**2. Integration of STEM education in a school: A phased approach**

Introduction of STEM education requires a phased approach to give time to the school administration and faculty to fully understand and prepare for a full integration of STEM methodology in their regular classroom sessions. Starting with a STEM club, then introduction in a couple of classes and finally expanding gradually to cover more classes allows the system to ease in into the integration of STEM throughout the school.

#### **2.1 STEM lab design and setup**

STEM lab provides an environment for students to foster learning in a fun and exciting way. It provides space, tools and means for students to practice their theoretical knowledge by creating solutions for real-world problems that are both authentic and relevant to them. In a STEM lab, students not only engage in learning of corecurriculum concepts and nurture core competencies but also acquire new psychomotor skills.

A STEM Lab must be designed to facilitate hands-on experiential learning in an effective manner utilizing the space optimally and efficiently within the confines of specified constraints and limitations. This is a balancing act. The lab design process begins by understanding the purpose and basic requirements of the lab. These requirements emanate from the planned activities and the number of students that will be accommodated for these activities at any given time. Unlike a typical classroom where the setup is static, a STEM lab is designed on the principles of freedom of movement and freedom of choice. Dynamic spaces are created through modular

and mobile furniture, which offers the flexibility for the students to move around and work in groups. The furniture is designed to promote active lean-forward learning instead of passive lean-back information transfer.

Modular and mobile furniture provides opportunities to create open spaces when needed so that the students can work on the floor or gather around for some activities. Sufficient storage spaces are provided in the form of shelves and cabinets to stow away tools, equipment and materials used in STEM activities and also showcase student projects. The material used in furniture needs to be lightweight, durable and water proof.

Continuous electricity supply, especially in the rural areas is one of the many challenges in developing countries. Backup power becomes a necessity. Similarly, Internet connection in remote areas is mostly available through wireless carriers and as such needs to be arranged for the STEM lab. A view of such a model STEM lab is shown in **Figure 1**.
