ISMTEC 2016

Preparing a Workforce for the Future

October 19 – Bangkok, Thailand

Mrs. Rebecca Petersen, Global PRiSE PhD Program

(Pragmatic Researchers in STEM Education) Texas Tech University, USA

Mr. Amarin Apirakmas, Professor & STEM Ambassador

Nakhon Pathom Rajabhat University, THAILAND

Thailand’s STEM Ambassador Program:

Program Overview / Objective:

• Thailand’s initiative is modelled on the UK's STEM Ambassadors.

• By working with IPST through the Newton Fund, Thailand British

Council is helping to support knowledge exchange and

partnership opportunities between UK and Thai institutions on

STEM Ambassador approaches.

• The objective is to build human resource capacity in vital areas

for economic development and social well-being.

• IPST is aiming to recruit STEM Ambassadors each year –

professionals, either retired or still employed by universities,

government organizations, or working as local experts.

• IPST first began training its Ambassadors in February 2015.

* This slide

copied and/or

paraphrased

from:

THIS WEBSITE

Thailand STEM Ambassadors Video

Video Link HERE

How It Started at our School:

• Teacher Becky is an American elementary teacher at a Thai

government school for the past 11 years. She is committed to

making STEM Education pedagogy a reality in the local

schools.

• With the approval of Director Sinchai Samphanphorn, Teacher

Becky started a Grade 1-6 STEM integrated curriculum model

at Anubanchonburi School (District Mueang; Southeast

Region) for its 18 English Program classrooms.

• Anubanchonburi School is now in its 5th Academic Year of its

dedicated STEM program.

• Teacher Becky met Frank Fearn (British Council STEM

trainer) and Amarin Apirakmas (Thai math professor/STEM

ambassador) during this initial training.

Lesson Learned: YOU should pull information and

resources to you and your school….it usually

will not make it’s way to you in a timely manner

otherwise…unless you have the patience of

an old monk.

Then I….• Got real excited about the possibilities available to our

students

• Went to our regional STEM Center

(Chonradsadornumrung Secondary School) requesting

a meeting with our 11 regional STEM schools and

recently trained Ambassadors by IPST.

• Personally drove around in a truck with one of our Thai

teachers to go door-to-door inviting members and

making phone calls.

• Hosted the meeting at our school on March 17, 2016.

And then I…

• Started a social media and Line group with the objective

of sharing and communicating information among our

local schools wanting to utilize our regional Ambassadors.

• Continued to follow Thailand STEM news on IPST’s

WEBSITE

• Kept in contact with Fred Fearn, who shared his work-in-

progress with me, as well as provided me with ongoing

mentorship.

• Invited UniThai Engineering (our local

Ambassador company) to present to three of our Grade 5

classrooms on June 15, 2016.

SEPSA FB

Page can be

found by

clicking HERE

which also

contains the

meeting PPT

And then ……

I awoke one morning and

suddenly realized that nothing

more seemed to be happening.

??????????

Lessons Learned:

• Being diligent is a noble characteristic, but

understanding and being respectful of local culture is

prudent (although I had power-approval from the top, I

did not have local buy-in, from sideways or below).

• I over-stepped my bounds; I was too impatient to wait

for initiatives from our Regional STEM Center (a pro in

the short-term but a con in the long-term?)

• Programs are not sustainable without said buy-in. If

Director (power & control) goes…then what; will the

torch be carried forward?

• In hindsight, a more

rigorous STEM

marketing and training

campaign for both local

teachers and parents

would have been

beneficial.

Plan B: We adapted the underlying

concepts of the Ambassador Program to

our local community members

• We had a strong parent community network that had

been growing over the past four years.

• Our social media presence was already proven to be

effective for communicating quickly and efficiently in

getting needed resources for school projects.

• The Director allowed STEM teachers the academic

freedom to conduct parent meetings to plan and carry

out STEM Ambassador-type mentoring projects.

• We had a grass-root movement to not only recruit, but

to also train, the expert work force base of our

students’ parents and relatives….using IPST’s

guidelines.

• We had approximately 50 Ambassador projects

already in our first school term (5 months) of this year.

Our Ambassador Projects So Far This

Academic Year:

Class(es) Date Special Activity

EP5 Weeks 2 to 4 Skeleton Leaf Fossils and Photo Frames Engineering

EP6 Weeks 2 to 4 Hydraulic Cloning Diagrams Engineering

EP5 Week 2

Onwards

Using Personal Devices (PDs) for learning during

instruction

EP4 Week 2 Water Transport in Plants Lab Experiments

EP4 Weeks 2 to 5 Vascular Bundle 3D Models Engineering

EP6 May 23-25 Sounds and Rhythm Show for Each Growth Stage

EP6 Week 2 Pen Pals with American Students Collaboration

EP6 May 30 - Jun 1 Digestion Simulation in the Lab Experiments

EP 3 Jun 2 Stomata Microscope Observation in the Lab

EP5 EP6 Jun 8 Internet Safety Guest Speaker; Hand-to-Hand

Foundation

EP6 Week 3 Cooking ASEAN Food in the Kitchen

EP4 Week 3 Plant Transpiration Lab Experiments

EP1 Jun 8 Pharmacist Guest Speaker; Mrs. Suneerat Kittikhun

EP3 Weeks 3 to 5 ASEAN Zoo Models Engineering

EP5 Jun 15 STEM Ambassador Guest Speakers; UniThai

Engineering and Shipyard

EP3 Week 4 Emotions and Feelings Jigsaw Engineering

EP4 Week 4 Factors Affecting Plant Transpirations Lab Experiments

EP2 Jun 16 Dentist Guest Speaker; Dr. Napaporn

Wongphadungtham

EP1 Jun 17 Basic School Skills Station Rotations

EP1 Jun 28 Fish Dissection in the Lab

EP6 Weeks 4 to 5 ASEAN Food Information Board Making

EP6 Week 6 ASEAN Food Festival Recipe Writing

EP6 Week 6 ASEAN Food Festival Fliers Making

EP6 Jun 29 ASEN Food Festival Music Jingles

Class(es) Date Special Activity

ALL EP Jun 29 ASEAN Food Festival School Event

EP1 Jun 22 Police Officer Guest Speaker; Mr. Anupong Wongchai

EP4 Week 7 Skeleton Models Engineering

EP4 Week 7 Photosynthesis in Leaves Lab Experiments

EP4 Week 7 Making Fruit Juice Innovation Engineering

EP6 Week 7 Healthy Heart Menus Making

EP5 Weeks 7 to 8 Pollination 3D Illustration Engineering

EP4 Week 8 Fruit Juice Making

EP4 Week 8 Innovation: Fruit Juice Logos

ALL EP Jul 22 Juice Jamboree School Event

ALL EP Jul 28 Natural vs Unnatural Habitats Twitter Event: Pros and

Cons of Zoos and Aquariums School Event

EP3 Week 13 Happy Family Photo Albums Engineering

EP6 Week 15 Family Conflicts Skits Presentations

EP4 Aug 24 Field Trip to Mangrove Conservation Park

EP3 Aug 24 Young Architects Bridge Engineering

EP1 Aug 26 Stick Engineering Challenges

EP5 Aug 26 Field Trip to Nam Bueng Chicken and Buffalo Farm

EP4 Aug 31 Accountant Guest Speaker; Anusorn Scandanrun

EP5 Sep-Oct Edible Lunar Vehicles USA Collaboration

EP4 Sep 2 We Are Family Day Station Rotations and Shows

EP2 Sep 8 Musical Madness Showcase and Presentations

EP1 EP6 Sep 14 Authors Tea Party Event

EP3 Sep 15 Bridges Exhibition & Voting School Event

EP5 Sep-Nov Global Moon Project Collaboration

EP5 Sep-Dec Digitween Global Collaboration

Preparing ASEAN Food

Stick Engineering Challenges

Authors Tea Party

Basic School Skills Stations

Internet Safety Workshop

Young Architects Bridge Making

Chicken Farm Mini Field Trip

ASEAN Festival

UniThai Ambassadors

Dentist Guest Speaker

Innovative Juice Making

Hydroponics Growing / Cooking

Lab Experiments

We Are Family Day

Twitter School Event

Edible Lunar Vehicles (ELV)

Engineering

ELV Global Collaboration

with NASA

Musical Madness Showcase

Global World Moon Project

Lessons Learned:

• Work with what you have but don’t reinvent the

wheel. Many of the national initiatives can be

adapted on a school-level.

• You can’t do it alone. Having a strong home-

school connection is essential. Maximize the

benefits of using social media (i.e. Facebook, Line,

Edmodo, Twitter).

• Don’t be afraid to ask your community members

for support. It takes a village to raise a child.

Costs can be shared.

• Plus, it’s more fun for both students and teachers!

Students are more engaged in learning when their

local community members are part of their

education. It fits the mold of making STEM

education meaningful and applicable to real life.

A brief overview

of how

Thailand’s

Ambassador

program has

been working in

the Bangkok

Metropolitan

Region.

Amarin

Apirakmas

S T E M

- Lecturer of Mathematics, Nakhon Pathom

Rajabhat University (University & University

Demonstration School)

A M B A S S A D O R

- STEM Ambassador in Western & Central

Regions- STEM Local Trainer of Nakhon Pathom province

- Director of Nakhon Pathom Rajabhat University

STEM Education Center

My STEM Ambassador Role

• I have been trained by IPST

National STEM Education Center

and became Thailand’s official

STEM Ambassador in March 2016

• Then I was invited by many schools

and universities in Thailand, mostly

in the Bangkok metropolitan region

My STEM Ambassador Role

• Student Inspiration; introduce the

exciting world of STEM careers for

all students (regardless of ethnicity,

gender, social status, religion,

disability)

• STEM Teacher Training; help

identify parts of the Core Curriculum

to apply to problem based, hands-

on learning activities

How can I work?

• On-site via direct contact or official

invite letters (if I’m not available, I

offer other Ambassadors in the

network)

• On-line via Line Group (STEM

Ambassadors 902), Facebook

(STEM Ambassadors Thailand,

STEMEdThailand.org, NPRU

STEM)

Frequently Asked Questions

• What is STEM?

• Why mathematics, science, Thai,

English, etc?

Where did I visit students?

• Elementary schools in Nakhon

Pathom province

• Elementary schools in Ratchaburi

province

• Secondary schools in Samut Sakhon

province

Where did I visit teachers and

educators?

• Anubanchonburi Elementary School

in Chonburi province

• Institute for the Promotion of Teaching

Science and Technology in Bangkok

• Kanchanaburi Rajabhat University

in Kanchanaburi province

• Provincial STEM Hubs

Some Examples of Events

Mathematics Skills Development and

Promotion Camp

Wat Pai Lom Elementary School,

Nakhon Pathom province

March 2 – 3, 2016

Some Examples of Events

SEPSA Schools: Inaugural Meeting

Anubanchonburi School,

Chonburi province

March 17, 2016

Some Examples of Events

Potential Development Camp by STEM

Education

Krathumbaen Wisetsamutakhun School

Samut Sakhon province

May 1 – 3, 2016

Some Examples of Events

Workshop on STEM Education Local

Trainers in IPST University Network

The Ambassador Hotel

Bangkok

May 19 – 22, 2016

Some Examples of Events

Conference on STEM Education for

Educational Supervisors

The Ambassador Hotel

Bangkok

June 20 – 21, 2016

Some Examples of Events

Workshop on STEM Education for

Suphanburi Provincial STEM Hub

Kanchanaphisek Witthayalai School,

Suphanburi province

September 26 – 27, 2016

STEM Local Trainers

vs

STEM Ambassadors

To construct

vs

To decorate

Rebecca Petersen Amarin Apirakmasrebecca.petersen@ttu.edu aballa_thailand@hotmail.com