Great scientific minds are shaped early by unforgettable experiences and some miracle moments. - A.P.J. Abdul Kalam
With the simple but ambitious goal of ‘Be the change you want to see’, a bunch of students of an “informal” social outreach club at the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST), Valiamala, has been on a mission. With a will to “demystify” science to less privileged students of schools in rural areas, members of Nirmaan IIST attempt to create exactly what’s required to transform a routine curriculum subject into a lifelong passion. From organising science-based workshops with demonstrations and do-it-yourself experiments to conducting PowerPoint presentations to preparing audio books for visually-impaired students, the non-profit student body with 40-plus members has been trying to simplify concepts and scientific principles to help students enjoy science and understand its significance and application in our everyday life.
“The concept of Nirmaan began a few years back when a clutch of motivated students got together with the idea of making a positive impact in the society. The motive was to provide exposure for less privileged students to ignite a spark in them, chiefly in the field of science,” says Gemi Rachel George, a B. Tech Avionics student and a Nirmaan member. Located about 25 km from the city, IIST, an autonomous institute, functions under the Department of Space, the Government of India.
What began as informal activities inside the campus developed into regular visits to nearby schools featuring interactive sessions with students and teachers. “With the help of cooperative local shopkeepers and school security guards, students [from Class VI to Class XII] from different schools in the locality were brought to the [IIST] campus on weekends. Three-hour sessions were held in the afternoon to help them with school curriculum,” says Gemi.
Scientific temper
In an age when the trend is to feverishly opt for either engineering or medicine for higher studies, the thrust often falls on merely cracking entrance exams by hook or crook, with little focus on truly understanding scientific concepts. But Nirmaan feels a scientific temper should begin at an early age, when curiosity brims and horizons of the mind broaden. “Majority of India still live in villages, where quality and access to good education is questionable. We aim to make a difference in the learning experience of kids studying in rural government schools and residing in tribal areas by nurturing their inquisitiveness, by making them believe that learning is in fact fun,” says Chirag S., an M. Tech Aerospace student.
Six-session project
Nirmaan’s ongoing three-hour, six-session project for the current semester, which started on January 13, focuses on concept-oriented understanding of “practical applications and experiments.” The sessions have been held at Government Higher Secondary School, Tholicode, and 30 students from Class VIII and IX were selected by the school for participation. If the first session, Vihang – The Water Rocket Workshop, introduced them to “the science of rocketry”, de-constructed with simple water rockets, the second one, Lumière, threw light on optics.
If Hermione Granger effortlessly unlocked doors at Hogwarts with the spell Alohamora, students had a platform to “open doors to the magical realm of science” in the third session, aptly named after the Harry Potter spell. “They observed simple phenomena that at first sight seem so mysterious but in fact can be attributed to basic scientific laws and principles, such as friction and static electricity,” explains Vignesh K.C., an M. Tech student.
Star Trek on January 17 took them on a virtual tour of the universe by unravelling the mysteries of space. Students were given a primary understanding on the operation of the Hubble Space Telescope even as the high point was a DIY segment when they themselves assembled a scale model of the device following due instructions. Backyard Science, conducted last week, served as an introduction to some basic scientific principles at work all around, such as surface tension, Bernoulli’s effect, electromagnetic induction in household materials to name a few. In this session, students also learned how to make and use cardboard boomerangs. The sixth and final session, Hakuna Matata (meaning ‘no worries’ in Swahili), to be held today takes a thematic deviation and will have classes on career guidance and personality development to “help prepare the students for their journey ahead,” adds Vignesh.
Nirmaan’s Dhwani initiative aims at “making the world colourful for the visually-impaired,” says Anand Krishnan, an M. Tech Aerospace student. The group attempts to convert reading materials such as course materials, books on science, literature, and history available with it into audio books. Nirmaan’s voice donation drive aspires to develop an audio library “consisting of personal accounts/information about the world, environment, people, experiences, and everything under the stars,” reveals Shubham Aghao, a B. Tech Aerospace student.
In the previous semester, Nirmaan held sessions on topics such as tricks in mathematics, glider physics, Archimedes principle, gravity etc at the Government Vocational Higher Secondary School, Vithura.
Anita P.R, Headmistress of the High School wing, does attest to Nirmaan’s efforts making a impact in the young minds. “Many students found the sessions interesting. They were useful in piquing their scientific curiosity as most of the activities were conducted as hands-on experiments. It has shown an positive impact in their academics too.”
In the coming semesters, Nirmaan plans to include more students from more schools and also bring some of them to the institute so as to make use of the laboratory facilities.
So, how can science be popularised when education sometimes becomes a mere scramble for “marks and grades?” Professor Kuruvila Joseph, Dean of Students at the institute, rues that an entrance exam-oriented system is “killing” students’ genuine interest in the field. “For progressive development of technology, we need to blend science and engineering. This bend of mind has to be instilled in students right from school level. Despite having a brilliant talent pool, we mostly see only engineers emerging and not bright researchers, though opportunities are galore,” he says.
P.P. Rajeevan, Associate Professor, Department of Avionics, and district coordinator of Breakthrough Science Society (BSS), feels science is not taught the way it should be. “A major drawback in our system is that only the facts of science are taught and not its methodology. This has to change.” BSS, a non-profit pan-India “movement” with about 15 State chapters, aims at fostering love for science with frequent seminars, workshops, film shows, science camps and exhibitions.
