The first week of season 3 of activities marked our first day of working on individual projects in STEM. Most of our sessions have been more group based, allowing us to have open discussions and debates on STEM related events in the news today. However, myself and the other 2 chairs decided it was important to allow people the chance to explore in depth their own specific passion within these fields and that was the inspiration behind our decision to create a STEM website, which would feature digital projects published by each individual member of the group. By digital format, we refer to a video, presentation or article that could be published on a website. Because the inspiration behind this project was to give people the chance to explore their own interests, we gave them full freedom to select any STEM related topic.
This process began when we asked people to fill out a form, a ‘proposal’ for their report detailing the topic they would like it to be based around. As chairs we looked through all of the proposals to get a better idea of the specific ideas that people had, and to ensure that our website would feature reports from topics throughout STEM.
Some of the ideas that people came up with were:
- Bitcoin (digital currency)
- Ethics of gene modification
- Green Buildings
- Biometric Technology (fingerprint and facial recognition)
The next steps for me overseeing this process will be to set up the website and ensure that everyone is organised in the weeks to come. Each session for the next 5 weeks will be dedicated to working on reports, to ensure that people have enough time to complete them without affecting the balance between their academic and extra curricular responsibilities.
This relates to the 6th CAS learning Outcome, as through the reports we are attempting to create a digital platform which people can access and explore relevant issues related to STEM in the world today, and the implications these may have on our daily lives. As this is a 5 week long commitment in which we will have to be very organised in order to meet deadlines, the 4th CAS Learning Outcome will also be demonstrated.
