STEM Village: Promoting and Spreading Awareness about STEM to Families andSocietyWahyudi1, Russasmita Sri Padmi2

In 21st century, STEM are sought-after fields that are significant in developing a country. The
advancement of a nation is often judged by their achievement in STEM and consequently, thequality of their STEM workforce. However, the effort to support and sustain this endeavor
rarely go beyond school classroom. Families, as the nucleus of civilization and basic social unitof society, have strong potential as a medium to promote STEM. This session talks about
STEM Village, a project by SEAMEO QITEP in Mathematics, to create a series of out-ofschool-time activities designed for children and families, to promote and spread awareness of
STEM through engaging, low-cost, context-suitable, and relevant for daily life STEM
activities.
Keywords: STEM, family, extracurricular

A. Introduction
STEM has been the major buzzword for quite some time in Indonesian education. Even
though there is no any regulation regarding adopting STEM officially into the national
curriculum, various STEM-related educational agenda have emerged from diverse educational
institutions i.e. seminar, workshop, and the like. In mid-2018, the Ministry of Education helda nation-wide training for Science and Mathematics middle school teachers, aimed to introduce
STEM education and familiarize them with applying it in their teaching routine.
However, the effort so far has been strictly confined to school setting. STEM lessons thatare introduced to the teachers so far are designed for classroom application and strictly
concerned with staying inside the curriculum lines. The teachers’ concerns are also mostly
revolved around assessment, subject content, and how well STEM education will help theirstudents excel in national exam; giving insight that STEM education so far are viewed as an
approach that strictly belongs to school environment.
This paper will discuss the potential of out-of-school STEM education program and thedesign for such program in Indonesian context.
B. Out of School STEM Activities
Educational program focused on STEM in out of school setting is not entirely new idea.
In the United States, the birthplace of STEM as an educational approach, there is growinginterest and investment in out-of-school-time STEM programs (Bevan et al., 2010). Federal
agencies and researchers have advocated the use of OST to support and supplement theknowledge the students learn in school. Aside from supporting formal learning, out-of-school
1 SEAMEO QITEP in Mathematics, wahdyudiw@yahoo.com
2 SEAMEO QITEP in Mathematics, r.sripadmi@staff.qitepinmath.org

STEM activities are also beneficial for female students and racial minority students (or both),which is a major agenda for US educational system. Because out-of-school-time activities are
not strictly linked to school curriculum, these programs are easily customizable to fit students
of certain needs, like female or racial minority students.
By default, out-of-school-time STEM activities are learning activities that occur outsideof formal school setting, even though the formal definition of it take things further bydescribing it as personal, contextualized, and time-consuming (Dierking et al., 2003). We also
needs to make distinction between structured and unstructured out-of-school-time STEM
activities (Dabney et al., 2012). Structured activities are museum visits, afterschool club,mathematics competition, and the like, while unstructured activities are those that happen
solely because of the students’ personal interest e.g. tinkering with objects, doing experimenton their own, or researching things online. The out-of-school-time STEM activities describedin this paper will be limited to the structured ones.
Even so, structured out-of-school-time STEM activities are still very versatile andopen to a lot of options. It can be offered by established institution outside of school, likemuseums or national park; or offered by school as extracurricular activity. It can be conductedindoor or outdoor. The program can be designed to require continuous attendance over certain
periods of time, or flexible participation instead, during which the students are free to decideaccording to their availability and interest. When it comes to knowledge, it can be focused on
certain content domain or more towards general application of STEM in everyday life.
Despite its variation, there are several differences between out-of-school-time STEM
activities and STEM activities within school setting (Bevan et al., 2010). First, they tend to beless verbal and abstract. Out-of-school-time STEM activities are usually more tactile and built
on sensory experiences with real-life resources (places, phenomena, data, and tools) that areoften difficult to integrate into actual classroom. Second, they provide more ground for groupor collaborative investigation, rather than individual learning activities. Students who are notdoing well with collaborative learning in formal school setting, can learn to work with other inout-of-school setting. Third, because they are less confined within mandated curricular
guidelines, the students can learn in a more flexible way that put their knowledge development
first instead of merely doing well in exams. Time is usually the biggest obstacle for teachers intrying out experimental lessons, therefore out-of-school-time activities allow teachers andstudents to pursue ideas they find interesting, at their own pace. Last and not least, out-ofschool-time activities are low-stakes (non-evaluative), they put less pressure for the students tobe correct or to do well. This is especially important for the students who have been
discouraged by conventional STEM environment e.g. school, either by being identified as noncompetent or judged that STEM subjects are not ‘suitable for them. This usually happens togirls, minority students, or socioeconomically disadvantaged students.
There are several reasons that make out-of-school time STEM activities worth
considering. As STEM being popular educational jargon was started by the need for morecompetitive workforce in STEM fields, it is no wonder that programs focused on making thestudents more interested in STEM career are widely favored. The link between out-of-schooltime STEM activities and STEM career choices are interest, which emphasizes curiosity andthe enjoyment of learning about a certain topics instead of achievement and test scores (Krapp,
Hidi and Renninger, 1992). Based on the description of out-of-school-time STEM activities
above, they ignite the students’ interest in STEM fields, develop and expand theirunderstanding, which leads to them to be more aware about the role of STEM career have insociety (Bevan et al., 2010). Research by Dabney et al. (2012) showed that participation in outof-school-time STEM activities encourages students to pursue university majors inmathematics and science and to eventually select a career in a STEM-related area. The lessstrict confinement of school curriculum, less demand on formal assessment, and moreemphasize on daily life application, all contributes to these factors.
National Research Council (2015) identified three criteria of successful out-of-school-time
STEM programs, namely engaging, responsive, and make connections. These criteria arebroken down into further, more detailed criterium, as laid down in the following diagram.
Engaging students﻿
intellectually,socially, andemotionally﻿espond to youngRpeople’s interests,
experiences, andcultural Practices •Connect STEM﻿
Learning in out-ofschool, school, home,and other setting

providing firsthand experience
with phenomena
and materialpresenting STEM
as sociallymeaningful andculturally
relevant

connecting
learning
experiences
across setting

engaging young
people withsustained STEM
practicessupport thestudents tocollaborate andtake onleadership roles

leveraging
community
resources andpartnershipestablishing a
supportive
learning
community

position staff asco-investigatorsand learners
alongside thestudents

actively sourcing
additional STEM
learning
opportunities

Figure 1 Criteria for successful out-of-school-time STEM programs

C. Family Involvement in Out-of-School-Time STEM Activities
One factor that argued by researchers as the main contributor in students’ interest in STEM
subjects is novel and engaging problems that are relevant to real-life situations (Dabney et al.,2012). Other factor found to be pivotal in the development of the students’ attitudes toward
STEM subjects is parental involvement (George and Kaplan, 1997). STEM learning ecosystemmodel by L.S. Liben (National Research Council, 2015) also identify home, neighborhood, andout-of-school experiences as being impactful to students’ learning development as school(Figure 2).

Figure 2 STEM learning ecosystem model (National Research Council, 2015)
Based on the result of these studies, community and home-based out-of-school-time
STEM activities is inevitably a promising path for future researchers in this area.
D. STEM Village
We decide to design out-of-school-time STEM learning activities involving families aspart of the program of SEAMEO QITEP in Mathematics, called STEM Village (Kampung
STEM). Children and mothers from communities around the office can participate voluntarily
in STEM program held once a week with different topics and activities. The project is still instarting phase and on-going, with more than twelve mothers and around ten kids attending
every session.
Although it is still in a very initial phase, this program attempted to apply the principal
identified as contributor of successful out-of-school-time STEM activities. First, the parental
involvement is integral to the program, even though only mothers are participating so far andthe activities are separate with the children. Second, the contexts used in every activity aresocioeconomically and culturally relevant. This does not mean the topics only stays within thezone that are familiar for the students; we also attempt to introduce global issues to theirhorizon, however we made sure for the learning process to be reachable from their starting
point, either the local context or the students’ content knowledge. The materials are made sure
to be low in cost and easy to be acquired.
Third, the activities provide practical, tactile, and hands-on experience for participants, aswell as chance to work collaboratively with others. Last but not least, the program is conductedin partnership with local community. Especially for the mothers, we made sure to incorporate
the element of entrepreneurship to the activities. Aside from making it more engaging, it also

opens possibilities for supporting family’s economy. Above all, the overarching aim of thewhole program is to introduce and bring awareness of STEM, in the hope of developing
positive attitude and interest toward STEM subjects.
Below are some examples of activities conducted in this program.
a. Tenun ikat (tie-dye)
Textile is a huge part of Indonesian culture, which resulted in a variety of traditional textile
coloring method. These traditional methods commonly involve resist technique, namely
different ways to prevent color to reach fabric, thus creating patterns. One of the most renowned
are batik, whose resist method is by drawing pattern over the fabric with wax, hence preventing
color from seeping through the fabric. Batik is one of the most prized cultural heritage ofIndonesia and is an integral part of the society, from informal daily life to formal and luxurious
events.
However, there are other coloring methods that are just as interesting but less explored,
for example tenun ikat or commonly known as tye-dye. The resist methods involved here is bytying the fabric, therefore creating resistance that prevent color to the fabric. Different tying
methods will result in different patterns and combination of color.
Tye-dye is a potential STEM activities because the science and mathematics involved in
making the pattern and mixing the colors, which can be either artificial or natural. From thetechnology perspective, tye-dye method is a technology invented by human in a pursuit ofeasier cloth-dying method. Meanwhile, the engineering aspects comes in the form of creating
different patterns and color combination.
Aside from promoting STEM, tye-dye is also an excellent entrepreneurial activity. The
tye-dye fabric and clothes produced by the mothers have been exhibited in several local
exhibitions, which has been received very positively by potential customers.
b. Ecoprint
Aside from tye-dye, other coloring techniques which is also less explored is ecoprint. This
coloring method strictly uses natural color pigment found in plant body part, for example leaves
and flowers. The leaves and flowers are laid down on between two sheets of white fabric, hit
repeatedly to break and release the color pigment. The fabrics are then rolled into a small fold,tied with rope, and steamed or ironed. This process will produce the stamps of leave or flower
on the fabric, creating interesting natural pattern.
The color pigmentation of leaves and flower will be an excellent ground to learn aboutplant. From the perspective of technology, ecoprint in itself is a technology invented by humanfor easier cloth-dying method, while the engineering aspect is the creation of different patterns
and color combination.
Just like tye-dye, ecoprint is also an excellent entrepreneurial activity. The ecoprint fabricand clothes produced by the mothers have been presented in several local exhibitions, which
has been received very positively by potential customers.
c. Wiggle bot
The wiggle bot is the activity for the students. This activity involves making simple robot
from objects around them. The produce is a simple robot with pens tied to a body made fromcups and spinning arms moved by dynamo/motor, which will create interesting pattern on
paper.
Wiggle bot activity aims to introduce the simple principle of robotic, which is that nomatter how complicated, a robot needs power and motor move. Today robotic technology isused in various fields with different level of complication. We attempt to introduce the students
with this technology by starting with something simple and can be easily acquired fromeveryday life object.
E. Discussion and Conclusion
STEM village so far has shown potential to be a platform for families to not only explore
STEM subjects and its relevance in solving problems in real life, but also to encourage STEM
career choice for the children and to provide entrepreneurial activities for the mothers. This
project brings potential to promote STEM not only in school setting, but also to other contexts
that are close to children’s life, for example home, families, and neighborhood.
However, as STEM Village project is still in a very initial stage, there are several concernsthat we need to address. The first one is the topics. Even though out-of-school-time STEM
program is not aimed to adhere to certain school curriculum, we still need to select and establish
a sequence of topics that can be used as guidance in conducting STEM village. Second isevaluation. We need to establish a way to assess and evaluate the effectiveness of the program.
The last but not least is scalability. As we hope for STEM village project to reach larger
audience, there is a need for a reliable method to scale it for different setting or number ofparticipants.
References
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Dabney, K. P. et al. (2012) ‘Out-of-School Time Science Activities and Their Association
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George, R. and Kaplan, D. (1997) ‘A Structural Model of Parent and Teacher Influences on
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Krapp, A., Hidi, S. and Renninger, A. K. (1992) ‘Interest , learning , and development’, in
Renninger, A. K., Hidi, S., and Krapp, A. (eds) Interest, learning, and development,
pp. 3–25.
National Research Council (2015) Identifying and Supporting Productive STEM Programs in
Out-of-School Settings. Washington DC: The National Academies Press. doi:
10.17226/21740.