11年级的Nova是今年回流的“小留学生”。因为疫情从墨尔本回国，经过一系列选择后，最终来到朝阳凯文完成高中学业。

原本希望申请瑞士的酒店管理专业的她，但到了朝阳凯文后，发现这里的科创课程非常的有趣。她在常规课程之外，也尝试选择了机器人编程、生物基因等课程作为课外课。“在此之前，我从没想过我会学这两门课，觉得科创对我来说是很遥远的事情。现在我对生物基因充满了兴趣，并且准备参加相关的比赛，未来有可能转换申请的方向。学校给了我很多尝试和选择的机会。”Nova很是感慨。

Nova提到的生物基因比赛，全称是国际基因工程机器大赛（iGEM），是合成生物学领域的国际顶级科技赛事，涉及数学、计算机、统计学等领域交叉合作的跨学科竞赛。它是由美国麻省理工学院创办，且每年大赛的研究成果都受到《科学》《自然》等顶级学术杂志进行专题报道。对此，朝阳凯文中学部科学组的老师们正积极准备，并将于明年带领学生参加此行学术盛事。

这也就意味着，区别于常规的理科学习，学校需要将涵盖多门学科的课程融合起来，让学生在学好基础学科的基础上，认识世界、理解自然界的客观规律，从而解决社会发展过程中遇到的难题。

那么，作为朝阳凯文三大特色课程之一的科创课程，在学校里又是如何开展和实施的呢？同传统的割裂的学科学习相比，又有哪些不同呢？

今天，让我们一起走进朝阳凯文的科创课程。

今年朝阳凯文中学部的课外课中，首次出现了“iGEM竞赛”的选择。

8年级的奖学金获得者Juciy选了这门课外课作为她的选修之一。自此以后的每周四下午第八节课，她都会和其他年级的同学们一起，积极参加到iGEM的备战当中。

“现阶段我们的主要任务是夯实生物基础知识。因为iGEM是一个以科研项目为核心的学术竞赛，主要以生物学为主题，涉及多学科交叉知识。比赛将会在明年3月正式开始，持续到明年的11月份，届时我们需要在报名前，完成组内分工，研究的课题方向等讨论，之后就要通过海量的搜索和实验设计等环节去论证我们的选题。

所以我们在现在这个阶段最最主要的任务，就是主要是多学习生物知识，打好基础，然后才能在明年展开生物创新性的工程化设计改造，例如生物能源、环境治理、医学检测等。我们的指导老师都是中学部非常有经验的科学老师，我对比赛还蛮期待的”，Juciy分享道。

Juicy提到的指导老师，如中学部的组长Paul老师，他本科毕业于曼彻斯特微生物和植物病理学专业，是一名微生物学家；如物理教师郝帆，他带领的机器人俱乐部，可谓是朝阳凯文的明星战队。成立短短的几年时间，多次摘得世界机器人比赛桂冠，如2019年7月Botball机器人全球唯一Botball杰出中学奖，2018年7月Botball机器人全球总决赛一等奖等……每一位老师都在自己擅长的领域，相互合作，给同学们带来最好的课程体验。

丰富的项目，硬核的师资，是朝阳凯文科创教学的第一武器。

当问及8年级的Juicy和高年级同学一起进行iGEM比赛的训练是否跟得上进度时， Juicy的回答解开了困惑，“今年学校在8年级启动了中学的STEM项目。在8年级同学们经过选拔，进入到STEM项目中进行学习，我也被选入这个项目当中”，Juicy分享道，“像我一样被挑选进入此项目的学生将会提前一年学习9年级的科学课程”。

这个项目是朝阳凯文中学部第一次推出的科学项目，目的是为及早发现有潜质的学生，为培养学生未来去往大学从事科学方向的研究提供了宝贵的机会。被挑选进入此项目的学生将会在八年级，提前一年进入IGCSE科学科目的学习，不仅更好地为IBDP的课程做好衔接准备，同时为那些对科学有着浓厚兴趣的学生提供一个更富挑战的舞台。

入选STEM项目的学生。他们都对科学有强烈的兴趣。中学部的老师们将从各个方面指导他们成为优秀的科学家，包括流程、方法论，并推动他们稍微超越相应年龄的要求。老师会对他们进行报告撰写、分析数据等专项训练。学生在专属的课程、项目和科学导师的引领下获得更深入的学习体验，在科学的世界里探索更多的可能性。

“总体来讲，我们的STEM课程是非常具有创造性的”，中学部科学组组长Paul分享道，“据我们所知，这是在北京，甚至在中国STEM课程首次融入到课程体系中。许多学校都有STEM，但通常是作为一种课外课活动。在朝阳凯文学校，对于入选参与STEM项目的同学来说，这个项目将完全融入到课程体系中”。

领先其他学校的先修课程，为朝阳凯文的同学们在科创学习上赢得先机。

在去年小学部的STEM Week中，Crystal老师给同学们布置了不同的挑战作业。比如要求同学们把鸡蛋用某种包装包起来，使其从高空中坠落而不破碎。再比如要求同学们把小木棍粘结起来，之后考察学生这个作品的承重程度。“我们要求粘结起来的小木棍长度不能超过30厘米。我印象中最深的是四年级的小朋友，他们做的小木板，居然能够架起15本字典厚度的图书重量，这让我很吃惊”，Crystal老师分享道。

“任何一个问题都不是单一的、独立的问题，它们之间都有着特定的联系。比如说你做生物实验，其中涉及到的数据统计，这就是数学的问题。STEM的核心理念，是引导学生们如何将学到的知识回归生活，应用到实际解决问题中。通过对于学生自身的兴趣点的评估，基于现实的提问，在深度和广度上应用跨学科的知识和技能的培养，是他们学习任何教材，任何知识的基础。小学阶段的科学教学，更多集中在如何激发孩子们的好奇心。作为科学老师，我从来不和孩子们说这个东西是什么样的，相反，我会更多的说我不知道。与其教会学生是什么，不如告诉他们在实践中如何总结，如何探索”。

中学部的郝帆老师也带领同学们通过一系列的机器人比赛，展开物理机械设计、程序逻辑算法、统筹方法等多科目的学习。

在机器人的不同的比赛中，对于项目的准备还有着完全不同的模式，比如不限器材比赛和限制器材比赛。学生在这个过程中要运用自己所学到的所有知识来创造适合多任务执行的机器人，到了国际赛场还要用流利的英语来给评委介绍自己的设计。所以团队合作、执行力、领导力，这都是学校在科学课程设计中所注重的部分。

化学老师Edward教授，是一位很有经验的科学家，并且在美国的大学担任过教授。Edward教授的专业领域是毒液和毒素，同时他正在开拓新一领域的研究，即人工酶。在他的带领下，学校的部分学生参与到他的一些研究工作，并多次带领初中生在国际期刊上发表多篇论文。

在朝阳凯文的 STEM 课程中，学校通过更大的自由度整合各科的知识、开展项目式教学，更多的实践机会，给予同学们亲身参与的研究中，发展他们独立思考的能力和综合素质的提升。

Nova from Grade 11 is one of the “international students”who returned to China this year. Because of the pandemics, she went back toChina from Melbourne, and chose to finish her high school study at ChaoyangKaiwen Academy after a series of choices.

She originally hoped to apply for a hotel managementmajor in Switzerland, but after arriving at CKWA, she found the STEM courseshere very interesting. In addition to the regular courses, she also tried robotics,biological genes and other courses as extracurricular courses. “I neverthought that I would take these two courses before, and I thought thatscientific innovation was a distant thing for me. Now I’m intrigued bybiological genes, and I’m ready to participate in the relevant competitions.It’s possible for me to change the major to apply for in the future. The schoolgave me a lot of opportunities to try and choose. ” Nova told us.

This means that, different from the conventional sciencelearning, the school needs to integrate multiple disciplines, so that studentscan understand the world and the objective laws of nature on the basis oflearning fundamental subjects, so as to solve the problems encountered in theprocess of social development.

So, as one of the three feature courses of Chaoyang KaiwenAcademy, how does the school carry out and implement the STEM course in theschool? What are the differences between STEM and the traditional subject-basedlearning?   

Today, let’s walk into the STEM course of Chaoyang KaiwenAcademy.

This year, in the ASA courses of CKWA secondary school,the choice of “iGEM competition” appeared for the first time.

Juicy, the G8 scholarship winner, chose thisextra-curricular course as one of her electives. Since then, every Thursdayafternoon in the eighth class, she will actively participate in the preparationof iGEM with other students of other grades.    

“At this stage, our main task is to consolidate thebasic knowledge of biology. Because iGEM is an academic competition withscientific research projects as its core, it mainly focuses on biology andinvolves interdisciplinary knowledge. The competition will officially start inMarch next year and last until November next year. Before signing up, we needto assign the tasks to different members of the group and complete thediscussion on the research project. After that, we will verify our hypothesis throughmassive search and experimental design.

Therefore, our most important task at this stage is tolearn more biological knowledge and lay a good foundation so that we can carryout biological innovative engineering design and renovation project next year,such as bioenergy, environmental governance, medical testing, etc. Ourinstructors are all experienced science teachers in the secondary schooldepartment, and I’m looking forward to the competition, “Juicyshared with us.     

Rich projects and hardcore teachers are the heavy weaponof CKWA’s STEM program.

When asked if Juicy in Grade 8 could keep pace withother senior students in the iGEM competition preparatory training , sheunraveled the mystery,       

“This year, the school launched the stemproject in the secondary school facing Grade 8 students. G8 students who havebeen selected will be enrolled in stem projects. I am one of them,” saidJuicy. “Students who are selected to enter this project like me will learnscience courses in Grade 9 one year in advance.”     

Thisstem project was a new project launched by Chaoyang Kaiwen Academy secondarydepartment, which aims to find potential students early and provide valuableopportunities for students to study science abroad in the future. Studentsselected to enter the project will enter IGCSE science one year in advance inGrade 8. This not only better prepare for the integration ofIBDPcourses, but also provide a more challenging stage for students with stronginterest in science.        

Beingone step ahead of other schools in the pre-study courses, Chaoyang Kaiwenstudents win more opportunities in science and technology learning.

In the stem week of the primary school last year, Teacher Crystal gave studentsdifferent challenging assignments. For example, students are required to wrapeggs in package of some materials to make sure the eggs can fall from the highair without breaking. Another example is to ask students to stick the stickstogether, and then investigate the bearing capacity of students’ works.”We require that the length of the sticks to be bonded should not exceed30 cm. What impresses me most is the fourth-grade children. The small boardsthat they have can hold up the weight of 15 dictionaries. This surprised me alot, “shared Teacher Crystal.

ForrestHao, a teacher from the secondary school, also led the students to studyphysical and mechanical design, program logic algorithm, overall planningmethod and other subjects through a series of robotics competitions.

ProfessorEdward, a chemistry teacher, is an experienced scientist and has been aprofessor in American universities. Professor Edward specializes in poisons andtoxins, and he is exploring a new area of research, artificial enzymes. Underhis leadership, some students of the school participated in some of his researchwork. He has led junior high school students to publish numerous papers ininternational journals. 

In CKWA’s STEM course, the school integrates the knowledge of various subjects, carriesout project-based teaching, and provides more practical opportunities forstudents to develop their independent thinking ability and improve theircomprehensive ability in the research through first-hand experience.

Forscientific exploration, CKWA teachers and students never stop their pace. Thanks to their efforts, science has become aself-explanatory key word at Chaoyang Kaiwen Academy.       

Thisis the STEM program at CKWA.