MIT initiatives offer hands-on experience

David Isaiah Sessoms, center, a junior at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), helps Korea International School (KIS) students build a robot as part of the MIT science and technology class, at the KIS in Pangyo, south of Seoul, Jan. 13. Four MIT students, under the MIT International Science and Technology Initiative, visited the KIS campus to conduct a seminar on robotics and electricity. / Courtesy of KIS

By Kwon Ji-youn

One thing Maria Chan loves about college is its unlimited access to hands-on experiences ― something she wishes she had had more of in high school.

Chan, a senior at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), believes that students benefit most from observing things happening right before their eyes. There is more to learning than books and lectures, she says.

"The things I remember most about college are the labs I did, through which I got the chance to see and work through the material," she told The Korea Times.

She and three other students studying at MIT visited the Korea International School (KIS) in Pangyo, south of Seoul, from Jan. 6-11 to conduct a seminar on robotics and electricity for a week of the winter semester under the university's International Science and Technology Initiative.

During that week, the MIT students and 10 KIS students worked together building robots and circuits, topics the school does not cover in depth, according to Lee Yea-shine, a KIS junior.

"I was hoping to get the opportunity to work with kids on hands-on projects, since I don't like lectures as much," Chan said. "I feel like I learn more with practical experience. I wanted to do more stuff like that with students who were academically prepared."

She has already traveled to Israel under MIT's global teaching labs program, where she took part in a similar seminar for students hoping to further engage in science and technology after high school.

According to Chan, students in Israel were of a wider range in intellect, and so she was intrigued by the fact that she would be working with KIS students who tend to be brighter than the average student. These students were looking for something much more intellectually challenging.

"I was very impressed with how intelligent and driven students are here," she gushed. "We asked one student, while conducting a lab on electrics and computer programming, to work on a sensor we couldn't get working, and he got it to work. Not only are the students book-smart, but they have this natural inquisitiveness."

KIS students, while enthusiastic and ardent, naturally gravitate toward book-learning, as Korean society and culture stress the importance of it.

"I've noticed that compared to traditional high schools, many of the classes are based on books and lectures," she said. "That's not unique to KIS and it's a traditional way of learning, but I find that to shake it up is really beneficial. It's more fluid."

Students loved the seminar.

According to Lee, the program was good, but it was just too short to satisfy the students.

"Because I am interested in majoring in chemical engineering, I've come to think of Maria as a role model," Lee said. "More importantly, it was a preview to a college class, which I very much wanted to experience."

Lee said that she took the class to learn about topics her science class had not covered extensively, to prepare for college.

"I learned so much," she said. "Most importantly, I learned to connect science with creativity."

Both Chan and Lee hope that the program will continue to provide students with much-needed hands-on experience, hopefully to those who may not have access to programs as sophisticated as this.

Currently, Chan and her peers are conducting a similar program at KIS Jeju. Argentina is next for Chan, who says she can see herself teaching professionally one day.

"I think MIT is trying to help students who are not only the best of the best, but also students who might not have this opportunity," she said.

Before flying down to the island, the MIT students took part in a classroom collaboration project, in which they dropped in on advanced-placement chemistry classes at KIS to help students conduct their labs. With two MIT students assigned to each lab, students were able to ask more questions and receive immediate help when needed.

Lee said that she would definitely recommend this program to others, adding that if other students from different fields were to visit Korea, more students hoping to carry on their studies in fields such as business and languages could benefit.

Overall, barring a few logical rough edges, the experience was positive and stimulating.

"It's been an inspiration, working with such sharp students," Chan said.

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