Driving innovation through project based learning: A pre-university STEAM for Social Good initiative

TL;DR

This paper describes a 3.5-month project-based learning program for pre-university students in India, focusing on social innovation using STEAM skills to address social problems aligned with UN SDGs, despite pandemic constraints.

Contribution

It introduces a university-school partnership model for teaching social innovation through project-based STEAM education, emphasizing design thinking and digital fabrication for social good.

Findings

Students developed creative solutions for social issues.

The program enhanced students' problem-solving and design skills.

Positive student perceptions of social innovation learning.

Abstract

The Covid pandemic is a clarion call for increased sensitivity to the interconnected nature of social problems facing our world today. A future-oriented education on critical issues, such as those outlined in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) and designing potential solutions for such problems is an imperative skill that must be imparted to children to help them navigate their future in today's unpredictable world. Towards this goal, we have been conducting 3.5 month-long mentoring programs for pre-university students in India to participate in a STEAM for Social Good innovation challenge conducted annually by the Government of India. Using digital and physical computing skills, we helped children explore creative solutions for social problems through a constructionist approach to learning, wherein they ideated and reflected upon the problems in their communities. The children learnt the Engineering Design Thinking process and worked in online groups of two or three, from concept to completion. Despite the constraints posed by the pandemic, they explored creative ways to think about design and innovation. They completed a variety of tasks by making, tinkering, engineering, assembling, and programming to grasp the intricate relationship between software and hardware. Subsequently, the children showcased their creative abilities through video storytelling to a panel of domain experts. In this paper, we present the children's perspective of their experiences through this journey, the evaluation metrics based on IEEE design principles, and our learnings from conducting this initiative as a university-school partnership model for 84 middle and high school students. The aspirational intent of this initiative is to make the children better social problem solvers and help them perceive social problems as opportunities to enhance life for themselves and their communities.