Bengaluru's Science Ashram is on a quest to make science fun for kids
Science Ashram, which has recently come to Bengaluru, aims at questioning everything that is wrong with our education system by giving students access to practical learning instead of forcing them to memorize chapters.
The innovation lab, with an office in JP Nagar, aims at benefiting students between the ages of 10 and 16 and was first established in Mysore three years ago. Talking about the initiative with The Times of India, one of the founders, Rohan Abhijith, said,
"We came up with ideas that typically have at least four to five solutions, so those building models could try different techniques and create a model on their own. You get coins on building a successful model. Children can use these coins to add new items to their personal tool kit, a system found in most mobile app games."
Science Ashram is not an alternative to traditional schooling; its goal is simply to make the process of learning more interesting. It is a place for parents who want to make sure that their children's projects are about more than just scoring marks and for teachers who want to bring in a three-dimensional approach to their classrooms.
Interested students need to pass an exam to join Science Ashram. For now, 300 children, including those who are home-schooled, are part of the venture.
Science Ashram also conducts workshops in schools that are willing to accommodate them. At the end of the workshops, the students are provided with kits that help them work and learn at their own pace.
When Science Ashram was started in Mysore in 2014, the team organised a weekly event called ‘Get Puzzled’, free of cost, to help students learn geometry. According to The Hindu, Dhruva Rao, Director, Science Ashram, said,
“It is basically a programme where children can learn geometry through hands-on activities. It is about anagrams, measurements, and geometry. Basically, it will be about learning aspects of geometry through activities. They will be able to learn the perimeter, calculate the area, and more.”
The people behind this initiative come from different fields — IIT graduates, teaching professionals — united by the desire to bridge the gap between theory and practical learning and to make learning science a fun process.
Image Credit: Shutterstock
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