Civic Action with Science, Tech, Engineering, and Math

Some educators picture civic engagement as the bailiwick of social science class. OK, but civic engagement is too important a mission for American education to silo it, the way so many efforts are consigned in our schools. Civic action is relevant in any subject, and any grade level. STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) classes are especially ripe for it, since so many aspects of these subjects apply directly to the real world. Don’t forget, it was Isaac Newton who long ago used differential calculus to show how a projectile could be launched into orbit around the earth. And STEM teachers usually get it, that real-world applications create the most engagement for students.

However, it can be a challenge for STEM students and teachers to identify problems especially meaningful for the kids to tackle. A thoughtful guide to help with this is Anne Jolly’s “The Search for Real World STEM Problems,” in the July 25th online edition of Education Week — Teacher. Jolly is a virtual community organizer for CTQ and a member of the CTQ Collaboratory. Jolly taught middle-school science for 16 years in Mobile County, Ala. schools and is a former Alabama State Teacher of the Year. She is the author of STEM by Design (Routledge) .

Jolly emphasizes that meaningful STEM problems should be

  • Real problems, not just “as if” situations
  • Relatable for students — especially effective if significant in their own lives or communities
  • Locally solvable, rather than something global
  • Open to multiple possible solutions, rather than just one “right answer”
  • Solved through an engineering design process that draws on multiple subjects.

As you’ll see, she provides a healthy list of web resources — issues, activities, curriculum units. I would emphasize that students themselves can look into these, rather than depending on the teacher to do all the work. After all, the more of a project we educators take care of, the less that is left for the student to learn from. The process of identifying important issues is itself a research skill our students need to develop. True, many of the curriculum units in the resources are pre-designed, rather than based on students’ own identification and pursuit of issues. However, browsing the websites will raise students’ own questions and concerns, helping them to choose among possibilities they realize are important in their lives.

As Jolly asserts, teachers will get to “watch their amazement as they realize what [the students] are learning in class actually has real-world applications.” I would add that young people become even more engaged when they see how their efforts can make a real difference in the world around them.

It’s this disposition toward active and responsible citizenship that our country needs for schools — and STEM programs are great for inspiring these dispositions to develop.

Civic Action in Schools

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