- Youth and education
The ASTC is a youth organization with a cultural and scientific character which aims at developing scientific culture among young people through the organization of science-and-technology programmers, including Science Fairs and experimental activities of high quality.
ASTC mission is to contribute to building Palestinian democratic civic society by scoping its work in education.
ASTC approach is urging especially school age children to critical, logical and creative thinking.
ASTC Philosophy is; OBSERVE- LEARN- CREATE. Thinking critically is the umbrella of the three stages. Teaching children to think critically is the very powerful method to create a democratic and liberal society.
Objectives:
1- To strengthen and broaden critical, logical and creative thinking among school- aged children (ages 6 to 18);
2- To train school teachers on modern teaching methods, that encourage critical, logical and creative thinking among children;
3- To expose children to practical technology in order to encourage them in practical learning;
4- To carry out activities that enable children to question and make appropriate decisions, solve problems and - by doing so – build their individual and collective self-esteem;
Activities:
1- After- school program:
After school academic enrichment program for elementary and middle school students and give high school students a pre-college learning structure that outline concepts that are important in the understanding of science ,technology, engineering and math.
Our After school programs are focused on enriching the lives of children and young adults through technology and science. In addition to developing critical math, science, communication and problem-solving skills, the after school program helps students increase their confidence and their motivation to learn.
2- Summer Science Camps:
The science camps offer to youth the chance to discover extra-curricular scientific activities as leisure activities .
In a science camps , the youth practice dominantly activities scientific and technological in nature .The duration of the camps vary (usually 10 to 21 days) according to the practiced disciplines as well as the ages of the youth (children or teens) and the level of the participants (primary ,secondary ,university students, professional or others).
3 - Discovery Days:
Discovery Days create and provide an educational and recreational atmosphere for children during the summer time in order to expose them to new experience that would promote their thinking approaches.
4- Strengthen and broaden thinking skills among children (ages 6 to17).
Those are sustained through the different think shops that are conducted to the target group .
5- Equip school teachers on modern teaching methods that encourage thinking skills among children.
Training teachers in the different workshops to a quire those with the different thinking skills need to improve their method of teaching.
6- Conducting Special Events for participants to broaden their horizon of thinking. Astronomy workshops and eclipse monitoring activities can help to broaden the horizon of those participants.
Other Activities:
- Launching of “Clubs-Laboratories ” for youth.
- In-service training for animators / trainers for the extra-curricular science and technology activities.
- Work –shops and seminars on science and modern technologies.
- Science Exhibitions.
- ”Open doors days”.
Training Workshops:
ASTC Training Workshops for Children and Teachers:
ASTC workshops contain elements that are essential to the development of children’s thought processes; that is, they allow the participants to observe, learn, and create. The children are given minimal basic information and are encouraged to discuss, question and discover. They are then presented with the challenge of creating their own production. Exposure of the children to the elements of their world is the primary objective of each of the workshops.
Workshops have formed the basis of ASTC work in Encouraging Thinking. Throughout the school year and in the summer months, ASTC plans to continue its work by providing children with the opportunity to explore different fields of learning. ASTC also conducts training workshops for teachers on how to use different methods to encourage children to think logically, critically and creatively.
List of Children Workshops:
Critical Thinking in Mathematics and Science
(July 14 –18, 2008)
Participant's age group: 10-12 years
This was the first workshop carried out by the Science & Technology Club, in cooperation with Young Scientists Club. Utilizing the philosophy of encouraging critical thinking in children, the group set out to expose the children to basics of electronics, electrical circuits and their components. In this workshop logic was utilized to understand how electrical circuits functions. The children then set out to create a number of instruments including a radio, a digital clock, and a fire alarm. During the workshop the children were also exposed to a number of critical thinking problems.
Physics of Liquids
(June 9 – 20, 2008)
Participant's age group: 8-9 years
This workshop, carried out in cooperation with the Educational Network, exposed children to the properties of liquids from which they deduced the concept of density and the Archimedean Principal. The children used these concepts to build models of simple submarines using materials found at home. The final day of the workshop consisted of a trip to the Dead Sea, in which children observed how the floating and sinking of objects is dependent on the density of a solution.
2000 Years to Solve Mathematical Problems
(July 29 – August 1, 2008)
Participant's age group: 15-17 year
This workshop aimed to expose youths to mathematical problems, some of which took over 2000 years to solve. Problems rose included: can one double a cube, can we trisect an angle and can we square a circle. The workshop was given for the winners of the Palestinian Mathematical Olympiad and carried out in cooperation with the Palestinian Society for Mathematical Sciences (PSMS).
Night Watch
(October 3rd, October 8th and November 5th, 2008)
Participant's age group: 10-11 years
ASTC carried out two evening astronomy workshops at the Friends Girls School in Ramallah at the request of science teachers who wanted to complement their day time class work with some night time first hand observation. The three-hour workshops, held on October 3 and October 8, 1998, were for fifth graders and consisted of children using telescopes to view celestial bodies including the moon, Jupiter and Saturn. During the children’s viewing of the night sky ASTC educators initiated discussions around the movement of the planets and the characteristics of the moon. A similar workshop was carried out in Al Mustaqbal School in Ramallah on November 5, 2008
Computer Interface
(December 18–25, 1997 and February 1-5, 2008)
Participant's age group: 11-16 years
ASTC held this workshop to introduce girls, from “Secondary School to a largely unknown technological advancement called the Interface Computer Unit. The workshop introduced the Interface utilizing the critical thinking approach. The topic of Computer Interface was chosen because of its uniqueness and the challenge it offers that fascinates and motivates children to think. The girls discovered how to utilize logo language to program a computer to control immovable objects, an exciting concept that exposes endless possibilities. Learning to work with the Interface addresses a major objective of the Science Club in that it better prepares Palestinian children to embrace the 21st century with all its technological demands.
Dynamics of Sound
(February 24-March 18, 2009)
Participant's age group: 9-11 years
ASTC educators, conducted a think shop about the dynamics of sound in which 12 children between 9 and 11 years of age from different schools in Ramallah participated. The thinkshop focused on the facts surrounding the nature of sound and was conducted utilizing ASTC educational approach of challenging children to think, question and discuss and thereby reach their own conclusions. During the 20-hour thinkshop, the children were able to conduct some exercises to understand how sound travels through solid objects, ringing, sound waves and echoes. At the end of the thinkshop the children were able to carry our simple projects such as developing a basic phone.
Computer and the Internet in khanyunis
(May, 2009)
Participant's age group: 12-13 years
ASTC conducted a 20 hour training workshop of the computer and the Internet for 40 students in the 6th grade from two Schools in Kanyunis Camp Girls School and Boys School in the Science Technology Colleague –Khanyunis Computer lab. Issues related to the computer component and the uses of the Internet were addressed in this workshop.