DAIC partners with secondary school to introduce STEM in Dominica

The Dominica Association of Industry and Commerce (DAIC) has committed to working with Arthur Waldron SDA Academy to introduce  STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) into the school’s curriculum, as a pilot program.

DAIC and the school will work together to adapt and introduce a new curriculum that will directly engage 100 students, 25 parents, and ten teachers over the period of one school year and provide all students with access to a STEM-based classroom.

This Commitment to Action was announced by Former Secretary of State and Former First Lady of the United States Hilary Clinton on Tuesday, May 4th, 2019 at the Clinton Global Initiative USVI Meeting at the University of the Virgin Islands in St. Thomas.

Implementing STEM education is the gateway to unleashing the students’ potential and creating an engaging school climate that epitomizes a definite thrust towards an aggressive promotion of technology and science‐based education that responds to the demands of today’s society. First, the team will secure equipment to furnish a STEM-based classroom with desktop computers, a smart television, a smart board, a robotics kit, and iPad tablets. The team will then work to identify lessons from other STEM initiatives, adapt these lessons to create a tailored program, and introduce a curriculum that integrates this access to technology.

Once developed, ten mathematics, information technology, and other related disciplinary teachers will be trained to execute this STEM program in their curriculum for 100 students. 25 parents will also be trained on best practices to engage students around STEM learning at home for reinforcement. The curriculum will include student participation in one-to-two science and mathematics fairs, competitions, and robotics camps over the school year.

DAIC will provide ongoing support in seeking sponsorship to finance the equipment for the program and ensure the team makes valuable connections with others working on STEM initiatives. The program operation will be managed by the school principal, and the school’s Board of Management will maintain the classroom equipment. The intention is that this program will ultimately be replicated through the Ministry of Education for the advancement of the entire educational curriculum in Dominica.

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4 Comments

  1. Sylvester Cadette
    June 12, 2019

    Very Great endeavor. It is a 20th Century imperative!! As a prerequisite please work into the curriculum the inclusion of ART.
    A good music student often understands mathathematical sequencing and combinations superlatively. So too with a student who understands painting and sculpture asociated with design engineering. It is necessary to combine problem-based learning methods and creativity. (Da Vinci anyone?)
    Understanding the aesthetics associated science and discovery is essential to an enquiring mind and is very much correlated with innovation and design. In fact, Design engineering and industrial engineering is enveloped in art and aesthetics. It is art that brings models and prototypes to life. Please embrace the beauty of art.
    OUR Curriculum developers should talk more with Mr. ROGER BURNETTE. He has been preaching this doctrine for umpteen years but we seem not to listen.
    Let’s pay attention for the sake of our future wholesome development in nurturing innovators.

    • Sylvester Cadette
      June 12, 2019

      I meant 21st century imperative! :lol: :lol:

    • peaceandlove
      June 13, 2019

      Indeed, this is correct. ART, and in general, the ARTS and HUMANITIES are now combined with hard scientific subjects in leading institutions. It is no longer STEM but STEAM.

  2. Roger Burnett
    June 12, 2019

    This is a good initiative. However, my concern is the selection of students and teachers.

    Innovative technology that responds to the demands of today’s society is not restricted to academic disciplines. Inventiveness is equally in the realms of creativity. With the emphasis on mathematics and other disciplinary subjects, I fear that creative students may be left by the wayside.

    An innovative German engineering company prefers to recruit it’s designers from those whose are agnostic or dyslexic. My father – one of England’s most inventive engineers – left school at thirteen. A good friend of mine, who pioneered micro chip technology in the United States, told me that he was regarded as a dunce in the classroom environment.

    What is needed – far more than desktop computers, smart televisions, smart boards, robotics kits, and iPad tablets – are creative students, as against purely academic students, together with inspirational teachers.

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