Dr Yunus Yassin Launches Science Module For Primary Schools To Catch Up On School Closures - Free Download

 Here is some news about Dr Yunus Yassin our homegrown expert on "science & technology"  education.

educationist called for edu ministry to reimagine teaching of science and maths in schools to reignite passion in these two subjects.

Yunus Yasin, president of the Association of Science Technology and Innovation (Asti), said these subjects must be presented to schoolchildren as gateways to attaining knowledge and a better understanding of all that is happening around them.

“Science and mathematics are an exploration,” he said, adding that students must be taught to explore nature as part of their learning experience.

An engineer by profession, Yunus said the interest of students in these subjects will grow when their exploration leads them to the discovery of formulas and concepts that form part of their learning.

Yunus’ comments followed a warning last month that students’ interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) was waning.

Educationists have attributed the disinterest to a perception that the subjects were too difficult.

Yunus said more effort needs to go into changing the way these subjects are taught in school.

The Association of Science Technology and Innovation (Asti) organises science fairs and innovation challenges in schools such as the ‘young scientific explorer’ programme.

Yunus, who frequently organises science fairs and innovation competitions in schools, says the best way to teach STEM is to ensure students know the purpose of learning these subjects.

“We need to teach the context of each topic in relation to nature, and how to derive these formulas and concepts from their own observation,” he said.

He added that feedback received from teachers was that school syllabuses were too packed, resulting in there being insufficient time for conducting experiments with their students.

Yunus said the syllabuses for these subjects were too broad in scope and ought to be narrowed down in favour of more depth in teaching the core topics of each subject.

He said students need time to understand what they are being taught, which can only happen through the conduct of experiments.

“To observe, you need to do experiments, not read slides,” he said.

He also urged the media to introduce more science-based TV shows for children, adding that shows can air on TV as well as on social media.

“We don’t have any locally produced documentary channels. We should produce shows like those seen on BBC Earth and ‘Bill Nye the Science Guy’ from the US to create awareness and develop children’s scientific thinking,” he said.

Yunus advised parents to be positive and encourage their children to pick up science and mathematics.

“You don’t have to be a scientist to encourage your children, you just need to have a positive mindset towards learning science and mathematics,” he said.

 

My Comments :

 

1.  Some related trivia first - the Association of Science Technology and Innovation (ASTI) which was pioneered by Dr Yunus together with his Science Fairs from circa  2007, also organises the YIC or Young Inventors Challenge. For this year's YIC they have participants from Malaysia and from ASEAN countries with a record 77 school  teams participating from Singapore. Considering that the participation by the 77 teams would be endorsed by Singapore's Ministry of Education it is another feather in the cap for our homeboy Dr Yunus Yassin, PhD in Chem Eng. from Cambridge University, who runs ASTI from an upstairs shophouse office.

 

2. ASTI's A-PLUS PROGRAMME FOR TEACHERS AND PARENTS : The Covid shutdowns have caused primary schools to miss too much learning  time for the kids. For example without fully grasping basic principles in early primary, young children are now struggling with the higher concepts in mid-primary. 

To help with a solution to this problem Dr Yunus and ASTI have spent time and energy to develop some teaching modules in Science for primary school teachers and parents to help our young kids catch up on their lost lessons. 

Here is a snapshot from ASTI's  A-PLUS PROGRAMME FOR TEACHERS AND PARENTS.

"ASTI is proud to launch the ASTI Progressively Learning and Understanding Science (A-PLUS) with modules for year 1 to year 6 in English, following the Malaysian Syllabus for you to implement at your schools or at home.

A-PLUS focus is on understanding science concepts and principles rather than facts and figures. It is ideal to help students who did not learn effectively during the pandemic lockdown.

Watch a short promotional video on A-PLUS at the YouTube link: https://youtu.be/MXKNn9oTiGg

If you as a teacher or parent are interested to implement A-PLUS for your students or children, fill out the google form: http://shorturl.at/ltJW8 and we will send you the editable modules.

Please share this with those who may benefit from this.

 

So teachers and parents, feel free to download the teaching material and may your students and kids at home benefit from ASTI's new module. It is free.

And do spread the word.

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.