MIT-RussiaGlobalTeachingLabs2018ProgramReportforRenovaCharityFoundationProgramOverviewEachyear,theMIT-RussiaProgrammatchesundergraduateandgraduateMITstudentsfromalldisciplineswithinternshipsandresearchopportunitiesinRussia.WithinMIT’sflagshipinternationalprogram–MITInternationalScienceandTechnologyInitiatives(MISTI)–wepartnerwithpremiercompanies,universitiesandorganizationstohelpstudentsacquirepivotalprofessionalexperienceandgeneratelife-longconnectionswithRussia.Throughsuchacademicandprofessionalcontacts,wehopetohelpbuildbridgesbetweenRussiaandtheU.S.ThankstothefinancialandorganizationalsupportoftheRenovaCharityFoundationforthe2017-18academicyear,MIT-RussiawasabletopilotMISTI’shigh-impactGlobalTeachingLabs(GTL)programatthreeschoolsinPerm,SkolkovoandYekaterinburg.Establishedin2000,GTLgivesMITstudentstheopportunitytolearnthroughteaching,whilesharingMIT'suniqueapproachtoeducationwithpartnerschoolsaroundtheworld.ThroughGTL,MITstudentsarematchedwithschoolhostsaroundtheworldforthreeweeksinJanuary.Ateachlocation,theypreparetailoredcoursesonscience,technology,engineeringandmath(STEM)subjectsthatcomplementtheschool'scurriculumandhighlightMIT'shands-oneducationalparadigm.InJanuary2018,sixMITstudentstraveledtoRussiatoworkwithover250highandmiddleschoolstudentsonsubjectsrangingfromaerospaceengineering,chemistryandbiologytocomputersecurityandtheoryofknowledge.2018DataMITGTLstudent-instructorsbymajor

MITGTLstudent-instructorsbyclasslevel

- ComputerScienceandEngineering:3 - Senior:1- AeronauticsandAstronautics:1 - Junior:0- BrainandCognitiveSciences:1 - Sophomore:4- Chemistry:1 - Freshman:1

Hostorganizations

NumberofRussianstudentsenrolledinGTL

- SchoolNo.9inPerm - Perm:166- InternationalgymnasiumofSkolkovo - Skolkovo:28- SpecializedEducationalScientificCenter(Sesc)of

UralFederalUniversityinYekaterinburg- Yekaterinburg:74- Total:268*

*BasedonMITstudent-instructors’reportedmaximumnumbers.

GTLWorkshopsAllMIT-RussiaGTLworkshopslastedforthreeweeksinJanuaryandeitherwerepartoftheexistingschoolcurriculaorwereprovidedasindependentextracarricularclasses.SescinYekaterinburgKarenCamacho(Chemistry‘20)KarentaughtKitchenChemistryandOtherBiochemicalApplications,alongwithaminorintroductiontoOrganicChemistry.Mainly,thisinvolvedteachingstudentsaboutvariouschemicalandbiologicalprocessesandhowtheyapplytotheprocessofmakingandeatingcertainfoods.Karencoveredlessonsonproteins,oilsandfats,carbohydrates,nucleicacids,bread,icecream,chocolate,meringues,cheeseandbutter.Throughvariousothertopicsandexperiments,Karenhelpedstudentsvisualizetheoreticalconceptsinchemistry.RaydenChia(ComputerScience’20)RaydentaughtanintroductorycourseontheCryptographysub-domainofComputerSecuritytostudentsstudyingMathematicsandInformatics.Topicsincludedclassicalciphers,modernciphers,implementationofcryptographyinmodernsystems,andhowinformationwashiddenbeforetheageofcomputers.Thecourseincludedwrittenandpracticalexercises,culminatinginafinalquiz.

SchoolNo.9inPermPiperSigrest(AeronauticsandAstronautics’18)Pipersharedherpassionforairplanesandrocketswithfivegroupsof9th,10thand11thgradestudents.FollowingMIT’smotto“MensetManus”(“MindandHand”),shefocusedherlessonsonhands-onactivities.Thestudentsconductedexperimentstolearnaboutfundamentalconceptsinaerospaceengineering,suchasthermodynamics,forcesofflightandBernoulli’sprinciple.Toconcludethelessons,thestudentsbuiltandlaunchedwaterbottlerockets.Studentsalsopracticedteamworkonsmallteamsoftwoorthreestudentstobuildtheir

waterbottlerockets.ColeBaker(ComputerScienceandEngineering’20)Coletaughttheprinciplesofdynamicprogrammingtostudentsinthe10th,11thand12thgrade.Dynamicprogrammingisacomputersciencetechniqueforsolvingproblemsefficientlybyreusingsolutionsfromearlierinthecomputerprogram.Forinstance,Coledevelopedagameinwhichthestudentisahelicopterthatismovingtotherightwithaconstantspeed.Thescreenisfilledwithcoinsinvariouspositions,andthehelicoptermustbemovedupordowntomaximizethecoinsthatarecollected.Withagameboardthatisverylongandtall,thiscanseemlikeanimpossibletask.Thesolutionistoworkfrombackwardsfromtheendofthegame.InternationalGymnasiumofSkolkovoGabrielleMarvez(BrainandCognitiveSciences’20)GabrielleworkedwithstudentsinIBBiologyinthe10thgrade,IBTheoryofKnowledgeinthe10thand11thgrade,andFirstAidwiththe8thgradestudents.ShepreparedpresentationsfortheseclassesandcoveredmaterialusingKahootgames,ethicsdiscussions,labs,andeducationalvideos.Gabrielleandherstudentsalsodidapolymerasechainreaction(PCR)andgelelectrophoresislabinSkolkovo’sTechnoparkwiththebiologystudents,whichwasmanyofthestudent’sfirsttimeinatruelaboratory.NeerajPrasad(ComputerScienceandEngineering’21)Neerajwasaskedtoteachtrigonometryto10thgraders,followingtheirtextbookandtheIBcurriculum,whichdifferedfromthetraditionalworkshop-basedcurriculumofMISTIGlobalTeachingLabs.Nevertheless,withtrigonometry,hewasabletoteachusinganumberofonlinemodulesandpracticalexercisesthatdemonstratedtheapplicabilityofthesubjectintherealworld.

SelectedPost-GTLTestimonialsfromMITStudents

“IfeelthattheGTLRussiaexperienceisamust-haveforanyoneinterestedinRussianlanguageandculture.Itgivesawarm,intimateinsightintotheRussianwayoflife,allwhilepositivelyimpactingthelivesofbright,youngstudents.Thehostsalsotakegreatcareandconcernforyourwell-being,andtheymakeahugeefforttomakeyourexperienceasengagingaspossible.”

RaydenChiaComputerScience’20

“TheGTLRussiaProgramprovidedmewithanexperienceunlikeanyother.BeingabletoteachstudentsaboutsubjectsI’mpassionateaboutwhilesimultaneouslybeinggiventheopportunitytolearnaboutthecustomsandtraditionsofaforeigncountrywasincredible.”

KarenCamachoChemistry‘20

“GettingtoworkabroadforevenabriefperiodoftimeisanopportunityIhopemorestudentsatMITtakeadvantageofasitopensyourmindtootherculturesandthepossibilityofhavingacareerabroadaftergraduation.”

GabrielleMarvez*BrainandCognitiveSciences’20

“IcouldseetheimpactthatImadetoo–mystudentswereincrediblyexcitedtobetaughtbyMITstudents.Iprovidedthemanavenuetoadifferentculture,andtheinsightandpossibilitytocontinuetheirschoolingintheUS.”

NeerajPrasadComputerScienceandEngineering’21

SelectedPost-GTLTestimonialsfromHostSchools

“Thestudentsbroughtheretheoutstandingunderstandingoftheirsubjectsandgotkidsinterested.Theyweredefinitelyapositiveasset.”

MansurSakhbetdinovHeadofSciencesDepartmentatSkolkovoGymnasium

*GabrielleMarvezisreturningtoRussiainsummer2018tointernatSkoltechthroughtheMIT-Russiainternshipprogram.

“Boththestudentsandteachersgotthechancetoadoptasharelearningandteachingpractices.The[school]studentswereintroducedtotheMITcultureandtheperspectivesofenrollingatMITinthefuture.Andculturalexchangealwaysdoesbroadeneveryone'shorizons.”

AnastasiaMarilovtsevaHeadofPublicRelationsatSkolkovoGymnasium

“Itwasabigchallengefortheschoolbutatthesametime-thegreatopportunityforstudentsandteachersforcollaboration,communicationandexchange.StudentsfromAlexanderPushkinSchoolweresohappytohavesuchinteractiveandinterestingclasseswithMITstudents.Everybodyisgratefulanddoesappreciateit.”

MariiaOkulovaDeputyHeadofSchoolNo.9inPerm

LinksandFurtherReferencesPiperSigrest’sblogaboutherGTLRussiaexperienceinPerm:https://russiagtl.weebly.com/PiperSigrest’sone-minutevideoaboutherGTLRussiaexperience(submittedtotheMISTIvideocontest):https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2BEMSOQ4oYPhotosofKarenCamacho’sandRaydenChia’sclassesinYekaterinburg:https://yadi.sk/d/ppTLPEbP3RZzkLNewsarticleaboutKarenCamacho’sandRaydenChia'sclasses:https://urfu.ru/ru/news/22339/NewsarticleaboutKarenCamacho’sandRaydenChia'sclasses(inprogress):https://urfu.ru/ru/news/22282/ArticleaboutKarenCamacho’sandRaydenChia'smeetingwiththerectoroftheUralFederalUniversity:https://urfu.ru/ru/news/22463/ArticleabouttheendoftheGTLprograminSkolkovo(withquotesfromthehostschool):http://sk.ru/city/gymnasium/b/news/archive/2018/02/09/praktikanty-mit-uspeshno-zavershili-stazhirovku-v-mezhdunarodnoy-gimnazii-skolkovo.aspx