राष्ट्रीय शिक्षक दिवस / Teachers' Day Celebration 2026

Teacher Training Workshop on Hands-on STEM Education Aligned with NEP 2020

On September 4, 2026, at Pimpri Chinchwad Science Park — with the workshop participants.

On September 4, 2026, Kalpakghar – Community Tinkering Centre, in collaboration with Vigyan Bharati – Vidyarthi Vigyan Manthan (VVM), organized a one-day, in-person Teacher Training Workshop on Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Education through Hands-on Activities Aligned with NEP 2020 at Pimpri Chinchwad Science Park.

The workshop was designed for school teachers teaching Classes 6–10, with a focus on strengthening experiential and activity-based learning in the classroom. It provided teachers with an opportunity to explore innovative approaches to STEM education and understand how hands-on activities can make scientific concepts more engaging, practical, and meaningful for students.

Event Details and Schedule [September 04, 2026]

• 09:30 AM – 10:00 AM: Registration & Tea

• 10:00 AM – 10:15 AM: Introduction to the Workshop

• 10:15 AM – 01:00 PM: Hands-on STEM Activity

• 01:00 PM – 02:00 PM: Lunch & Hands-on Tinkering

• 02:00 PM – 03:30 PM: Science Park Visit & Tarangan Show

• 03:30 PM – 04:00 PM: Tea Break

• 04:00 PM – 05:00 PM: Certificate Distribution & Teachers' Felicitation

During the workshop, participants worked with a variety of raw materials and resources to design and create hands-on STEM activities. Through practical exploration, experimentation, and collaborative learning, teachers developed activities that can be adapted as classroom resources and integrated into their regular teaching practices.

The workshop emphasized the importance of learning by doing, encouraging teachers to move beyond traditional classroom instruction and create opportunities for students to observe, question, experiment, design, and solve problems. Such approaches are closely aligned with the vision of NEP 2020, which promotes experiential learning, critical thinking, creativity, and multidisciplinary education.

Teacher Participants Engaged in STEM Hands-On Activities

Objective of Teachers’ Training Workshop on STEM Education 

- Training of proactive school teachers using hands-on activities
- To enable teachers to use STEM hands-on activities for classroom teaching
- To provide hands-on resources to teachers for innovative teaching practices
- To develop a STEM hands-on programme for Schools across Maharashtra
- Introduction to opportunities for school students in basic Sciences

STEM Activities Using Low-Cost Materials conducted during the workshop

• Magnetism: Visualizing magnetic lines of forces, Bipolar nature of magnets, Magnetic Levitation, straw and magnet, attraction and repulsion
• Geometrical shapes: Different geometrical shapes using a newspaper cap
• Shapes and patterns: Using four pieces of card sheet to make different shapes like a fat-T, a seven, an arrow, and an anchor
• Human body systems, Cell structure in biology: Structures, functions, and details of various parts of the human respiratory system, leaf cube, and brain cap
• Dissection puzzle - Area and Perimeter: With the help of 7 pieces (Tangrams), make different shapes like fish, human, duck, and more shapes, Tangram puzzle, Square to triangle (Perimeter of area)
• Quadratic Equations: With the help of four pieces of cardboard, we easily solve the Visual proof of (a+b)²
• Newton’s Laws of Motion, object trajectory: Understanding Laws of motion with balloons
• Light - Sound wave (Transverse and Longitudinal waves): Propagation of wave, Wavelength, amplitude, frequency, pitch, effect of density of material in propagation, Vibrating Air column

To enable the teachers to perform the STEM activities after the workshop, an online repository of hands-on activities was shared with the teachers.
https://sites.google.com/acads.iiserpune.ac.in/iiserp-scienceactivitycentre

Introduction to the Arduino Science Journal App

https://www.arduino.cc/education/science-journal/

Participants were introduced to the Arduino Science Journal app, a free and open-source mobile application available for Android and iOS devices. The app makes it easy for teachers to record, store, and export data, create graphs, take notes, and capture quality photographs during scientific investigations.

Through the hands-on session, participants explored how the app can help students document experiments, organize observations, analyze results, and present their findings in a way that mirrors the practices of real scientists—going straight to the fun part of doing science!

Light: https://science-journal.arduino.cc/sj/module/light

Sound: https://science-journal.arduino.cc/sj/module/sound

Electricity: https://science-journal.arduino.cc/sj/module/electricity

Motion: https://science-journal.arduino.cc/sj/module/motion

STEM Workshop Outcomes

The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 emphasizes that school learning should be experiential learning. To address this challenge, our workshops are intended to be a dynamic, enjoyable, and hands-on activity-based experience. We emphasize learning through group projects and cooperative learning. Our sessions are also tailored to the local teachers’ needs in terms of language and understanding.

Teachers’ Appreciation Ceremony

A token of appreciation was presented to teachers who actively contributed to enhancing the quality of STEM hands-on education in school classrooms through meaningful participation in professional development programmes conducted by Kalpakghar – Community Tinkering Centre at Pimpri Chinchwad Science Park.

The ceremony recognized their continued commitment, active engagement, and valuable contribution towards fostering experiential and hands-on STEM learning among students.

List of Teachers Awarded Appreciation Certificates [Period of Participation: 2023–2026]

• Balasaheb Shivram Waghmare - Shri.Shivajirao D.Adhalrao Patil Vidyalaya Landewadi
• Sanap Vaijinath Bhivajirao - Bhausaheb Raut Vidyalaya, Ghotwadi ta. Khed Dist. Pune 
• Dr.Vaishali Sunil Zagade- Bhausaheb Raut Vidyalaya, Ghotwadi ta. Khed Dist. Pune 
• Ms. Smita Kasar - Vidyanand Bhavan High School Nigdi
• Dinesh Bisen- Yashwantrao Chavan Primary and High Shcool PCMC Thergoan
• Rajesh Chaturvedi - Yashwantrao Chavan Primary and High Shcool PCMC Thergoan
• Jayashri Ganesh Raut - PCMC Public School Bhatnagar, Pimpri
• Rohidas Ajinath Ekad - Rashtriya Vidyalaya Kurkundi Tal Khed Dist Pune 
• Sunil Ganpat Shinde - Govt. Sec. Asharam School Tokawde
• Vaishali Pankaj Wagh - G.M.I. Girls School Khadki Pune
• Savita Borude - Shri sant muktabai madhymik vidyalay Solu.
• Shilpa J. Bhagwat - Bharat English School and junior college 
• Angad Shinde - Shriram Madhynik Vidyalaya Bhosari
• Bhagwan Pandekar - Laxmanrao Apte Prashala Pune 4 
• Virendra Kumar Rai - Smt Godavari Hindi Vidyalay and Junior College Chinchwad Pune 19 
• Parag Tambe: The Orchid School, Baner – Mhalunge Road, Baner, Pune: 411045
• Ms. Smita Patil: Shaskiya Niwashi Shala Yerwada, Pune, Maharashtra, 411006
• Sachin Dilip Karkud: ZPPS Koyali Punervasan, Shikrapur, Maharashtra 412208
• Arati ram Chavan: Shahir Sankalp High School, Kolhapur
• Manjiri Mahesh Patil: Rani Laxmibai Mulinchi Sainiki Shala, Pune, Maharashtra 412115
• Supriya Ganesh Nadgouda: Jai Hind High School, Pimpri-Chinchwad, Maharashtra 411017

Teachers Awarded Appreciation Certificates

Kalpakghar - Community Tinkering Centre is initiated by Smt. Indrani Balan Science Activity Centre, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Pune, in collaboration with Pimpri Chinchwad Science Park, supported by Tata Technologies Ltd. under its Corporate Social Responsibility initiative.

The entire workshop was sponsored by Tata Technologies Limited under its CSR STEM initiative program. There were no financial implications for the schools or the participating teachers.

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