From February 8 to May 26, the Science and Education Innovation Center (ZIIC) of the Liepāja Municipality Education Department implemented the interest education program “Digital production”. Since 2022, the content of the program has been developed as part of the EEA/N project “Development of the Innovation Center in the Liepāja city”, with the participation of cooperation partners from the University of Liepāja and the Jaermuseet (Jærmuseet) regional museum, with the aim of promoting the development of knowledge and students’ career choice in one of the STEM or environmental fields of science.
Participation in the program was offered to all schools in Latvia, which were provided with transport compensation for travel to Liepāja with the financial support of the Project. In this semester, 206 students in the age group from 11 to 18 years applied for the program, of which 164 students completed all the lessons of the program. The program was learned by students from such Latvian cities as Ogre, Cīrava parish, Jelgava and also Liepāja.
The “Digital Manufacturing” program includes five lessons – “Project Management Principles and Practices”, “2D Computer-Aided Design”, “3D Computer-Aided Design”, “Printed Circuit Board Assembly” and “Demonstrations of the Equipment”. During the classes, the students got hands-on experience with various digital manufacturing equipment, such as a small CNC milling machine, a laser cutter and a vacuum forming machine, learned how to create digital designs in programs such as Tinkercad and Inkscape, and also learned soldering skills. It is the practical operation that has been the main emphasis in the implementation of the program. Promoting young people’s ability to use digital production equipment will broaden their horizons, showing that choosing a career in STEM fields is a sustainable choice, considering the trends in the world and the demand for specialists both in Latvia and Europe.
Līga Bužere, the teacher of the 5th grade of the Ogre center elementary school, shared thoughts about her experience in the program: “It must be admitted that, when applying for the class, there was uncertainty as to whether the 5th grade students would understand STEM, cope with the tasks of the lessons, or whether it would not be too complicated for young people of this age. However, the well-thought-out program, interesting and well-planned lessons under the guidance of professionals convinced me that there was no reason to worry. The lessons were attractive, informative and based on practical activities. We definitely recommend such classes to every student, because it is an opportunity to learn about the operation of various devices (which is impossible to provide in a general education school), try them practically and make a useful and practical final product for yourself, thus gaining knowledge for everyday life, and possibly a direction for the future for choosing a career”.
On the other hand, the 5th grade students of the Ogre center elementary school appreciated both the inspiring work of the pedagogues and the opportunity to work with modern equipment in modern space. Student feedback after learning the entire program: “I learned how to create my own website.” “I now know how to solder better and more correctly.” “I am happy for a self-designed and printed fabric bag.” “I learned what STEM is and the knowledge will definitely be useful in the future.” “I had a great time with my classmates and learned a lot of new things”.
The students emphasized that if they had the opportunity, they would definitely like to attend such programs in the future, learning each of the lesson topics in more depth. During the implementation of the program, one of the basic tasks has been the continuous generation of ideas and the interdisciplinary linking of various subjects and topics, for example in the development of practical scientific research works. During the implementation of the program, the students came up with various ideas for the application of the learned technologies, for example:
1. A water bottle with a sensor that reminds you when it’s time to drink water.
2. Indicator for the flowerpot to remind when it is time to water houseplants.
3. Animal feed dispenser.
4. Ice containers for making refreshing summer drinks.
5. Automated scoring system of goals for various sports.
In the academic year 2023/2024, the ZIIC Technology Co-creation Space will resume its work, giving students the opportunity to develop their skills in the world of digital production. We invite you to follow the latest information on the ZIIC website https://www.ziic.liepaja.edu.lv/.
The interest education program “Digital Production” has been developed within the project “Development of the Innovation Centre in Liepaja City” that is funded by the EEA/N grant programme “Research and Education”. Its total cost is EUR 986 049.00, of which EUR 754 327.40 is co-financing of the Norwegian Financial Instrument, EUR 133 116.60 is co-financed by the State budget of Latvia and EUR 98 605.00 by Liepaja City Municipality.
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