UM Students Develop STEM Teaching Program with Team Building for Volunteer Teaching in Malacca Four Years in a Row

With the theme of “Love Shows under ‘Belt and Road’”, students from the University of Macau (UM) Cheng Yu Tung College (CYTC) participated in a volunteer teaching trip to the Portuguese village – Livio Learning Center (LLC) in Malacca, Malaysia for the fourth consecutive year. This year, Cheng Yu Tung College students designed a set of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) program together with team building training for this volunteer teaching program.

This program was divided into four parts. In the first three parts, LLC students were grouped into four teams for competitions. The CYTC students guided the LCC students to make paper planes, wind vehicles and steam candle boats. The last lesson was to use the DIY vehicle to build a mini transportation network, which served as a final battlefield. In addition to stimulating the curiosity of the students, the goal of this program was to help LLC students to understand the importance of the transport network through the game, giving rise to closely follow the theme of “One Belt, One Road, Love Shows”

In addition to the STEM section, the most important part of this program was the team building part. Starting with the first lesson, there were five rules for teamwork that students must keep in mind and strictly follow:

1. On time                             (Save others’ time, others will respect your time)
2. Respect others                  (Respect your teammates and your opponents)
3. Praise others                      (Praising others is the start of learning from others)
4. Don’t blame others            (But encourage helpful advice)
5. We are the same team

Each class spent ten minutes explaining one rule and reciting all rules. Under the guidance of the CYTC student, all the LLC students passed the final exam and Dr. Tang Yu Ming, the representative of CYTC, awarded the certificate of completion.Nun Mary, representative of LLC said that the STEM program not only taught students scientific knowledge, but the most important thing was the education of values. Even if the students forget the principle of the steam candle boat in the future, they will not forget the five rules for teamwork. CYTC started the Service Learning Trip in Malacca Portuguese Village since 2016. This year’s theme was “One Belt, One Road, Love Shows” which let students understand the country’s “One Belt, One Road” initiative and the community education of the University of Macau. Students who have participated in this service-learning program over the past four years have seen significant growth in 5 competencies namely Interpersonal Relationship and Teamwork, Healthy Living, Leadership and Service, Cultural Engagement, and Global Citizenship.