STEM Learning Based on Aircraft Design: An Interdisciplinary Strategy Developed to Science Clubs Colombia

Abstract


 
 
 
 This article describes a STEM learning strategy based on aircraft design in order to promote the development of aeronautical science in Colombia. This teaching strategy was developed by specialized instructors from the Science Clubs Colombia program, seeking to stimulate in young Colombian students their passion for science, technology, and innovation, and in the process, create an international network of academic collaborations. Bloom’s taxonomy was used to classify and select both the educational objectives, as well as the teaching plan of the science club. STEM activities that encourage students to perform hands-on learning experiences were the basis of this framework. Essentially, interdisciplinary activities involving aeronautics, electronics, computational simulations, and technical drawing; characterized this science club. As a result, the students were able to design, manufacture and test their own hand-launched air-model, applying all steps of the scientific method: the conception of ideas, design, execution of experiments, and communication of results. After the first flight tests of the air-models, the students disclosed an ability to apply their mathematics knowledge in conjunction with their science learning on the forces of flight, in order to improve their launching technique. Therefore, both the time and range of the air-models were enhanced. Finally, both students and instructors benefited throughout the learning interaction, since it was the first time that a rural community is the scenario of an aeronautical engineering training process. It is expected that the dissemination of this material will contribute to the Colombian aeronautical community, giving outlooks for new research proposals and cooperation frameworks between government entities and universities.
 
 
 

Engaging Scientific Diasporas in STEAM Education: The Case of Science Clubs Colombia

“…Combining STEAM and PBL, Clubs are designed to foster creativity, critical thinking, and the development of skills students can apply to solve problems in their communities and local contexts. This approach has been applied across the Science Clubs International network in multiple countries, including Colombia (Bravo-Mosquera et al, 2019 ), Mexico (Lengeling and Jinich, 2019 ), Bolivia (Ferreira et al, 2019 ), Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, Paraguay, and Spain (Hernandez-Lopez et al, 2021 ).…”

Elementos centrales de experiencias educativas con enfoque STEM

“…3D (Bravo-Mosquera et al, 2019;Freiman, 2020;Orquín et al, 2017), dispositivos móviles (Ariffin et al, 2018;Cadorin et al, 2017), LEGO (Freiman, 2020;Roberts et al, 2018), entre otras.…”

Cloud-controlled microscopy enables remote project-based biology education in Latinx communities in the United States and Latin America

“…Project-based learning (PBL) is an effective approach for teaching complex STEM concepts [9, 10], particularly for students from backgrounds typically underrepresented in STEM professions [1, 11, 12, 13]. In PBL, students have the chance to learn in a hands-on matter, investigating deeper questions and discovering truth for themselves [1, 14, 13].…”

“…Project-based learning (PBL) is an effective approach for teaching complex STEM concepts [9, 10], particularly for students from backgrounds typically underrepresented in STEM professions [1, 11, 12, 13]. In PBL, students have the chance to learn in a hands-on matter, investigating deeper questions and discovering truth for themselves [1, 14, 13]. Despite the benefits of PBL, three significant barriers stand in the way of its broad implementation into STEM laboratory courses: 1) high local infrastructural cost required to perform complex PBL projects, 2) limited teacher training, and 3) potential exposure to hazardous materials [1, 15].…”