Stars and STEM Stories
GLOBE Asia and Pacific Regional Meeting: “We Learn We Do with GLOBE” Develops Spirit of Scientific Learning and Collaboration
The GLOBE Asia and Pacific Regional Coordination Office (RCO), in association with GLOBE Thailand, The Institute for the Promotion of Teaching Science and Technology (IPST), organized a Virtual Annual Regional Meeting. The meeting, which was held from 24-26 January, was an enriching success – with 280 participants joining the session through Zoom and 68 participants watching the sessions live on Facebook Streaming; and receiving 10,000 views post-screening on 24 January. The theme for the meting was "We Learn we Do with GLOBE."
The meeting, sponsored by the GLOBE Implementation Office (GIO), gathered together the GIO Director Dr. Tony Murphy and the Assistant Director Dr. Denise “Skye” Yost; the Coordinator of the Asia and Pacific Regional Coordination Office, Dr. Desh Bandhu; 12 country coordinators; David Overoye and Cornell Lewis from Science Systems and Applications, Inc. (SSAI); GLOBE Working Group members, and assistant country coordinators and trainer’s from the region.
To open the meeting, Dr. Khunying Kalaya Sophonpanich, Deputy Minister of Education, said, “The GLOBE Program encourages youth, scientists, educators, and citizens around the world to work together to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by encouraging young people to learn about environmental science through GLOBE activities."
The meeting, which was held in two parts, shared student presentations that showcased student research presentations completed during the previous year in association with various regional campaigns. Ten student teams (from India, Nepal, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand) participated in the 2022 Virtual Students’ Research Presentation. The session was on collaboration, and focused on the topic of GLOBE protocols used during the pandemic, as well as on what students learned while working with GLOBE virtually.
“Participants also discussed creating opportunities for student exchanges and international collaboration,” Dr. Desh Bandhu said. “The conclusion was that the Asia and Pacific Regional Coordination Office will follow and promote more student research presentations, exchange programs, and campaigns in the region to motivate schools to focus on GLOBE protocol-related projects, and to make a connection to another schools in the region.”
The country coordinator meeting started with a presentation provided by GIO Director, Dr. Tony Murphy, and Assistant Director, Dr. Denise “Skye” Yost, providing updates on The GLOBE Program. Dr. Desh Bandhu updated the participants on activities carried out, and webinars organized, since the pandemic started – and how these events and activities have benefited the regional community.
“A discussion was organized with the GLOBE Working Group member in the region to help the regional community disseminate information to the region about the Working Group, what best suits the community, and how the community can benefit from that work and be more engaging,” Dr. Desh Bandhu said. “New development of the GLOBE website, such as the new data entry system on The GLOBE Program’s mobile app, GLOBE Observer, data visualizations, and use of the GLOBE website was presented by David Overoye and Cornell Lewis from SSAI.”
“The Regional Meeting provided an opportunity to the GLOBE country coordinators in sharing their year-long activities with other countries in the region. It also involved active participation and understanding of GLOBE protocols, and gave an overview of The GLOBE Program, giving emphasis to the educational philosophy behind ‘learning science by doing,” – and the benefit to teachers and students in adopting and integrating The GLOBE Program protocols in the school curriculum to the new members in the region, such as country coordinators and assistant country coordinators,” Dr. Desh Bandhu said.
“The theme of this year's Asia and Pacific Regional Meeting was ‘We Learn We Do with GLOBE’ to showcase best practices and exchange experiences with digital learning, distance learning, online cooperative learning approaches, and other lessons learned from the partial or full shut-down of the schools due to the pandemic.”
“Discussion was based on the examples of GLOBE good practices that country coordnators shared during the presentation. The country coordinators reacted to each other’s presentations – finding similarities, asking questions, and adding their own ideas and experiences. The RCO will follow up on selected examples of good practice,” Dr. Desh Bandhu said. “We will ask country coordinators to prepare a Star Story about their events/achievements. We plan to focus more on the topics that countries had in common.”
“The participants gained a huge understanding by engaging in the open forum discussion about GLOBE in the region. They also discussed the GLOBE Strategic Plan and how it can be best implemented in the region.”
“The focus of meeting was to develop a spirit of scientific learning, adventure, and discovery by organizing regional campaigns, expeditions, and students research and exchange programs in the region. The Asia and Pacific region actively promotes these activities because it has benefited the regional community significantly, and has helped the students in our region learn, research, and adapt to the new ecosystem, which strengthens and expands their knowledge and skills on STEM education as well as on regional culture.”
To view the meeting recording, click here.
Star Story submitted by GLOBE Country Coordinator, Dr. Desh Bandhu, Coordinator, Regional Coordination Office.