An intense experience at Unicamp, with workshops and scientific initiation internships, has been part of the daily life of 160 high school students, from 41 public schools in the region of Campinas, Limeira and Piracicaba, since Monday (6 ). The activities make up the 18th Science and Art on Vacation Program (CAF), which continues until January 31st and allows young people to get closer to the university environment.
CAF's programming, which is organized by Unicamp's Dean of Research, involves all areas of knowledge. There are 11 workshops, open to the entire group of students, and 38 research internship activities. Of these, four students participate in each laboratory.
For student Júlia Paixão, who took the Electricity and Electrochemistry workshop on Wednesday (8), CAF is a program that is providing an intense experience. “Science and Art in the Holidays is incredible. It gives us the opportunity to think further and also to solve some problems on our own,” she says.
The student, who has already decided to take the 2021 entrance exam with a view to a place in the Pharmaceutical Sciences course at Unicamp, also praises the teachers and monitors for their teaching work, which, for her, makes teaching easier. “At the same time that you see the theory, you already have the laboratory to do practice. And I really like doing the theoretical part because they speak in a clearer and simpler way, so that everyone who is watching can understand.”
According to the teacher responsible for the workshop in which Júlia participated, Fernando Galembeck, the format of the activity provides practical learning, fundamental in teaching science. “Science teaching has to be experimental, no one learns science on the blackboard and in the book, you have to get your hands dirty,” he says. Another contribution is the exercise of what he calls the “intelligent hand”. “This means that the hand does the thing, but it is always done based on the student’s observation”, he explains. It also highlights the fact that the Program also offers learning to Unicamp students who work as monitors. Undergraduates end up improving their pedagogical practices as they help with workshop and laboratory activities.
University for all
During the opening of the CAF, held at the Events Center on Monday (6), the Dean of Research and host of the event, Professor Munir Salomão Skaf, highlighted that one of the fundamental points of the Program is to demystify the view that University is inaccessible to public school students. Furthermore, he explains, CAF makes it possible to establish the importance of sciences and arts in society. “There is a multiplier effect of spreading the importance of scientific knowledge,” he said.
The rector of Unicamp, Marcelo Knobel, also highlighted the importance of students getting to know a public university better, especially in a context of attacks on these educational institutions. “You will find here people dedicated to education and a better future for the country, to improving living conditions for the population and the situation of the planet, with a great concern for the future”, he stated, addressing to students.
At the opening event, the table was also attended by the advisor to the Pro-Rector of Undergraduate Studies (PRG), Mara Mikahil, representing the Pro-Rector, Eliana Amaral; the representative of the Campinas Department of Education, Flávia Guimarães, and professor João Frederico Meyer, who was responsible for the CAF opening lecture, entitled “What counts is the sparkle in the eyes”.
