I-SET

Gung ho about robotics in Grahamstown

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Inspired towards Science, Engineering and Technology (I-SET), a community engagement flagship project of Unisa’s College of Science, Engineering and Technology (CSET), was invited to 2018 Scifest Africa held at the Grahamstown Foundation Monument. The festival ran from 6 to 13 March 2018 with the aim of creating public awareness, understanding, and appreciation of science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and innovation.

Scifest Africa identifies and designs unique interactive events and educational resources with scientific integrity to advance science, facilitate learning in an informal and non-threatening way, and provide learners with a great opportunity to discover science outside the classroom. Scifest Africa also allows South Africa and the world’s leading scientists the opportunity to share their work, make science accessible within the reach of ordinary people, network with one another, provide career guidance, and act as role models for our youth, in order to encourage the youth to embark on careers and become leaders in these fields.

The I-SET team proudly represented Unisa at this event by facilitating workshops from 12:00–14:00 at ‘The Bridge’ venue, whereby learners from many Eastern Cape schools as well as other provinces were taught about robotics. The workshop demonstrated the importance of automation and computation, as well as the importance of using robotics to teach and explore science, technology, engineering and mathematics concepts. There were also opportunities for learners and keen members of the community to engage in a number of hands-on robotics activities. The importance of 21st century skills (problem solving, critical thinking, collaboration and teamwork) was also highlighted.

For the last three days of the festival, I-SET was invited to Kingswood College from 08:30–11:00 to facilitate workshops for grade 1 to 6 learners.

*By Andzani Sibiya

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Publish date: 2018-03-27 00:00:00.0

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