The School of Aerospace Engineering of Universiti Sains Malaysia has recently organized AEROFAIR 2016, an outreach program to promote STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) education to secondary school students, with a theme “Promoting Aerospace Science and Activities in Secondary Schools”. A committee was formed to organize the program consisting of 26 staffs and 53 student volunteers from the School of Aerospace Engineering USM. The main funding for this program was provided by the Penang Education Council of the Penang Institute under their “Program Penggalakan Sains dan Teknologi” agenda.
The program was organized into a Briefing Day, conducted on 23 June 2016, and a Competition Day on 24 September 2016. A total of 35 teachers and 186 students from 19 schools participated in this program. The main objectives of the Briefing Day were to provide the participants with information, learning modules, materials, and tools to be used in the aerospace activities conducted at their respective schools. The Competition Day served as the culmination of the program by organizing four competitions to the participants: two flying competitions and two other competitions to assess the participants’ learning process and outcomes related to this program.
The approach of this year’s program was to promote aerospace science and hands-on activities through long term projects (over the three months duration between the Briefing Day and the Competition Day). Two types of flying vehicles were selected for this program: indoor flight and water rocket. The participating teams were expected to learn on their own the science behind these two flying vehicles and the process of constructing them, guided by the learning modules from the AEROFAIR organizing team, using the materials and the tools provided to them on the Briefing Day. This process of self-learning was aimed towards developing students’ capacity and independence to apply science concepts into practical applications.
Eight of the participating schools have also produced YouTube videos, submitted to our Multimedia Competition, to document their process of learning and constructing the two flying vehicles. Evident from these videos are the dedication and commitment by the teachers and the students at these schools to carry out their projects systematically and to conduct related learning activities, such as seminars and workshops, to other students from their schools and other schools as well. Such exemplary actions by these schools allow the impact of our AEROFAIR program to be expanded beyond the initial number of the participants directly involved in this program.
More information about the AEROFAIR 2016 program, including photos during the event, can be obtained through our dedicated website at www.flyoutreach.com.
