Over 500 students attend UNM’s STEAM masterclass

The University of Nottingham Malaysia’s (UNM) Faculty of Science and Engineering and Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences recently delivered a masterclass on STEAM, with over 500 high school students from 100 schools across Malaysia participating, both physically and virtually.

The masterclass was aimed at providing young learners a taste of the latest trends, and the skills and knowledge that they will one day need to contribute to the future economy.

In addition, the university wanted to increase accessibility to STEAM  (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) education for our young learners, and to reintroduce it in a way that was interactive and fun, and not as intimidating as it’s often made out to be.

Evolving from STEM, the inclusion of Arts helps recognise the field as being equally important to one’s development, and teaches students the value of creativity, innovation and communication.

‘The Luck of (Genetic) Draw’ and ‘3D Print Your Future’, and ‘How To Be A Real Influencer’, ‘How to build a diversified investment portfolio’ and ‘Korean 101 (and Foreign Language Learning)’ were some of the current topics presented during the masterclass.

Dr Joanne Lim Bee Yin, Associate Professor & Associate Dean of Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS), UNM said STEAM also includes a broader range of subjects, like liberal arts, fine arts, performance arts, language, design, and more, widening students’ perspectives on a problem and how best to approach it.  

“From the success we have had, we hope to see more educational institutions, and its educators, take the initiative to boost STEAM education for all. We also call for parents and guardians to recognise the impact and benefits of STEAM education on a child’s development, academically and otherwise. We continuously speak of the need to produce a skilled workforce, but it must begin with us to make these programmes accessible for all young Malaysians. Only when they grow, can we grow as a nation.” Dr Joanne said.

According to Dr Kher Hui (Marina) Ng, Associate Professor & Associate Dean of the Faculty of Science and Engineering (FOSE) (UNM), STEAM education can help equip learners for some of 2022’s most in-demand jobs in Malaysia as listed by JobStreet, such as information and technology (IT), software development, digital marketing, finance, business development, medicine and education.

“With the goal of developing industry-ready graduates, exposure to STEAM can provide young learners with the competitive advantage needed to navigate jobs of the future, jobs which we can only expect to increase in demand over time.” said Dr Kher.