STEM Learning — A strong and effective amalgamation of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics is said to be the future of how education evolves into an experience driven venture. From a ‘Do-it-yourself’ (DIY) approach to projects that students can work upon as a team which shall directly impact their surroundings, STEM shows a very promising approach towards understanding and applying the principles of Science and Mathematics using Technology and Engineering to solve problems.
The conceptualization of STEM learning, first brought about by the U.S. Government under the Obama Administration, was to create critical thinkers, problem solvers, and innovators for the rising demands of jobs in the same fields. According to the 2018 STEM Education Report Card by the Washington Student Achievement Council, the projections for the years 2020 — 2025 show that:
- Out of the total annual job openings in Computer Science, only 35.7% will be filled by graduates that will be prepared for the jobs. The remaining 64.3% will go unfilled.
- Out of the total annual job openings in Engineering, 85.7% will be filled by graduates that will be prepared for the jobs. The remaining 14.3% will go unfilled.
With this in mind, we need to realise how critical it is to incorporate STEM in our academic systems; and educators play a critical role in this process. However, administration level policy changes take their own sweet time to come in effect in major societies. This most certainly implies that the educators must take up their own mantles of superbness to make a difference. And hence we come to the question: What is the role of an educator in STEM?
The very foundational changes in any education framework begin with the teachers that inhabit it. From very subtle to major changes can be done so that a student is set up on a path towards being a better human resource and ultimately a good citizen. An educator almost always notices how students display a strong will to work in STEM based sectors around the age of eight. This will and spirit, combined with passion, decreases at an alarming rate as they move from middle to high school and high school to graduate courses. The reason of losing interest is clear: The current system fails to connect how science, technology, mathematics, and engineering go hand in hand, and are interlinked. This interdependence is seldom explored which is quite contrary to the problems the students face when they meet real world challenges.
According to a 2017 survey of U.S. adults conducted by the Pew Research Center, people have the following concerns about the teaching style and curriculum:
Hence, majority of the responsibility falls on the mentor to take strong and calculated steps to strive to bridge this gap of lack of inter-connectivity of subjects by introducing a framework of technology and DIY projects to different stages of education (namely, elementary, middle, and high schools) with different levels of focus and rigor.
Educators have a major role in enabling STEM. One such way of describing how they can help bring reform is by changing mindsets towards teaching and learning as a whole. A teacher has the power to tangibly change how her students and their parents look at education. By helping children realise that cramming is not going to help them in the long run, the educator can help them realise that it takes a lot more than rote learning and scoring in tests to be a resourceful human in the future. This, on their part, requires the effort to create better learning environments. For this,they must create an atmosphere of creativity in their classes. Asking students to build things that help them tangibly feel what they just learnt in an hour long theory session will make the knowledge stick to them for a long, long time. The emphasis on hands-on experience thus needs to gain its share of attention in an education ecosystem. The use of technology hence comes in to the picture.
For the conception of how learning can be made fun and practically do-able, the teacher must resort to the use of cutting edge technology. From guiding students in creating projects to helping them spark innovation, this technology would enable them to update their curriculum to today’s inventions and innovations. Additionally, all concepts taught in class, which are in line with the academic curriculum, can be better understood by the students when they see them happen before their eyes. This would help them develop a necessary intuition which makes them more familiar with the subject.
However, in order to accomplish this task, which in itself is nothing short of being herculean, the teachers must be well versed with the technology and efficaciously incorporate STEM in the already existing curriculum. For this, they require the support of and encouragement from different institutions such as colleges and universities, from companies, and from the government itself. Their assistance combined with the teachers’ capabilities would reap benefits that’ll be here to stay for years to come.
Technology is just a tool. In terms of getting the kids working together and motivating them, the teacher is the most important.
-Bill Gates
In a Nutshell
Technology and education in the coming era shall bring about a revolution in how we learn and perceive the reality for our own convenience. While the world awakens to a new generation, the dawn of technological growth kindles its soft light in the eyes of the young. It is high time we grasped the opportunities that arrive with it. And it will be possible only with the help of our torch bearers — our educators.
