STEM and story labs, more experiments to come up at State Resource Centre

Chennai: A new STEM lab, with emphasis on electrical and electronic circuits; additional do-it-yourself experiments for students and story modules to teach science and math concepts are among the upcoming latest additions to the city’s State Resource Centre (SRC) for school students.Launched in Jan this year at the DPI campus, the facility — which is under the administrative control of the SCERT — is currently equipped with labs for Tamil, English, and ‘do-it-yourself’ sections for practising experiments in math, science and social science for students of classes 1-8.“Students can come and practise experiments from Aug this year. Already, a few of the additions are ready. The remaining will be in place by mid-July.

For the STEM lab, UNICEF will extend support to procure items such as breadboards and train teachers. Additionally, 90 simple do-it-yourself experiments will be installed at the do-it-yourself lab, taking the tally to 100,” said Kamali, coordinator, SRC.Further, a story lab will be designed, in partnership with Katha Publishers, where students will be given modules/books that teach concepts through a story, SRC resource persons said.

More than 400 such modules will be made available at the facility and a digital repository will be created for schools to access them offline.“We have more than 400 titles. Difficult-to-learn concepts such as buoyancy or Archimedes principle will be taught through simple stories, improving pedagogy through increased focus on activity-centric learning. Additionally, in-person training will be provided to teachers on how to teach through stories,” said Ravin Carr, CEO, Katha Publishers.M Aarathi, project-director of Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), which funds the SRC, said that any funds for improvement or development of the existing centre will be disbursed without constraints. “Already, ₹5 crore has been spent on constructing and developing the centre. There are also plans to set up another such centre for middle and high school students nearby. Works towards this will commence when the SSA receives its pending dues from the centre,” she added.