Make STEMazing World

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Type of the event: Workshop/training

Online or offline: Offline

Main theme/focus: Basic Digital Skills
Coding for Inclusion
Digital Media Literacy
STE(A)M

Date time start: 25/03/2019 08:00

Date time end: 29/03/2019 14:00

Number of hours: 14

Country: Croatia

Region: Zagrebačka županija

City/Town: Velika Gorica

Organisation: Dalia Kager

Address of the event: Školska ulica 4, Velika Gorica, Hrvatska

Tag or keywords: micro:bit boson programming STEM technology

Responsible (trainer/organizer): Dalia Kager

Email of the organiser: dalia.kager@gmail.com

Phone of the organiser: +385959020244

Target Group: School students

Number of participants: 99

Short description of the event:

The pupils of a 5.-8. grade elementary school will use a micro:bits and BOSON kit for group work in workshop. They will create technology for everyday use, combining problem solving skills, programming, automation, robotics and team cooperation. Project themes: automatic door, mini fan, rainbow light and sound activated music player. All of our pupils are already familiar with micro:bit since they used it in class.

Learning objectives:
Outline steps to complete a structural engineering challenge.
Predict and discuss potential issues in structure creation.
Build a structure based on a plan.
Revise both the plan and the structure until they satisfy the challenge.
Overcome obstacles such as time constraints or bugs.

Stages:
1. Micro:bit and Boson kit introduction.
2. Getting know with Boson kit and modules.
3. Connecting the modules with micro:bit expansion board.
4. Getting know digital input/output and analog input/output 3Pin connectors.
5. Group work.
6. Presentation of work results.
7. Reflection – filling out the questionaire.

The challenge I encountered was the difference between the age of the student and their foreknowledge so I had to devise some chalenges during the workshop. After designing projects, they should devise ways of implementing projects in real life and create a creative project using multiple different modules. This proved to be a good decision to develop creativity and strengthen team collaboration.

I am particularly proud that a large number of girls participated (51), which makes 51.51% of the total number of participants and that everything went even better than I’ve planned.

What did the participants said?
“I most liked the project with loudspeaker and sound sensor. It is great!” Ružica, 6th grade

“I can not stop working!” Lovro, 6th grade

“If I had lego cubes, I would make a digital house for my hamster.” Ana, 5th grade

“Can a mini fan cut your nails? That would be awesome.” Luka 6th grade

“This workshop is perfect for me because children can learn new things and have fun, and also think together.” Ivan, 5th grade

“I like this workshop because we are learning about teamwork and we learn new skills in a fun way.” Roko, 5th grade

“We really liked this workshop, because we did it together and succeeded.” Lea, 5th grade

“This is fantastic!” Iva, Marieta and Nives, 8th grade