**1. Introduction**

The 21st century, with all its marvels and awe-inspiring innovations, poses a very apt and pertinent question to parents and educators around the world; in this age of technology and massive information inflow, how do we engage our children in creative activities? The introduction of STEM methodology in the last couple of decades in education systems around the world has attempted to address this challenge. STEM methodology, based on Engineering Design Process, invites students to collaborative problem solving, engages them through relevant and authentic topics, motivates them to come up with creative solutions and in doing so prepares them for the challenges of today and tomorrow.

The constructivist approach to learning and the concept of learning through experience has been around for over a century. Jean Piaget's constructivist theory focused on knowledge development based on experiences, in four stages of cognitive development [1]. Lev Vygotsky introduced Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) in his social-cultural development theory emphasizing the process of learning by doing [2]. Jerome Bruner supported guided discovery learning [3].

However, STEM methodology introduces a systematic approach to problem solving through interdisciplinary, crosscutting and hands-on experiential learning. In their journey from an idea to a solution, students learn and apply integrated curriculum concepts, use technology to create a model and apply the principles of Engineering Design Process iteratively to achieve the desired results. Failures are seen as opportunities to learn and course correct.

STEM methodology has gained significant popularity in the last couple of decades, and for good reasons. Many countries around the world have either experimented with or successfully incorporated STEM methodology in their school systems. The improvement in Science and Math learning, nurturing of core competencies such as Creativity, Communication, Collaboration, and Critical Thinking also called 4Cs, and development of hands-on technological skills are the common denominations that drive the uptake of this method in education systems around the world.

In the following pages we would like to share our experiences, as STEM service providers, of implementing STEM methodology in urban and rural areas of Pakistan. The unique challenges faced, opportunities and the lessons learned during our journey are presented in the context of resource constrained environments.

### **1.1 STEM as a great equalizer?**

The 21st century has ushered in technological advancements at a mind boggling pace. The fourth industrial revolution led by Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain and nano technology is threatening to shake the very foundation of our societal values, our way of thinking, way of working and way of receiving education. The education systems of developed countries are striving to keep up with the pace, and those of the developing countries are spinning their wheels to come out of the 20th century. The gap is increasing at an alarming rate. Beyond any doubt, it is the integration of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math that has enabled significant developments and innovations in the past few decades and it is this integration of these disciplines that holds the panacea for education systems to prepare our children for the world as it exists today and for what it is about to become in the future.

The requirements of modern education systems include not only foundational literacies such as reading, writing, math, Internet and Communication Technologies, sciences but also skills, competencies and attitudes to become a creative and collaborative problem solver and therefore a contributing citizen. STEM education holds the promise to deliver this and more. Adoption of STEM methodology in developing countries can not only address some fundamental issues such as quality of science and math education, acquisition of essential 21st century literacies, skills and competencies, but also help improve enrollment and retention rates, gender parity in STEM fields, and provide an accelerated path to catch up with the rest of the world.

#### **1.2 Challenges of STEM integration in developing countries**

There are numerous challenges in introducing STEM methodology in resourceconstrained environments. The schools are over-crowded, infrastructure is lacking, teachers are fewer in numbers, not adequately qualified and trained, over-burdened and less motivated, if not completely averse, to bringing any change or improvement in the status quo. The curriculum is often antiquated, standards are missing or obsolete, and the textbooks void of interesting content.

The school leadership despite having the desire for improvement and innovation find themselves in a quagmire to either focus their energies and resources on running day-to-day operations and meeting the bare minimum requirements or risk disturbing the apple cart for experimentation with new methods, tools and pedagogies. The former takes precedence in almost all cases.

At the government level, things become even more complicated. Even if the policy makers are proactive in adopting measures to bring about improvement in the system, the sheer inertia of the behemoth system coupled with inherent inefficiencies create significant hurdles and drag in implementation of new initiatives seeking improvement in quality of education resulting in either failure of the interventions to take off or bring about desired changes at all.

The cost of STEM implementation is a major concern for all stakeholders. For most people, one of the first exposures to STEM comes from Robotics. Robotic kits are expensive in general and in developing countries they are simply cost prohibitive. This often creates misunderstanding that STEM being Robotics only is simply not affordable. In most, if not all, developing countries, schools are over-crowded and space comes at a premium. This is particularly true for government owned and run schools. It is extremely difficult to conduct STEM sessions in classrooms effectively.

Turning these challenges into opportunities require some very well thought through and innovative solutions. Therefore, we offer our perspective of integrating STEM education in resource constrained schools in the following sections.
