“The Crusher,” a system to reduce the amount of space required for the rubbish we generate. The school’s specialty is robotics and engineering. The specialty program, which began in 2005, assists schools in identifying and developing their strengths and unique areas, as well as providing students with the opportunity to develop a variety of skills.
Students at school can put their math and science skills to use in robotics, which is a specialty of the school. Education Minister Heng Swee Keat announced the launch of the Applied Learning Programme and the Learning for Life Programme, which will build on schools’ specialties, at the Ministry of Education’s Work Plan Seminar in 2013. Students will be able to apply what they have learned in science, mathematics, humanities, and languages in real-life settings through the Applied Learning Program. Students will realize the significance and relevance of academic learning in real-world settings as a result of this.
Schools with an established specialty are likely to make changes to their niche programs or reposition the niche area in order to achieve the desired goals of the specific programs. To give students a broader exposure, a comprehensive school-wide curriculum will need to be designed, as well as connections with appropriate corporate partners or community sectors.
Learning in a Real-World Setting
Rebecca, a student lacked confidence in approaching her school tasks before starting “The Crusher.” Whenever she ran into a dilemma, she would seek assistance from her seniors while watching how they handled the situation. Rebecca and her teammates had to identify an issue, apply their math and scientific knowledge, and create a prototype solution in order to finish this project. She also took the initiative to do some online research to see what other countries were doing to deal with their waste capacity.
Rebecca Yang, a 14-year-old student at a Catholic School, aspires to be an engineer so she can fix problems and provide a better future for Singaporeans. Her classroom knowledge came in helpful as well. The team designed a crushing system for her prototype using the formula. Torque = Force x Perpendicular Distance, which leveraged the movement of gears to create force. Harel Yee, 14, was another kid who learned the importance of endurance. More than twenty ideas were debated and thrown away by his team, but the sense of satisfaction gained from eventual triumph was well worth it. When the pupils confront failure, they learn about tenacity, risk-taking, and honesty.
Harel Yee, 14, and his team of four built The Smart Fan, which automatically adjusts its speed based on the wind speed. “The Smart Fan,” Harel’s team project, was created as an energy-saving option for young children and the elderly who would find it difficult to alter the fan speed on a regular basis. The premise behind their design was that wind speed would be inversely proportional to fan speed. The fan speed would automatically reduce when there was more wind in the house, and vice versa. It helped students understand the philosophy underlying the mathematical calculations
All Students Will Benefit
Schools will gradually roll out a more extensive program with the new Applied Learning Program and $50,000 funding, which will benefit all children in the school in the future. In 2014, robotics will be integrated with the Secondary Two math curriculum, allowing more pupils to see how their academic knowledge is applied. Teachers will also collaborate with other partners to create a relevant curriculum.
Robotics will eventually be aligned with the mathematics curriculum, allowing students to see the relevance of their academic work. We can engage kids no matter how difficult a problem is provided the class is carefully designed at a progressive level. Instead of having students struggle with complicated coding languages. A user-friendly Graphic User Interface (GUI) is utilized as a programming tool. It allows students to use graphical icons to interact with electronic devices. The students can give instructions to the robots by arranging the icons in a logical order. Students have skills such as logical thinking abilities, originality, resourcefulness, confidence, and risk-taking as they progress through the program.
