TurkishTechNotes: #TUSIAD’s #STEM conference introduces the notion of #STEAMi as @JohnKao states that Art has a place in STEM #ibmcsc #turkey #turkey11


John Kao

TÜSİAD’s STEM conference on October 22 reinforced some of what we’ve been hearing in our interviews, and introduced a few new concepts. Chairman and Founder for the Institute for Large Scale Innovation Chairman and CEO of EdgeMakers, Inc. John Kao said that the Arts – and specifically design thinking – need to be included in STEM skills acquisition because it introduces the human-centred element to anything that we produce. Music teaches us collaboration, empathy, teamwork and leadership, for example, said Kao. He added that innovation models are evolving and we’re reaching the era of Innovation 3.0 where human-centred innovation is encompassing design thinking, social innovation, government 2.0, solutions to “wicked problems”, EQ (emotional intelligence) and CQ (cultural intelligence) in addition to STEAM.

Bülent Hiçsönmez

Free to experiment

Perhaps this is the key to what Bülent Hiçsönmez, President of TUSIAD’s Innovation and Technology Working Group and General Manager of Google Turkey suggested when he said that students need to know how to ask questions, probe and investigate; how to be curious throughout their lifetime; and be free to experiment and make mistakes.

Find the themes that inspire and educate

We also heard from Leland Melvin, an astronaut and former associate administrator for education for NASA who told us to “find the themes that inspire and educate.” He said that in space there are no borders

Leland Melvin

and that we are seeing fundamental changes around the world that require us to work together. Finally he said that we need to “design education to anticipate tomorrow’s opportunities.”

We also met some of the people responsible for the internationally known STEM education program from the Kayseri Directorate of Ministry of National Education and look forward to following up with them tomorrow.

Passionate teachers

Mini-Sultan

Today we met education experts from the Teacher Academy Foundation who are training teachers and inspiring students with their program on chemistry training for teachers – an inspiring group indeed. A shout out to Esra Hanım, Dr. Emel Hanım, Dr. Burcu Hanım and Erçin Bey. Their passion is palpable and they’re ready and willing to take on more to extend the STEM agenda.

En route to see Batuhan Aydagül, director of the Education Reform Initiative, we passed through the Egyptian market greedily taking in the sights and scents. We’ve memorized our way from our hotel to the market for Saturday’s excursion! Batuhan Bey was also very forthcoming with suggestions and insights on moving the STEM agenda forward. He said, “the world needs a new Apollo moment to bring back interest in science and technology.”

Looking forward to this evening’s Diwali celebrations hosted by our Indian colleagues, Deirdre, Sonal, Partha and Prayjot!

More anon…