Pupils at Robert Gordon’s College have spent the month of January learning from MIT students Suki Zhang and Lilly Papalia who travelled from Boston to Aberdeen to take part in the annual Global Teaching Labs partnership between RGC and MIT. This year, the MIT students have been working with pupils from age 8 to 18 to share their expertise in robotics, data science, artificial intelligence (AI) and entrepreneurship to showcase how MIT is teaching students to think about problems and build new solutions using technology.
Working across the business studies, computing science and technology departments in the senior school, Suki and Lilly delivered classes and lectures to pupils from P7 to S6 and hosted webinars with younger members of the Junior School. Pupils in Primary 4 to Primary 6 enjoyed learning about how MIT is using AI to find new uses for existing medicines to treat disease, and were amazed and enthused by the possibilities that robotics is bringing to building new generation vehicles and how cities will function in the future.
Mechanical Engineering student Lilly has a specific interest in robotics and entrepreneurship. During her lessons with pupils she explained her passion for engineering is driven by her motivation to solve problems, learn how things work and develop new products. She shared her work developing the ‘Mini Cheetah’, the first ever four legged robot to do a backflip with the capabilities to take on uneven terrain at speed and pick itself back up after being knocked over.
Lilly said: “In the computing department I have had the opportunity to teach a range of age levels. The younger pupils in the P7 classes bring the most enthusiasm, and it is amazing having the chance to help these pupils get excited about computing.
“It’s been exciting to share real world applications of the topics pupils are learning at the College. That is something I wish I had more exposure to before my time at MIT.”
Meanwhile Suki explored the possibilities of artificial intelligence with pupils and drew from her double major degree in Computer Science, Economics, Data Science and Business Analytics.
“Being a student myself, nothing makes me happier than understanding a difficult concept because a teacher has explained it well” says Suki. “I’ve loved working with the pupils to make learning fun and achievable.”
“Teaching the P7 pupils about machine learning and artificial intelligence was a very rewarding experience for me. These are topics I am passionate about, and to see young kids get excited about these topics, is amazing. The pupils were so engaging and curious, and I hope I inspired them to pursue more STEM learning in the future. I was also impressed with the senior pupils who are already thinking about how to navigate complex problems and asking advanced technical questions. My role was to help them problem solve and consider how to present their solution to that problem.”
Responsible for rolling out a zero waste initiative across the MIT campus, Waste Watchers, Suki also met with the Junior Green Beans sustainability group to share her experiences and empower group members to make change.
Suki highlighted: “Meeting the Green Beans was definitely the highlight of my time at RGC. The enthusiasm the pupils had for pushing sustainability at RGC and beyond was so inspiring, and I really learned a lot from them. They are changemakers in the community and I was impressed by the spirit of entrepreneurship that exists within the school. I am excited to see what else they accomplish in the future.”
Robin Macpherson, Head of College said “We have been delighted to have Lilly and Suki join our staff throughout January. They have been fantastic role models encouraging our pupils in both the Junior and Senior School to be brave and ambitious as they shape their future career paths. Their first hand experience in projects that overcome real world problems has been inspiring for our pupils to see how the link between curiosity and innovation can yield results. Transferring the spirit of MIT entrepreneurship to RGC has really expanded the horizons of our pupils and fired up their enthusiasm for the future.”
Learn more about the partnership between Robert Gordon’s College and MIT.