team with the best programme were the undisputed winners of the hackathon.

Chapters for the Future

Unsurprisingly, RootXFalcon was a resounding success among the students at Adam’s school so much so that the hackathon’s popularity attracted the attention of the school principal who publicly appreciated his endeavor and success.

The outcome of his hackathon would’ve been a good enough place to stop. After all, Adam had accomplished all that he had planned for the programme. But Adam being Adam doesn’t settle for ‘good enough.’ With his impressive drive and focus, this changemaker is seeking to collaborate with some of his STEM-minded friends to establish a small-scale non-profit organization targeted at providing guidance vis-a-vis adapting to technological developments and tools. He envisions this to be a global project.

Concluding thoughts

Adam’s journey can serve as an inspiration to all the young changemakers out there who have the talent, ideas, and desire to contribute to their communities. At TribesForGood we work with our changemakers to provide them with avenues through which they can channel their immense potential into actionable outcomes that positively impact society, thereby enabling them to expand their minds and their reach.

Begin your changemaking journey by signing up for the upcoming cohorts of our Global Challenges & Social Justice Program.

Batch starts: 15 Jun, 1 Jul, 15 Jul, 1 Aug & 15 Aug