STEM fields are among the most critical drive towards the socio-economic development of any country and in preparing their citizens to tackle the challenges of the 21st century.
With a high percentage of young persons among their populations, Africa and Latin America, in particular, have significant potential to benefit from advancements in STEM. However, according to the African Development Bank, less than 25% of African higher education students pursue a career in STEM, and both regions struggle to provide quality STEM education at scale.
To support STEM education in these regions, PhET has recruited 32 Fellows—15 from Africa, and 17 from Latin America—who are teacher leaders in secondary or tertiary education. Together, these Fellows will promote robust teacher communities and advance students’ access to quality STEM education, reaching at least 1,600 teachers across the two continents. In Africa, Fellows originate from Botswana, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, The Gambia, Uganda, and Zambia. In addition to working in their own communities, these Fellows will work with each other across the region and the globe.
Together, they will accelerate the uptake of research-based math and science teaching and learning approaches through PhET simulations, build a community of local STEM experts, and reach thousands of students—giving rise to future generations of STEM professionals.
PhET Interactive Simulations provides free access to a collection of over 150 engaging, game-like computer simulations to support STEM learning. They are designed for students to learn through play and exploration—which is how they actually learn—emphasizing the connections between real-life phenomena and the underlying science. These simulations have proven to be effective for a wide range of students—even for those without access to physical laboratories. They can be run online, or downloaded to play offline for learners and teachers worldwide. They are available in 101 languages, including Amharic, Arabic, Chichewa, Dutch, French, German, Hausa, Igbo, Kinyarwanda, Portuguese, Sotho, Spanish, Swahili, Tswana, Twi, and Yoruba.
Celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, the PhET project has delivered over 1.1 billion simulations worldwide, with more than 250 million online simulation sessions taking place on average per year. With the rise of remote learning due to COVID-19, PhET has more than doubled in usage since 2020. In Africa and Latin America, the usage growth has been even larger, increasing 5 times across Africa and over 10 times across Latin America. Collectively, the regions have run PhET simulations online over 64 million times since March 2020, not including any offline use.
