The steM puzzle- helping fit the bits together.

STEM education is gaining support and advocates, and a growing depth of research rigor. Integrated units, cross-curricula projects and the like are finding their way into some of the early adopter classes and schools. Technology ( digital devices) and computer science resources are being brought in as tools to support learning and problem solving tasks in what traditionally were distinct subjects.
Yet, across many of these initiatives, primary and secondary, the focus on ensuring the students have some of the basic skills, and mental techniques to excel in the various - manipulative steps - physical, mathematical and meta-cognitive is sometimes left to chance.
Spatial reasoning, is a core to these problem solving strategies. It is being researched, advanced, and integrated into many informal learning programs such as the ones I will shortly be delivering across several Asian countries during the next few months. These simple, but trans formative activities have been strongly promoted within the university at which I am an adjunct. Lead by the work of Tom Lowrie and his team.

These four simple shapes, of equal area, can be fitted together to make many shapes. Through rotation, reflection and combination the four pieces, can be combined to create a larger version of each of these shapes. The process is intriguing, frustrating, and rewarding. Key steps in deeper learning. once they students see that these smaller pieces can make a large versions of the same shapes, they can quickly extrapolate to see that the pieces can through a fractal growth, tile the world.
I will be sharing these types of guided but open learning techniques, in maths and STEM more broadly, in museums, science centres, and universities. I will use these humble materials and simple tasks to start discussions with teacher educators, teachers and pre-service teachers, in Thailand, Malaysia, Brunei, and Indonesia. Partner organisations are working with me to extend the reach of these programs to additional countries in the region.
Who knows what will hatch from it.

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