Sunday, May 29, 2011

Gulf News

Dubai Experts believe there is a dearth in the number of youths who choose to take up careers in the fields of science and engineering.

In the Arab world, academics believe students opt out of such disciplines due to a lack of creative and engaging teaching methods.

“When it comes to science education we see our students have relied greatly on memorisation techniques at the school level,” said Dr Naoufel Werghi, associate professor of computer engineering at Khalifa University of Science and Technology (Kustar). “Therefore, in university, students can’t think critically, which is important for a field like engineering, because it’s based on solving problems to satisfy the needs of a particular sector.”

He added even at the university level in the UAE, for example, science and engineering students are not challenged enough to exercise their problem solving skills. He used the example of previous teaching techniques at Kustar, which consisted of science and engineering students implementing their practical skills as a final year graduation project.

Practical skills

“Now we’ve implemented a new idea framework to integrate practical projects through all the years of a student’s university life,” said Werghi.

“Therefore they won’t be constrained to wait for their final year to begin the development of real practical skills.”

He added that such constraints on the students’ practical learning resulted in them having to be reshaped and retrained by their employers to be able to fit into their professional fields.

“The idea is to make graduates more capable so that they finish university with fully developed skills and abilities,” he said.

However, the above mentioned suppression of the youths’ potential skills are not limited to the UAE or the Middle East.

Speaking at the recent Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) 2011 in Los Angeles, Wendy Hawkins, Executive Director of the Intel Foundation said: “We see all around the world an underestimation of the abilities of high school students, who are capable of so much more than we ask of them.”

The Intel Foundation is the education arm of the Intel Corporation, which drives and sponsors global scientific and technological teaching and educational programmes in schools and universities.

It is also the sponsor of ISEF, which is an annual global science and engineering fair that encourages over seven million students worldwide to take part in science competitions.

“Giving students a real chance to do science and develop a new robotic hand for example, which will drive their thinking and brain power, is what works in engaging youth,” said Hawkins.

“If we want a generation of youths to be scientists and engineers we must give them opportunities because it’s a rare individual who finds memorising formulas and physics algorithms exciting.”

Applied research

During a science and technology panel discussion during ISEF, Robert Horvitz who is a 2002 chemistry Nobel Laureate called on governments of the world to support basic as well as applied research.

“Basic research is the driver of any society and its sustainability is vital,” he said.

“It is therefore the responsibility of governments around the world to promote basic research in their nations for all of the advances we need for humanity.”

A sentiment echoed by Werghi, who believes science should be the basis of all things, especially in a technologically advanced world. “Science is important because in fact we live in a world of technology and all aspects of our lives depend on science,” he said.

“It is vital to grasp the latest scientific discoveries and equip our students with this knowledge to allow them to use science in an effective manner.”

The Arab world 
at Intel ISEF 2011

The May global finals of the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) 2011 were a showcase of youths’ creativity unleashed where they attempted to solve the world’s greatest problems. High school and pre-university students’ projects ranged from attempts to prevent tsunami damage by the creation of air walls to more fun creations such as a trouser drum kit. However, each finalist was selected by Intel to attend the Los Angeles final because of their critical and creative mind. 
The same is true for the two student teams who were selected from the UAE for their projects on the exploitation of wasted thermal energy and the effect of magnetic fields on plant growth. Unfortunately, the teams from the Al Roaya Secondary School in Ras Al Khaimah and Al Tawyeen Secondary School in Fujairah were unable to attend. 
However, their counterpart from the Dar Al Tarbiah secondary school in Saudi Arabia managed to snag a first place prize of $3,000 (Dh11,017) at the grand award ceremony in the life sciences category. Bayan Mohammad Mashat won for her project entitled Google Play, which addressed the effectiveness of computer-based instruction to improve internet searching skills for children.
Other regional winners included teams from Saudi Arabia and Jordan who came in fourth place in the life sciences and physical sciences categories for their project in the fields of cellular molecular biology and earth and planetary sciences.

If we want a generation of youths to be scientists and engineers we must give them opportunities because it’s a rare individual who finds memorising formulas and physics algorithms exciting.”

By Rania Moussly?Staff Reporter

Gulf News 2011. All rights reserved.