STEM Education in the AI ​​Era: Convenient but Cautious

With many effective methods being focused on, STEM education with the support of artificial intelligence (AI) continues to have more room for development, but also raises some issues that need to be cautious.

In recent years, the STEM education movement (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) across the country has been expanding and developing, especially since the Ministry of Education and Training issued Official Dispatch No. 3089 in April 2022 on implementing STEM education in secondary education. In Ho Chi Minh City, many schools are researching and applying their own ways to approach this educational method based on the specific conditions of the unit.

According to Dr. Nguyen Thi Thu Trang, Director of the Center for Research and Application of STEM Education at Ho Chi Minh City University of Education, STEM teaching in primary schools has been piloted in 63 provinces and cities (old) in the 2023-2024 school year and by 2024-2025, all primary schools across the country have implemented at least 1-2 STEM lessons in the school year. Thus, up to now, STEM education in general schools has been concretized and fully implemented from primary to high school.

FROM MILK CAN TO JUNK DUMP

As the leader of a school far from the center of Ho Chi Minh City, without many economic resources, the big concern of Ms. Nguyen Tuyet My Nhan, Vice Principal of Thanh My Loi Secondary School (Cat Lai Ward), is how to apply STEM education well based on what is available at the school but still make students interested. "To do this, we have regularly sent teachers for training since 2020," Ms. Nhan said.

STEM products made by students

PHOTO: NGOC LONG

However, a challenge pointed out by this teacher is that many training sessions focus on tool kits, robots or require computer programming, "even teachers find it difficult, let alone students". Luckily, in another training session, teachers were instructed to utilize recyclable objects such as cardboard, milk cans, toilet paper rolls... to design STEM lesson models, and the above approach immediately became the guiding principle for the school.

"This method is not only easy and economical, but also helps STEM education be implemented on a large scale, not just in small groups if only a few kits are purchased," Ms. Nhan shared. "From there, class time also becomes more exciting when students practice and experience. The time of only focusing on theory, "the teacher reads a lot, the children learn a lot" like in the past is over," the female teacher commented, adding that at school, even literature can apply STEM education.

In addition to teaching, Ms. Nhan informed that 2 years ago, the school also started organizing an annual STEM festival for students. Each professional group will be in charge of a STEM booth with the contribution of some students so that other students can come and experience and receive gifts. At some booths, teachers even just stand and guide, creating conditions for students to directly organize activities. In addition, the school also integrates STEM into club activities.

Mr. Pham Thai Ho, Principal of Truong Cong Dinh Secondary School (Gia Dinh Ward), shared that the school's teaching staff also suggests and guides students to use recycled materials to design models, especially in the two subjects of natural science and technology. Furthermore, the school also creates conditions to train students for scientific and technical research competitions similar to training students for cultural subjects, helping students win many awards in related competitions.

"To do this, teachers play a very important role. Most teachers will study and research on their own, such as IT teachers who will improve their programming skills to guide and support students," said Mr. Ho.

Meanwhile, in the central wards of Ho Chi Minh City, the STEM education movement is somewhat stronger with diverse activities, notably STEM-related clubs with many playgrounds for students in high schools: Le Quy Don, Marie Curie (Xuan Hoa Ward), Le Hong Phong Specialized School, Practice High School (Cho Quan Ward), Tran Dai Nghia (Saigon Ward)...

Particularly at Nguyen Thi Minh Khai High School (Xuan Hoa Ward), the STEAMK Club, founded by math teacher Nguyen Cong Minh, is the place that helped this unit win high prizes for the first time at the Ho Chi Minh City-level science and technology research competition and the TechGenius national technology innovation competition. This is also a place to help students learn and practice their profession early so that they can choose the right career according to their passion through designing STEM into the second-session curriculum.

"STEM education is not a subject but an educational approach through studying many subjects at the same time and creating products. This requires teachers to also learn additional knowledge outside of their expertise, like I myself "burned" a lot of time learning programming, physics, 3D design, printing. In the beginning, I even had to go to scrap yards to find materials to make machines for my students," said Mr. Minh.

STEM Education Festival organized by Thanh My Loi Secondary School in 2024

NVCC

AND AI APPLICATIONS

Dr. Nguyen Thi Thu Hue, a mathematics expert working at the Vietnam Institute of Educational Sciences, emphasized: "The direction of Official Dispatch No. 3089 of the Ministry of Education and Training is to deploy STEM education on a large scale."

Regarding teaching STEM lessons, Dr. Hue said that the first thing teachers must do is to look for opportunities to implement STEM in subjects by determining whether the lesson has a practical problem or question that can be implemented in the teaching process of a scientific researcher or an engineering designer. From here, teachers can take advantage of recycled materials to guide students to make STEM products.

A bright spot is that teachers can now apply many AI tools in STEM education, according to Ms. Hue. AI can support from the process of posing problems, coming up with design ideas to suggesting implementation solutions, helping teachers find directions that are suitable for their school's physical facilities. However, how well AI supports depends on many factors, such as what AI tool teachers use, or whether teachers register for a paid version or not...

"The most important thing is the knowledge and experience of teachers to be able to respond to the information that AI provides, because this tool may not give us an accurate, optimal answer in every situation. Knowing how to respond to AI will help it perfect the ideas and wishes of teachers," Dr. Hue shared.

Teachers design models to teach science subjects according to STEM lessons from recycled materials

Photo: Ngoc Long

AI can only support but cannot replace you.

Paying more attention to the application of AI in STEM education, Dr. Nguyen Thi Thu Trang said that AI has the risk of providing knowledge beyond the grade level of students; cannot estimate the time needed to deploy and the level of difficulty of operations; only focuses on making products but does not think about helping students research background knowledge - which is the most important activity.

"Because AI does not have the knowledge, pedagogical scenarios and teaching methods like a teacher," Ms. Trang explained and added: "Don't forget that in STEM education, the product is not the final destination but the general competencies, specific competencies and qualities of students."

An important factor that cannot be ignored is students. In the AI ​​era, Ms. Trang believes that teachers must make it clear to students from the beginning that they can ask AI for support and declare this, but cannot do it for them. And to check the level of AI use, teachers can ask students to analyze and explain the decisions they make in their assignments.

"We should not ban it but guide students to use AI effectively and responsibly," Ms. Trang emphasized.

The importance of STEM education

Speaking at a training session for teachers in Ho Chi Minh City on STEM education jointly conducted by Kenan Foundation Asia and the Ministry of Education and Training in August, Dr. Do Duc Que, Deputy Director of the General Education Department (Ministry of Education and Training), emphasized that Vietnam's increasing number of awards in international science and technology research competitions is one of the notable achievements of the current STEM education program.

Teacher training session on STEM education organized by the Ministry of Education and Training in collaboration with Kenan Foundation Asia in August

Photo: Ngoc Long

According to Mr. Que, implementing STEM education well in schools will provide quality human resources, contributing to realizing the goals of Resolution 57-NQ/TW of the Politburo. "Through STEM education, students are formed with scientific, logical, critical, synthetic, and design thinking... STEM education also contributes to changing the education system from imparting knowledge to developing students' capacity and qualities," Dr. Que shared.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/giao-duc-stem-thoi-ai-tien-loi-nhung-can-trong-185250909164724609.htm