English Class

~Sandhiya, Prabha

As part of the continued learning program at STEM land, we took two courses “Grammatically correct English: writing and speaking” and “Advanced English course” along with other teachers and staff of SAIIER.  Sessions were held twice a week from 4:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. on Mondays and Fridays.  The course was an offering of SAIIER and will be free of charge to the participants.

This was an intensive course that required homework ranging from 15 minutes to half an hour.The teacher for the course is Miss. Vatsla had many years of experience teaching English.

The advanced course had around 15 members and was conducted over 3 months

  • Introducing self
  • Use of used to/ never used to
  • Apostrophe’s
  • Use of Articles
  • 12 Tenses and Rules
  • Chart: Affirmative, Negative, Interrogative, and Interrogative + negative.
  • Practice with the help of a chart
  • Article Combination
  • Difference between few and little
  • Modals
  • Prepositions
  • Condition clauses
  • Chain of condition clauses
  • Use of I am yet to
  • Sentences with has to, have to, had to, will have to
  • Sentences with I came to know about

In advanced course has around 11 members and 8 classes, and everyone has teachers from in and around Auroville. So far, we Covered,

  • Active and Passive voice
  • Direct and Indirect Speech

These are the list we practiced in advance class,

  • Debate with ourself
  • Given a topic/word and create narration in front of others
  • Given the situation for two members and talk about that.
  • Create a sentence and end others’ sentences.
  • Write the paragraph for the given topics
  • Strengths and weakness
  • Few lines about Diwali
  • Few lines about home town
  • Peer learning with ourselves for easy understanding.

Group- 3 group photos

The Board of Studies (BOS) meeting for B.Voc with Pondicherry University

~ Durai

C3steamland Design has been running a residential 1 year “Masters” program for called Becoming and Being a Shifu (Master) program for a couple of years. This program supports those who have completed an undergraduate degree in any field learn skills, competencies and inner-capacities through a hands-on individual mentor driven program. This program is not officially certified by any university, but over the last couple of years has become extremely successful. Most of the students who graduated from the program joined us and continue to create this learning environment for others. It got us thinking why we should wait for youth to waste 3 or 4 yrs in undergrad where they don’t seem to have developed much. An opportunity presented itself to partner with AIAT Auroville Institute of Applied Technology) to start a recognized undergraduate course affiliated to the Pondicherry university. The exciting par tof the B.Voc Bachelor of Vocation programs was that we were allowed to design our own syllabus that was applied and holistic. From the C3STREAMland Designs we offered support for two possible courses in software development & machine learning, Applied electronics & chip design. We worked for almost 5 months to create a syllabus for these courses to meet the industrial needs and value of life. During syllabus creation, we also explored recent courses online that are application oriented and were excited with the syllabus which we felt met the real needs of the industry while keeping in mind broadening of character of the individual. In this blog we look at the board of studies that was put together to review the syllabus we came up with from different perspectives of computer science and engineering.

About B.Voc

Looking at the incredible advancement of science, the world continues to face an enormous crisis, especially the rural-urban divide and the disconnection of technological progress from human needs. Auroville is the city of the future and we are here to open the way of the future for youth who belong to the future. Our program and curriculum based on integral education address not only the skills needed by the youth but also the competencies to use these skills to create a life-enhancing culture and interrupt unhealthy social narratives (or ISMs such as casteism, sexism, consumerism, etc.) and develop inner capacity (responsibility, dignity, courage to create) already present in the youth. The B.Voc programs over the three years are targeted for these. The program has been developed by academia, recent neuroscience and leadership training, and industry leaders through research and application and includes recent online learning platforms.

Through this program, we aim to develop the synthesizing mind (ability to abstract, compare, and summarize), the respectful mind (respect and dignity for all), the ethical mind (developing systems and culture with care for people and the planet), and the creative mind (creativity that comes from care as distinguished from innovation which may be limited to something new).

(Software development and machine learning) held on 15.09.2022@ at 10.00 am in blended mode, at the seminar hall department of computer science, school of engineering and technology,

The Members of the Committee present are

  1. Dr S. SIVASATHYA, Chairman, Professor & Head, Department of Computer Science,

PU, Pondicherry

  1. Prof PUNAM BEDI, PROFESSOR, Department of Computer Science, University of Delhi.
  2. Dr S.NICKOLAS, Professor, Department of Computer Applications, National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli
  3.  Dr P. ANANDHAKUMAR, Department of information technology, Madras Institute of Technology campus, Anna University, Chennai.
  4. Dr R SUBRAMANIAN, Professor, Department of Computer Science, PU, Pondicherry
  5. Dr T CHITHRALEKHA, Professor, Department of Computer Science, PU, Pondicherry
  6. Dr S.K.V, JAYAKUMAR, Associate Professor, Department of Computer Science, PU, Pondicherry
  7. Mr R.P.SREENIVASAN, Assistant professor, Department of Computer Science, PU, Pondicherry
  8. THE PRINCIPAL, Pondicherry University Community College, Lawspet
  9. THE HEAD, Department of Computer Science, PUCC, Lawspet
  10. Mr SUBRAMANIAN MEENAKSHISUNDARAM, Client Technical Leader, FSS India Pvt. Ltd, Bangalore. (Special Invitee)
  11. Dr K.S. KUPPUSAMY, Associate Professor, Department of Computer Science, PU, Pondicherry. (Special Invitee)
  12. Dr V. UMA, Associate Professor, Department of Computer Science, PU, Pondicherry. (Special Invitee)
  13. Dr S.L. JAYALAKSHMI, Assistant professor, Department of Computer Science, PU, Pondicherry. (Special Invitee)
  14. Shri. LAVKAMAD CHANDRA, Director, AIAT, Auroville. (Special Invitee)
  15. Dr SANJEEV RANGANATHAN, Principal AIAT, Founder C3STREAM LAND, Auroville(Special Invitee)
  16. Mr P. DURAISAMY, Staff C3STREAM LAND, Guest Faculty AIAT, Auroville. (Special Invitee)
  17. Mr S. SIVABALAN, Assistant Professor, AIAT, Auroville. (Special Invitee)
  • The Special Board of Studies Chairman welcomed the Members and the Special Invitees. The Chairman briefly introduced the members and their fields of specialization.
  • The Chairman appraised the members about the purpose and background of the Special BoS Meeting. It was elaborated that the Auroville Institute of Applied Technology (AIAT) is affiliated with Pondicherry University. The AIAT institution is located at Irumbai Main Road, (Opp. TN.E.B.), Vanur T.K., Villupuram District, Tamil Nadu P.O. – 605111. The AIAT intends to start the new Vocational Degree course, B.Voc. (Software Development and Machine learning) from the academic year 2022-23.
  • Then, Sanjeev Ranganathan, Special Invitee, the Principal of AIAT, gave a brief presentation on the Auroville Institute of Applied Technology (AIAT), and the infrastructures available in the Institute, along with the aims of starting the new course, “B. Voc. Software Development and Machine learning” from the academic year 2022-23.
  • Then, the main agenda of the BVSc. (Software Development and Machine learning) The syllabus was taken up for deliberations.
  • After detailed discussions, the following modifications/suggestions on the course syllabus and curriculum of the BVoc. The program was suggested by the members for the appropriate incorporation into the Syllabus.
  • Meeting ended with the concluding remarks from the Chairman.

System and cultural shifts

Theory – > Practical education system

Unskilled -> skilled learning

Regular Learning -> industrial learning

Unemployment -> employment and entrepreneurship

Reflection:

The professors really appreciated the spirit with which we had planned the program. What was expected to be a couple of hours of the presentation went on till the evening and even the HOD stayed till the evening to ensure all the questions were captured so it had a unanimous approval and was successful. Experts from different sub-fields emphasized their areas, but could all agree that they wanted the program to be most beneficial for students. It also helped us broaden our horizon so the students were not only oriented towards what we know well, but broadly for industry.

 

LAST SCHOOL STUDENTS VISIT STEMLAND

On the 14th of July students from the Last school, Auroville visited STEMLAND. The forty students accompanied by the teachers enjoyed their afternoon session by exploring STEMLAND.

The arrangements were done by the STEMLAND team. There were 8 stalls which include

  1. Mindstorms
  2. Games and puzzles
  3. Science projects
  4. Makey-Makey
  5. Arduino
  6. Electronics
  7. Scratch programming
  8. 3-D printing.

Mindstorms:

Mindstorms is a hardware and software structure that develops programmable robots based on Lego building blocks. Each version includes computer Lego bricks, a set of modular sensors and motors, and Lego parts from the Technic line to create the mechanical systems. The system is controlled by the Lego bricks.

Games and puzzles:

Logic and strategy games were present. They include Abalone, Gobblet, Quads magnetic, Aadu Puli (Puli Meka), Linja, Quarto, Quoridor, Othello and Eternals were put on view to play. Puzzles like Rubik’s cube, Cast puzzles, and holograms were displayed to solve and play with.

Science Projects:

Science projects based on concepts were exhibited. The exhibits include

  • Magnetic levitation
  • Electromagnetism
  • Acid-base indicator
  • Dc electric motor model
  • Crank’s model
  • Lungs- diaphragm model
  • Magnetism- properties.
  • DIY microscope
  • DIY headphone
  • Series and parallel connection
  • Lights color – arithmetic model.

These models were made using the Arvind Gupta toys which are made of scrap materials.

Makey – Makey:

Makey Makey is an invention kit by the MIT media lab. With Makey Makey, everyday objects are transformed into touchpads empowering students to interact with computers as creative tools. The computer becomes an extension of their creativity, fostering imaginative play and discovery.

“Makey Makey” is a play on words – students having the ability to Make their Keyboards (“Ma-Key”). The mundane and boring keyboard is replaced by any object that conducts electricity – pie pans, Play-Doh, bananas, and even potted plants – the list goes on.

The projects can be coded by scratch and use the Makey Makey kit as a joystick controller.

Arduino:

Arduino is an open-source hardware and software that can be used for designs. It is a microcontroller and microcontroller kit for building digital devices. It can be programmed and built using the Arduino software. Exhibits include a Distance measurement kit, Automated street light was displayed.

Electronics:

The field of electronics is a branch of physics and electrical engineering that deals with the emission, behavior, and effects of electrons using electronic devices. Projects like Automatic street light controller and automated sound sensor control model, Automatic dustbin were displayed.

Scratch programming:

Scratch is a visual programming language that allows students to create their own interactive stories, games, and animations. As students design Scratch projects, they learn to think creatively, reason systematically, and work collaboratively.

3-D printing:

A machine allows the creation of a physical object from a three-dimensional digital model, typically by laying down many thin layers of a material in succession. The models are designed using software called Tinkercad and converted to the printing g code to feed to the machine using Ultimaker CURA software. This paves for creative models.

The visit session was facilitated by Dr.Sanjeev Ranganathan and the team of STEMLAND. The session started with a few minutes of concentration meditation and a few words about what we stand for, a casual talk on the similarities and differences between the last school and STEMLAND. Students had to choose any two stalls they can spend time on. Some of them wanted to explore all the activities.

Students and facilitators had a great time exploring. Few of them made hands-on projects using the kits provided. They played strategic games and got fascinated by them. It was a pleasure to have them in STEMLAND. The team had wonderful learning, growth, and fun having them.

BHARATHA TIRTHA II- International conference on Indian knowledge systems by IIT Kharagpur.

BHARATHA TIRTHA II- International conference on Indian knowledge systems was organized by IIT Kharagpur. Dr. Sanjeev Ranganathan, founder of STEMLAND was invited to present and he presented on the topic of Rajju ganit (string geometry, cord geometry).

He demonstrated briefly the concept of squaring the circle can be done using the Rajju ganit method. Using the rope, a circle, and a square of the same area can be constructed and observed.

There are two main new features:

(1) The cord replaces the entire compass box.

(2) Empirical methods are admitted in geometry contrary to the philosophy of formal math and using instead the philosophy of approximation.

Some other interesting topics that were presented at the conference were trigonometry in Ancient India and how that led to many discoveries and applications.

Jyotpatti: Trignometry in India

Trigonometry in India is called Jyotpatti.” Ja” means chord in a circle and “Jia” means string in a bow. Mathematicians used this to find the relation between the arc of a circle and the chord of a circle. The sine function is ubiquitous in all disciplines. It is very important to study the application part of sine and cosine functions.

Bhaskara’s metaphor for sine and cosine:

Bhaskar Acharya is a 12th-century astronomer and mathematician. He brought in the importance of science in astronomy, and the application of it is beautifully brought out with a nice simile.

He says that,

Just as fabric(pata)is made up of crisscrossed threads Likewise the spherics or science of astronomy is crisscrossed with sine and cosine functions.

Sines and cosines are everywhere in astronomy:

Interestingly, sines and cosines from the earliest times were formally a part of astronomy rather than a separate discipline of mathematics, it is because applications in astronomy fall all over the place.

The main phenomenal applications such as

  1. Ascensional differences between planets. (Spherical trigonometry)
  2. Epicyclic orbital corrections to planetary longitudes.
  3. Zenith distances and the length of the shadows.

Arcs and chords: The origins of trigonometry in India:

In the 17th century, a famous mathematician named Nityananda Sarvasisiddhantaraja explicitly links the advantage of looking at half chords.

Mathematicians paid more attention to what a chord concerning a given arc is, What is half of the chord of double the arc, and the right-angled triangle which is used for mathematics and computes various line segments concerning half of the chord made computations much easier for astronomers.

Technical terminology introduced bow and bow string:

 

The evolution of trigonometry in India:

Practitioners needed to compute:

  1. Half chords and other line segments in right triangles using the geometry of polygons inscribed in a circle.
  2. Tables of Rsines are computed for various values of R.
  3. Linear(or occasionally second-order) interpolation is used to determine non-tabulated values.

Addressing these led to brilliant discoveries and the results from the middle.

Mathematicians like Brahmagupta, Aryabhatta, and Varahamihra have given the tables of sine and their geometric dimensions of it.

 

 

 

Vaughn cube

Vaughn cube is for children who find visualization easier rather than memorizing the multiplication tables.

Elements of Vaughn cube:

  • Numbers.
  • Pictures.
  • Colours.

Construction of Vaughn cube:

  • 4 sides = 4 walls.

Each wall has a specific color.

  • Numbers are arranged as follows:

Odd numbers- Diagonal.

Even numbers- In the middle.

  • Pictures-Specific arrangement based on the sound they make.

For eg: Tuna- T, and n.

              Nose -N and s.

Working with Vaughn cube:

  • Create a room as shown in the image with the numbers marked.
  • Ask children to practice the objects along with their position on which number the object comes.
  • Make it clear for children to see that it is the same object between 3 to 4 and 4 to 3.
  • Let children study the base picture and introduce the different words.
  • It’s important for the children to know the orientation of the room as they will remember objects based on their location rather than the numbers they are in between. This is how the mind castle works.
  • There are different charts for tables 3,4 5, etc.

        

  • Introduce all the images in the Vaughn cube and ask children what they are along with the sounds.
  • Make children practice the names of the objects and see if they can identify the sounds while saying the names of the objects.

Eg: Tuna-t,n

Deciphering the sounds and numbers:

Map the numbers from 0-9 with the sounds.

  • 1 looks like t.
  • N written sideways as z looks like 2.
  • M written sideways looks like 3 especially small m.
  • Cursive r has a hidden 4 in it.
  • L is logged the bar on top of 5.
  • Ch written with c inside h looks like a 6.
  • Cursive k has a 7 inside it.
  • Cursive f looks like an 8.
  • P reversed looks like a 9.
  • Practice making children map the numbers with the sounds for all the objects.
  • See if children can say the numbers instead of the object name between the two numbers/on top of the number in the room.

Vaughn cube can help children learn multiplication as well as division effectively by visualizing.

Vim Editor Session

Vim Editor Session

~SriBhavani and Bakyalakshmi

On 18th Jan 2022, we had a session on vim by HarshaVaradhan from AuraSemiconductors. In this blog, we share what we have learned about vim and how we use it.

Introduction:

Vim is a highly configurable text editor built to create and change any kind of text very efficiently. Vim Editor has its own configuration file called vimrc.  This can be customizable based on how we want to see GVIM

  • Vim has the Two modes of operation
    • Command Mode
    • Insert Mode

Command Mode:

To enter into the command mode press ESC.

There are two sub-modes in the command mode.

  1. Command Line Editing ?  “:” followed by the command

(eg) :q- to quit the editor window

  1. Command-line window ? Directly enter the command It will automatically execute once it got the valid sequence

(eg) dd – delete the current line

Insert Mode:

There are two ways to enter into insert mode.

  1. i ? Enter into the Insert mode at the point where the cursor present
  2. o ? Enter into the Insert mode with the new line, next to the Cursor line

Few commands to access vim editor in the Command line window:

  • dd ? Delete the cursor line. 
  • ndd ? Delete the n lines from the cursor position
  • gg ? Go to File Starting. 
  • GG ? Go to End of the File.
  • Ngg ? Go to nth line in the file.
  • yy ? Copy the Cursor line
  • Nyy ? Copy N lines from the cursor line
  • u ? undo the changes
  • ctrl+R ? Redo the last changes
  • ggVG ?  This will select all the file data
  • y ? copy the selected content
  • p ? paste copied content

 

Few commands to access vim editor in Command Line Editing

  • :w ? To save the file
  • :q! ? close the editor without saving the changes
  • :vsp ? Split the same vim editor file in two windows vertically
  • :sp ? Split the same vim editor file in two windows Horizontally
  • :tabnew ? Open newtab
  • :E ? To open the file tree
  • :se nu ? Show line numbers in the text editor
  • :se nonu ? Remove line numbers in the text editor

 

Search 

  • Type ” / “  to search a word or sentence in command mode

(e.g.) /cat – it will highlight all occurrence of word “cat” in the file

  • n ? show next occurrence from current to bottom
  • N ? Show search word occurrence from current to top

Search and replace: 

:%s/Old/New/gc Search for word “Old” and replace by “New”, ask confirmation before replace
:%s/old/NEW/gi Case insensitive, Search all possibilities of word “old” and replace by “NEW”
:%s/Old/New/gI Case sensitive, Search “Old” replace by “New”
:%s/Old/New/g Replace all occurrence of “Old” by “New”, without asking for confirmation 

 

Aurovidhiya seminar

 

The schools of Auroville and C3SL work on the philosophy of Sri Aurobindo and The Mother of Integral Education. The philosophy of Sri Aurobindo of the integral development of the child (Aurobindo, 1921, pp.1-8) emphasizes self-knowledge and assumes an important relevance in the recent National Education Policy that is based on his work and states that “knowledge is a deep-seated treasure and education helps in its manifestation as the perfection which is already within an individual.” The philosophy creates guiding principles for teachers and in how we engage with children. The three principles of true education by Sri Aurobindo are:

  • Nothing can be taught
  • The mind needs to be consulted in its growth
  • From near to far

The first principle can be linked to the constructivist theory that knowledge cannot be forced into a child’s mind. The role of a teacher is not to mould or hammer a child into the form desired by the adult. The teacher is a guide, or mentor that supports and encourages a child in the process of learning, enabling them to evolve towards perfection. Our engagement with children follows this principle.

The second principle indicates that the child needs to be consulted in his/her learning. This is done at C3SL as the elder children plan what they want to work on and how they want to organize themselves to do it with the broad ground rules of respecting themselves, others, and the materials. With younger children, this aspect was put into practice in the co-creation of challenges along with them.

The third principle is to work from near to far. To work from what is tangible and accessible to children to what is abstract to them. The children work on projects they care about in the environment they engage with and as they grow older move towards more abstract ideas. This paper will present projects both in the physical world and also in the abstract world.

Such an education addresses the purpose of education beyond fitting in and standing out and knowing oneself and one’s purpose in the world. The environment most suited for Integral Education is one where the child progressively learns about himself/herself and can make choices on their own. This environment is broadly referred to as ‘Free Progress’, where children are provided the freedom to make progress towards learning and understanding themselves deeply. At a practical level, this appears as freedom with responsibility in learning. While the responsibility of learning rests with the child, it is the teacher/facilitator who has a big role in creating a meaningful learning environment and this role is far larger than that of a traditional didactic teacher.

Values form the essential basis of actions and are required for the improvement of the social aspects of learning and for forming a learning community. However, ‘teaching values’ has its limitations, and incorporating them in society and in our work can be challenging. Self-awareness and personal transformation are necessary, but not sufficient for social transformation. We also work on RTL (Radical Transformational Leadership) with children by looking at system thinking and noticing patterns and how we can align our actions, and thoughts to the values we care about for a Conscious Full Spectrum Response capacity-building framework. This also provides us with a more holistic view of how we would like to access our work beyond academic achievement.

 

In this workshop, we will look first at the exploration of inner capacities through leadership tools and how it has the potential for transforming reactions of fear into conscious responses based on the highest possibility in both teachers and students. We will then engage with some technical aspects of developing the mental being through technology while holding these values and interacting in the kind of environment we would like to create for children with an introduction to some of the hands-on work we do.

‘The progress of the child guided by the soul and not subjected to habits, conventions, and preconceived ideas is illustrative of a system of free progress’ (The Mother, 1956). By the end of the workshop, we hold that we would have conveyed how at C3SL we develop the values of responsibility, equality, and the courage to create in children and you can take back some reflections on how you will do this with the children.

We presented in the mental domain.

Plan for the workshop:

Day 1:

Introduction to STEM land

Stewardship – Knowing who I am?

Stand(Universal value)  and Fear (socialized ):

 

Knowing who I am is a possibility

Seven segment display

Day 2:

Deep listening and conscious  full-spectrum response (CFSR)

 

Programming Scratch projects

 

 

 

 

 

Python course

~Logeshwari, Sandhiya

We had interns coming to STEMland to learn to program. A few of them were learning Scratch and making projects. We conducted a course on the basics of Python. It was a five-day course for one and a half hours each day. There were about 15 of them attending the course. Everyday based on what the interns learned assessments were given accordingly.

People shared their assessments with others at the beginning of the class for about 10 minutes.

One participant sharing his assignment

In the five days of the course, everyone learned the following.

  • Print statements
  • Variables
  • Data structures/data types (tuples, list, dictionaries, etc.)
  • Data type conversions
  • Functions
  • Imports
  • Global variables
  • Scope of functions
  • Classes


This is the first time that I took a technical course. It was a new experience of teaching/ sharing what I learned to adults.  I planned for the course and I decided the assignments before the day which made me clear on what I wanted to do. Instead of going to more advanced it is always good to review the basics not only in programming. It was a nice opportunity for me to review my basics in python

Where to improve:

I felt that I need to follow the time properly. I missed a few important things which I added later which I should have told initially itself.

Intern ship at STEM land

Pratap.G

Three students from college came to STEM land for intern-ship for two weeks  to learn programming in Scratch. We have asked them to create some project in scratch. They have created some videos projects on addition ,fraction, number line, multiplication, representing and arranging  ascending order and descending order with squares. People from STEM land took Steward ship for new emergence for them . They took few tools from that session for them like stand , fear,  deep listening and back ground conversation , four profile , CFSR  sheet.

Reflection of the interns

Here are the list of  projects that they made in scratch.

 

Program For Math Educators – Day 7

In the morning session, insights sharing from the previous day tool and Powerful speaking was handled by Sundar. In Powerful speaking, participant given an inspirational speech from their stand and generate commitment for action for their projects within 3 minutes and given feedback to other participants for their growth.

After the morning break, few of them presented their projects in scratch which they made at home.

Then we had a scratch session. In which Triangle Inequality, handled by Sundar and Nuclear Fission projects by Ranjith.

After the lunch break, we watched “Everyday Creativity” video.

After the video, we had a Geogebra session. Sandhiya took circumference, and Ranjith took Function, Sequence command for finding the ratio between the perimeter of the circle and polygons inside the circle.

At the end of the day, participants learned to create arc functions (Triangle Inequality) and cloning sprite in Scratch. In GeoGebra, they learned Rotate, Function and Sequence command, and they were able to do a project using that commands.