A primary school teacher is looking to revolutionise teaching using artificial intelligence and smart technology in order to encourage more girls to study science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects.
Al Sehla Primary Girls School science teacher Iman Kadhem’s interactive teaching methods have received widespread praise from not only her students but also their parents.
“It is important to have a distinct and diverse teaching method that suits the ages and levels of the students,” she told the GDN. “I believe in taking advantage of the girls’ intelligence and passion for science in a way that highlights their creativity in research, scientific exploration, technology and other fields.”
Ms Kadhem uses a diverse array of programmes and strategies both in and out of the classroom, with the aim to develop scientific, practical and life skills with each class. “The girls are being trained on how to use artificial intelligence (AI) programming to create content that will help them with their lessons,” she explained. “They really outdid themselves lately, creating educational videos and carrying out scientific research and presentations in national competitions. Some have won top contest placings.
“Recently, we have even started employing strategies where the students take the roles of either real or imaginary characters to help them with critical thinking when it comes to societal issues and sustainable development goals.”
In order to continue to encourage young girls to learn and utilise AI and other technology, Ms Kadhem led the formation of a student team comprising future scholars and researchers called Globe. “The team not only has periodic meetings to discuss implementation of certain programmes, but also organises and participates in scientific events in co-operation with the Education Ministry,” she said. “They have organised interactive events surrounding scientific research, exploration, agriculture, rationalising electricity and water consumption.
“We managed to organise a competition between eight schools in co-operation with the ministry, where participants manufactured organic fertilisers using food waste. Even now, we are using the fertilisers to carry out further scientific research to compare and contrast the effects of organic fertiliser and industrial ones on plants. This will be ongoing for the next four months.”
Ms Kadhem hopes programmes of this nature will encourage the girls to consider fields of further study that may not have been traditionally grasped in the past following high school graduation. “In my opinion modern generations, especially young girls, have a lot of passion for technology, more than ever before,” she said. “They use technology every day to read, research and investigate, so I wanted to implement these technologies for educational use as well, and make the girls feel like they can do anything.
“So far, they seem to love interacting with AI and other programmes, and it has helped facilitate their education. As a teacher, it is my responsibility to give the girls a solid scientific foundation should they want to pursue STEM subjects in the future, and I am very happy the reception has been positive.
“A large number of girls are using such technologies in their free time now and are creating videos, brochures, posters and are also actively participating in activities on school premises.”
Watching their children shine in science has excited parents and they are ‘very much a part of the process’ added the inspirational educator. “I don’t think the response would have been this good if it was not for the parents,” she said. “They are not only co-operating, but also actively participating in some of the programmes and becoming amazing role models for their daughters.
“Mothers especially, have told me multiple times about their daughters’ love and passion for technology and they want it to continue.”
School administrators have also played a part with ‘never-ending support’, Ms Kadhem added during her six years in the teaching profession, particularly principal Hanadi Al Mugawi, vice-principal Munira Alghazal and science department co-ordinator Basema Mirza. “They have not only helped me, but always encouraged me and helped my development, and for that, I will always be grateful.”
nader@gdnmedia.bh
&uuid=(email))