|
As an August 2010 Indicorps Fellow, you will develop a program to increase interest in science and math for middle school students. You will operate in three middle schools in Nainital district, with students between 6th and 8th grade, to design tools that enhance students’ interest in the subjects. You will also interact with teachers and encourage them to adopt these tools in the classroom.
Initially, you will conduct an informal assessment of the current understanding of science and mathematics in the select middle schools. This will enable you to understand the existing curriculum, student aptitude, and programs that can be developed to increase the students’ curiosity in the two subjects. Building relationships with students and teachers might be beneficial. You may want to spend time in the classroom with the teachers, assist them with lesson plans, attend teachers’ meetings, and participate in parent-teacher forums. Gaining trust and acceptance of the students through sports, crafts, and other such non-academic streams will forge ties that will positively impact the classroom environment.
Next, you should start developing a program to increase interest and curiosity of students in science and math. An assortment of activities such as quizzes, games and puzzles could introduce the subjects in non-conventional, yet effective ways. Facilitating workshops to de-mystify science and math, and make them relevant in the local context could prove to be a powerful tool. Integrating local geography into the science sessions would give you the option of expanding the definition of a classroom. Excursions, nature trails, vermi-composting, etc. would make science relevant and applicable to more than just academic scores.
As you develop modules, you should implement them in the select schools in conjunction with the school teachers. Increasing teacher participation (at all stages) will ensure a higher degree of understanding of the methodology, and provide sustainability to your initiatives. Throughout this process, you will want to make careful notes and observations about the impact of your activities on the students. It will also assist the organization to determine the future of the program and plans for expansion.
Ideally, you can capture best practices in a teaching manual for other schools unable to participate in the pilot program.
Target community:
The target community consists of middle schools students from the Ramgarh block of Nainital. The students, ages 12 to 14, hail mostly from farming families. The major crops grown in the area include apples, peaches, apricots, pears, plums, vegetables and grains. Since farming is essentially a family activity, students often get involved in home-based agricultural operations. In particular, children from poorer families tend to play a greater role in supporting agriculture and other household activities. 10-15% of the students are first generation learners.
Objectives:
• To design appropriate and low-cost methods to enhance students interest in math and science
• To demonstrate the use of such methods with teacher participation in three middle-schools
Challenges:
• Planning a timeline for these activities/workshops and preparing requisite materials
• Encouraging the government school teachers to take ownership of the process of engaging students in math and science
Team-Based Model:
Each project is designed as a three-way partnership between you, Indicorps, and a partner organization. Each grassroots partner organization – in this case CHIRAG – will be hosting two to four Fellows. Consequently, the August 2010 fellowship will have both an individual and a team component.
As a team of Indicorps Fellows, your focus is to infuse new creative and innovative elements in CHIRAG’s key activities. Team members will focus on different areas, including raising interest in science and math in government school children and supporting community-based entrepreneurial activities.
|
Top