Thursday, December 22, 2016

[Yasmin_discussions] YASMIN discussion: how does STEAM improve the way that science and engineering is taught ?

Hi Yasminers,

I have another very interesting example of STEAM methodology to learn
science, art and place it in society.

In 2015, joint with Luca Forcucci, who is following and participating in
this discussion, and with many more friends, enjoyed the second edition of
the Djerassi Scientific Delirium Madness (an art & science international
residency). There we had the opportunity to be the first public to see the
dance and theatre play "The Daughters of Hypatia: Circles of Mathematical
Women" by Karl Schaffer, Laurel Shastri, Jane Real, Saki, Lila Salhov. Here
i leave a youtube video and some notes:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5KTwI7k3A0

http://www.schafferstern.org/pdf/2014.09.30NewsRlseDaughtersofHypatia.pdf

This is a great example of how to learn in a different way, with
embodyment. During the residence it was great to see that with our bodies
in movement we can learn concepts of symmetry, mineralogy, sound patterns,
deep physics like Noether Theorem, ..., or even nanostructured quantum dot
light emission.

I think this art & sci example and other like citizend science or do it
your self science that i mention in last e-mail are not only STEAM
educational resources, and could be contextualized in a more general
framework. In the Quantum Move example, with the help of the people
participation, they finally obtain a set of data that was better suited to
model the movement of cold atoms in light traps with enhanced properties.
This means that the "dialogue" with people through this gamming platform
lead to a new results that can not be held otherwise. They published their
findings with this citizend science methodology in Nature. Here i leave the
paper:


Introduction to the paper:

http://www.nature.com/news/human-mind-excels-at-quantum-physics-computer-game-1.19725

The paper itself:

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v532/n7598/full/nature17620.html

This is very important. This means that research methodology can be
adapated through STEAM/S strategies. This is totally new epistemology, as
people intuition was included in the science modeling.

In my point of view, this links with social and political reflections.
There are many new political expression, maybe following 60´s actions, that
points towards people empowerment, from the popular base through higher
spheres. Spanish 15M movement is an example. Maybe a basic reference would
be the books and ideas from Wolfgang Fritz Haug, which being totally
reductionist can be summarized with methodology with praxis (no more void
theories, we need to construct from the bottom and with the people, with
reference to Brecht and Gramsci) and active dialogues (which remember me
the Bhom dialogue). Of course, his work is focused to discover a new
lecture from Marx´s Capital. However, this methodology is extremly simmilar
to many of the STEAM, Citizen Science, Do It Yourself Science and Art & Sci
interactions, constructed always with actives dialogues and working
perpendicular from any rigid academic excenario (many times working even
with hack-labs, fav-labs, co-working spaces, and so on).

As Fritz Haug points in this magnific interview (
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYAvrXZ9Ye0&feature=youtu.be&t=1h8mhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYAvrXZ9Ye0&feature=youtu.be&t=1h8m,
starting at 1h 08 min, and in spanish), it is very important to develop
these active dialogues and transform the typical danger that is always
present when new platform arises versus old ones (like STEAM Vs STEM), into
an active danger. May be here our danger is toconfront the rigidity CV
carrers to be part of a more flexible and dialogic CVs, but remeber that
everything is connected, so danger is weakness of the democracy, Trump,
inequality, and so on. Fritz Haug uses the methaphore of "surfing" the
danger. The danger is present, as happens with the wather wave, but can be
used this energy to go forward.

In the context of STEAM initiatives, i think it involves research
practices, change of epistemologies, and of course societal issues, as in
many ways we are making expressions of new dialogic societies, political
structures and, of course, dream to another economies. Education, in all
expresions (formal education, participation, collaboration, ...,) will be
the core and the root.

Best,

Guillermo.
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