In an effort to actively fulfill university social responsibility and enhance the scientific, technological, engineering, and mathematical (STEM) literacy of community members, the “Smart Media Research and Innovation Center” at NPUST, in collaboration with the National Fengshan Commercial and Industrial Vocational Senior High School, organized a “Community STEM Education Experience” event at the Fengshan Commercial and Industrial Vocational Senior High School Library on October 23. Approximately 30 nearby community members participated in the event, engaging in robot programming activities.
Dean Shi Ruju of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at NPUST stated, “National Fengshan Commercial and Industrial Vocational Senior High School is a long-term educational partner of NPUST, and it is soon to become an affiliated professional teaching institution of NPUST. In order to strengthen the close ties between the two schools, the College of Humanities and Social Sciences is currently planning a series of professional development programs for teachers, including university teachers serving as collaborative teachers in various subjects at the vocational high school, community education promotion by teachers and students from both schools, and workshops to enhance the teaching skills of teachers from both schools, hoping to create a win-win situation for both institutions.”
Diverging from traditional university social responsibility (USR) or big-hand-holding-small-hand projects, this activity was organized by NPUST, and several weeks before the event, teachers and students from NPUST’s technical and vocational departments taught relevant professional knowledge to the students of Fengshan Commercial and Industrial Vocational Senior High School to ensure skillful learning. On the day of the event, students from nearby junior high and elementary schools were invited to form a “Robot Co-learning Group” with Fengshan Commercial and Industrial Vocational Senior High School students. This collaborative approach allowed students of different ages to engage in programming, sparking various levels of computational thinking.
The students actively participated in the teaching activity and expressed high praise for the overall planning and instructional design. They hope to have the opportunity to participate in similar activities again. The collaborating parents also expressed gratitude, appreciating NPUST for using Fengshan Commercial and Industrial Vocational Senior High School as an educational promotion base to impart the latest professional knowledge to community members, benefiting students of all ages.
