A Festival of Thinking

AustraliaFest 2018 draws to a close.
2 visits, 3 cities, 4 programs, 100 educators, 1000 students.

Supported by the Australian High Commission in New Delhi, and The National Council Of Science Museums (NCSM) of India, I was able to contribute to the Science and Education component of the AustraliaFest cultural exchange program.

The collaboration was to share innovative approaches to mathematics education, especially in the area of computational thinking, problem solving skills and maths engagement. The outcomes from the collaboration were to include prototypes of interactive exhibits for replication and distribution across India, as well as a cohort of educators with new skills and approaches to maths engagement.

Bangalore - 2018

In October 2018, I returned to Bangalore from Kuppam after working with the great educational Foundation Agastya International. Hosted by the team at VITM - Visvesvaraya Industrial & Technological Museum - I facilitated a 1 week program with the goal of producing a small collection of prototypes on maths and computational thinking. 

Teachers exploring
 a power of 2 activity

The participants were mostly from NCSM centres in the southern and western regions of India. These curators and museum educators were joined by about 8 teachers from the area, secondary maths/science teachers as well as primary school educators. While most participants had a good grounding in mathematics, and were familiar with the standard mathematical models and displays common in India Science Museums, the topics of Computational thinking, and problem solving were new to all the participants. Also the education system in India, like many across the world, was very reliant on didactic methods of teaching , with a lot of emphasis on drills, and exams. As well as introducing the topic of computational thinking I was keen to share and support the adoption approaches to learning that fostered critical thinking, curiosity, and deeper understanding and interest in mathematics.

The first 2 days of the workshop were focused on introducing activities, hands on, largely group based. The activities were selected to emphasize problem solving strategies, challenges that highlight how problems can be tackled through dissection - making them smaller so you can understand the nature of the problem, and apply the understanding to larger more complex tasks.

Activities also looked at how the effort in tackling a problem changes as the problem increases in size, or number of elements. Some tasks, problems can be managed efficiently with simple brute force, trial and error when small, but as the scale of the problem increases the effort might grow disproportionate. We experienced activities around sorting, searching, and activities that provide an experience of the impact of geometric growth, and the powers of 2.

Pi plate approximations - an activity about estimations
,approximations,power of 2 and of course Pi.

Spatial thinking - two teachers wrestle with reflections
trying to create a range of target figures ( not all are possible)

We posed challenges which seemed achievable, until they were undertaken. Some could be solved, others seemed solvable, but were in fact impossible. An important question to answer before undertaking a seemingly tough problem, is to explore if it is just tough, or impossible. My activities link to the fundamental properties of numbers,, of odd and even. This property of numbers is often the second thing we teach about numbers.. right after basic counting. But the importance of this is often NEVER exposed.. its just a property.  Too much of maths is taught like this.

Participants helping lay down
a sorting network

 I introduced the group to ways of representing problems in graphical forms. providing them with different insights to the problem, One problem . the knights tour.. often takes people 10 minutes to solve, but if presented as a network, a map.. it can be solved by most people in a few seconds. The same problem a different strategy. Generating maps of problems, creating sorting networks, and moving the thinking from sequences to maps and back again provided the participants with real examples of what THINKING DIFFERENTLY can mean, and how you can apply this.

After sorting numbers, I get the group to sort handbells by pitch - from cacophony to choral music in 8 easy steps

Sharing ideas to kick start the
prototyping phase

Once we had shared a chunk of activities, and got people across the ideas and some examples, we moved to translating some of the ideas into exhibit prototypes. The teachers were able to team up with some of the NCSM staff and access the VITM workshops and technicians to get help with materials and fabrication support to start the prototyping. Like most prototyping projects.. they start slowly as the ideas look for physical forms. Each morning we would review progress, share some more activities while their minds were fresh.. and then dissolve into working groups progressing their exhibits.

A quick suggestion and a sketch from me : a simple physical version
of a great but complex Bytewise exhibit

And overnight the team turns that into a wonderful prototype:
 I now make variations of for use in schools and centres

Participants working with technicians in the VITM fabrication workshop

The Knights tour activity is such a great example of
CT that most workshops make several versions

The Handshake or "ching-ching" problem also translates to at least a few prototypes

I share with the teams some basic encryption ..code making and breaking ideas and

The floor version of the sorting network is a powerful experience, one of the more innovative groups work with me to translate it to a simple mechanical exhibit. They are so keen and smart they get through 3 versions of prototypes. With a bit more time and engineering this would be a winning exhibit.

finishing touches to the "In and Out" problem

Nehru considers the options

A great prototype for the Error checking data exhibit

Humble materials - engagement AND challenge

Aditi Ghose examining her fractal snowflake

One of Several versions of my DiceNet activity exploring options to avoid loose parts

Error checking with graphics - We had lots of discussions about graphics..lots

One nice translation of  a maths operations challenge

I didn't feel the model was necessary- BUT user testing showed it was a key path to engaging the younger students.. #THATSwhyYOUprototype!

Some explorations of the colour map problem as activity and exhibit

Part of the Knight's Tour exhibit

SO SO simple and popular - especially when you invite the users to come up with their own challenges

An extension problem - but they broke my bike :(

Some of the prototypes ready for user testing

With the Director General of NCSM due to visit on the final day, the pressure was on to complete the prototypes, and develop some graphic panels. We had the good fortune to have access to an empty gallery space next to our working area ( the innovation hub within VITM), where we could assemble a pop-up exhibition of the prototypes.

Students - that were members of the innovation hub at VITM - were able to get a sneak peak at the exhibits, and allow the team to see which exhibits were hitting the mark, which grabbed the kids, which did not. great feedback.

Flipping the odds and evens

One of my favorite translations of DiceNet

And clearly one of their's as well

Chicken fox corn

All the way through the workshops, and during exhibit development the participants were fully engaged with the activities, the discussions about the ideas, the applications, and the meaning of the concepts. It was always a challenge to get them to stop one activity and move on to the next. A good sign. And several teachers - originally scheduled to attend for one or 2 days, being on holidays insisted they would come in for the whole week.


The first phase of the project concluded in Bangalore. But the participants.. NCSM staff and teachers have remained in contact.. seeking more ideas, more details and sharing more ideas with myself and the workshop participants.

Kolkata - 2019

A second phase of the project was scheduled and organised for February 2019 - to repeat and extend the outcomes from the first workshop. Again the participants were a mix of education and curatorial staff from the NCSM centres in the Eastern districts, as well as teachers of mathematics from the secondary school system across Kolkata.

Again we had a week to get the participants across the topic, and the approaches that lead to engagement and critical thinking AND generate enough prototypes to form a small temporary exhibition that would launch on India's National Science Day ( 28th Feb).

BIRLA INDUSTRIAL and TECHNOLOGICAL MUSEUM our workshop host

The workshop was hosted by BITM  ( BIRLA INDUSTRIAL and TECHNOLOGICAL MUSEUM), Kolkata. This Museum was one of the first in INDIA, and part of the NCSM network, To run our workshop we took over the Innovation hub - a space with equipment, resources and mentors aimed at fostering innovation and entrepreneurship in youth. A maker/hacker/tinker space for club members. These spaces have been developed over recent years, and rolled out across the huge NCSM network, as well as being created in facilities of many partner organisations, such as Agastya, and district level State supported science centres. Still growing and finding its audience, the innovation hubs have several thousand club members across India. More are to be inaugurated in the next few months. They are staffed by a range of mentors, all seem to be young, keen and with recent degrees in science and technology. Much will come from these spaces and mentors in the next few years.

Again the program started with an intense few days of activities, phasing over into exhibit development.  the fabrication workshop at BITM were most welcoming and open to the invasion of variously skilled exhibit developers, but put aside their own work to help us quickly generate prototypes.

Day 1.. Minute 5 - The room tells me they are expecting a traditional "workshop".

A typical, cultural/gender divide - That I will work to moderate.......

A quick round of Science Yoga - to make certain they can put up their hands.....

First we sort people out ( a great intro to algorithms, and problem scaling, and parallel computing).....

Then we join them up - a bit of topology, lateral thinking, and spatial reasoning in problem solving.....

And a day later - everyone is smiling, laughing, working hard, discussing maths education ,building prototypes
and one big team. 

The program was as actively embraced as the earlier one in Bangalore. Lots of feedback from the participants indicating the workshop had changed how they think about education, and the role of exhibits. And the staff from the various innovation hubs were especially adept at translating the ideas into prototypes.  Something that is a great sign for the future of these spaces and their memberships.

An exploration of number, pattern, place value and binary

ShapeNet working its usual magic - for 3 year olds to math graduates - probably my favorite activity.

Locking the participants into some problem solving

Thinking flexibly -- just not flexibly enough 

The enjoyable frustration of searching - and using optimal strategies 

We do some encoding, and turtle graphics - a paper algorithm to turn your name into a pattern

We take a step towards software after the name turtle activity, using a minimal language to drive a paper robot. The Bengali for arrow/dart is TIR... we had time to go through a few major upgrades to the language before we paused the activity. I even used TIR 2.5 in Thailand a week or so later.

Another roll of tape, another big space, and some more visual sorting networks

The reverse phase of DiceNet ( like ShapeNet) always get them to their feet - everyone feels the need to be involved.

A short reminder to the participants that they did need to progress their exhibit prototypes.

And they did work....

And work ......

And work ......

And work ......

And work ......

And work ......

And work ......

And work ......

And work ......

And work ...... and ready or not.. they had to share what we had achieved with the Director S.Kumar.

We wrapped up the week with a reporting back to Director general S. Kumar and the leadership.

A walk through the prototype/concept for a version of the sorting mat. For Director S Kumar and senior staff of NCSM.

 The next day I flew to Guwahati, to prepare for 2 days of workshops with math teachers from the northern Assam valley. The team from BITM that were part of the workshop remained in Kolkata to prepare the space for the temporary exhibition, make exhibition signage and set up tables. The exhibits were to be launched along side a temporary exhibition on Mahatma Gandhi on National Science Day.

A reduced baggage limit, and no exhibit prototyping for Guwahati - so a careful repack
2kg of playing cards, 1kg of dice, and 2 handcuffs. It takes HOURS to get through security at the airports.

The Temporary exhibition space - looked like it needed a lot of attention  as I flew to Guwahati -
 I felt like I was deserting them - but I had faith in the BITM Team.

Guwahati - 2019

The regional NCSM science Centre in Guwahati was a venue for the earlier 2018 science circus. The staff and the centre are both excellent. They do so much for this semi remote part of India. The workshop for Guwahti was only able to be a 2 day program. So it was decided we would work closely with a group of 36 teachers.. as we had time to share the activities, and teaching strategies.. but not make prototypes. This was a great decision.. as it gave us time to run the activities, but also discuss the strategies, the pedagogy of engagement, and critical thinking. Attending the workshop was also 6 to 8 mentors from operational or soon to open innovation hubs from the North East corner of India. These mentors were easily as active and engaged with the topic and the approaches as the formal educators, and have remained keen to learn more. We again took over one of the innovation hub spaces, just the right vibe for some creative problem solving.

For a future visit I hope to work with the great mentors of the innovation spaces... lots of potential.

Again we explored problems, and problem solving strategies. having little baggage allowance to travel to Guwahati ( and having half of my luggage dedicated to materials for a later program in Thailand) we relied on using the participants as tokens in the activities, along with a few playing cards, dice and basic pen and paper. But the activities we more than well received. Hard to get them to stop. 

We explored and discussed the change from drill to critical thinking that we achieve in ShapeNet and DiceNet

While Odds and Evens are often the 2nd thing we are formally taught in mathematics - it is seldom revealed if this characteristic is anything  more than a mathematical curiosity. I run the educators through a number of problems, the solution to which requires a keen awareness of odds and evens.

In working with teachers as the main body of the participants .. we could spend time to discuss how to stage the introduction of the ideas to the students. First through putting the problem to them,, then helping them to re-frame, view the problem in a different way .. think about thinking.. the often neglected meta-cognition  needed for life long learning but seldom mentioned or directly supported in most education systems. And then  giving the participants the chance to MAKE and share new problems based on the one I had shared. 

More activities with an Odds and Even underlay

The seem happy, even though its IMPOSSIBLE

We build a house, we take a tour, we discover ..yes more odds and evens, and graph theory... and 

They discover as teachers and students alike discover, that doing a problem set for you is one thing, but making a problem for one of your peers to tackle is even more rewarding. It only serves to amplify how the students gain an understanding of the principles, and apply this to shaping problems, and working with ones set by colleagues. It is a general principle that serves to lift critical thinking, strategy, but also adds motivation while retaining the benefits of practice. 

It isn't ALL HARDSHIP.....

We even have time to unpack how a game like Brahma's discs has a fractal flow, and why? Through this we reach recursion and other algorithmic structures... its child's play.

We leave the Mentors with a challenge .. but no keys. Never knew so many people happy to be handcuffed.

It was a great but too short a visit. And the discussions we started with the innovation hub mentors barely touched on things that would be useful to share. I hope to stay in touch and perhaps return and run some STEM programs in the new innovation hubs.

Great and helpful staff everywhere, and all keen for more follow up programs.

At the end of the 2nd day - I had to forge a path out of the centre - and through 60,000 rally attendees on the land right next to the centre. A Congress party rally had started that morning, and was due to end as I had to head to the airport.. A frightening prospect of navigating past 3577 buses taking people away from the rally  - and missing the flight back to Kolkata by 2 or 3 weeks presented itself to me as we left... but we followed some lesser know goat tracks and got to the plane in good time.

National Science Day Exhibition and Show - 2019

Upon returning to Kolkata, late that night from Guwahati, I returned to the NCSM guesthouse for a quick rest - and prepare for the final two days of the program. Develop some evaluation templates for teachers and gallery facilitators, and select which activities I would carry into the public school shows that would run at BITM.

Our great Pop-Up maths and CT exhibition - not bad to 2 days work

When I arrived at BITM that morning the Team at BITM organised and marshaled by the wonderful Aditi Ghose had transformed the prototypes and the gallery space into a very professional pop-up exhibition. We added to the exhibits some that were prototyped in Bangalore, but it seemed we had well over 20 interactive stations - developed from scratch in just 5 days - of which only 2 and a bit were free for exhibit development. To be sure the prototypes will not last for ever.. not with a few thousand visitors each day. 

Penrose Tiles and tessellations

Numbers, strategy and even a bit of encryption

Number Strategy, patterns and modular maths

Our Old Favorite error checking, and the Odds and Evens of In and Out

A Gallery version of DiceNet and a classic Number Strategy puzzle

A touch of Binary mathematics

An electronic knight's tour to help i see where you've been

A great spatial reasoning exhibit and an example of my minimal graphic style

A Sorting Network for the postal service

Knight's tour: version 371

Some Sort of Sorting Network

Keen to hear how this sorting network version gets used - very cute.

Some of the graph theory versions of our famous tours

A number pattern and lateral thinking challenge

Early feedback suggested this simple exhibit of mine ( 5 min in the making) was one of the more engaging.

A Multi-Maze, version 2 - much harder and more versatile than I expected when I put it together.. by which I mean. I made it, I cant solve it.

When it is as simple and sticks and stones, everyone can try it

The culmination of the Bytewise program coincided with the National Science Day of India. Our exhibition was opened to start the day at BITM. One of those officiating at the ceremony was the former director of BITM. He and a few from NCSM came to Questacon nearly 30 years ago to participate in my first international exhibit design workshop. Such a great opportunity to catch up.

Teachers ( some from the workshop) and students waiting to get in

Happy Chaos

The exhibits have been available to the public for the last few weeks and we will evaluate the exhibits and the visitors reactions. from this we will shortlist and redevelop kits to be produced and shared across the network of NCSM centres, outreach programs, innovation hubs and partners.

Just as with my Science Oasis programs, this workshop highlights that simple exhibits can be made quickly, effectively and  with limited materials and technical skills. Exhibits that use humble materials can engage and stretch the minds of their users. They can help shape minds in ways that traditional teaching will never achieve, but point to ways formal education can include small elements of curiosity, enquiry, challenge and motivation. 

2 handcuffs, 1 piece of string, and 1000 students .. and only mathematics to save me.

Once we had launched the Exhibition - I moved to the auditorium, for an act of extreme bravery.. Public theater shows, too an english 2nd language audience on the topic of mathematics. I have an interest, a keenness to involve people in the learning. directly, physically. Not only to help engage them, but because spacial thinking  is a key strategy and skill in problem solving.. often overlooked.

One of the batches of students we interacted with over the 2 days of the National Science Day Festival

I try not to dominate the stage during my shows.. in fact I try not to be there at all.
 For them, by them..

This is NOT related to the Handcuffs, this is a Zero-Knowledge protocol in action
( they actually learned a lot - Zero Knowledge relates to an area of cyber security - not the students )

Again, an arresting mathematics activitiy

Many of the activities I run with educators uses human participants, this lends itself to translation to large format shows, participation, and after the shows, reproduction and replay and sharing. By translating the problems to physical group based exploration, participants and observers all feel a connection, and the role and language is changed, provided the group can understand the challenge the rules..  they will experience the result.. it need not be interpreted for them - though doing so may bring out more details, the essence of the activity is to get them an experience of these strategies and approaches.

I was informed that the students would be shy and reluctant to participate or volunteer...
Clearly a big problem....

Over 2 days, 4 shows, I got to involve 1000 students, and refine my "SHOW". The staff of BITM have now seen a different way to present to students, and how different topics can be translated for the stage and large groups. They are already discussing talking these activities on the road to test themselves in running such shows and activities. Music to my ears. the get people to change how they think, and follow it with a commitment to explore doing things differently.. their way.

Many friends, many activities. An appreciation of the scale of work left to do, and audiences that might benefit. Discussions are live, exploring opportunities for more exhibit focused master classes, possibly internationally. A need to support primary school teachers, and a chance to develop a national video program to share activities and pedagogy is being explored. Innovation hubs are now thinking about how to prepare for new members. Big outcomes, and thanks to the staff of the High Commission and NCSM and the teachers who gave their time and energy to the journey.

This kind of program has its best impact when hosted in a suitable organisation. legacy and outcomes are all bigger when shared into an existing network with similar goals. But it can happen in small communities, from a single school seeking to improve its own outcomes, or take a leadership role in the broader educational community. I encourage such groups to consider if such type of programs might form part of the futures.

A deep vote of thanks to the Australian High Commission in New Dehli, and the leadership and staff of the NCSM nodes. We have changes minds, changes teaching practices, and influenced the influencers. The echos from this collaboration will continue for many years.