The term STEM Education is an already internationally famous topic, yet so many who are actively involved within the education sector understand what it means. This can range from parents who have enrolled their children into a new school based on good recommendations or a newly graduated student applying for their first job.
Lets us begin this journey into understanding what STEM Education is by considering ourselves as a health conscious customer inside our favorite store. Each isle in the store would represent a different style of education being offered by various institutions. As we walk we can see the labels of each brand of education we understand based on historical standards.
This is where the scare comes along we see this new isle called STEM which we have heard all these wonderful things about from friends, family and the news.
At this point many who have been hard set in their habits would simply ignore the prospect of something new, while the health conscious few would decide to take a stroll down this isle and see what it has to offer.
WHAT DOES STEM EDUCATION MEAN
STEM Education as its surface level is an acronym which stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math.
The STEM curriculum is based around the four above mentioned disciplines, the teaching method is completed in a interdisciplinary way. This is the chosen method, as apposed to the generic approach of teaching each discipline separately, by doing so the education provided is more comprehensive with the core learning blocks based on real-world examples.
The key focus areas of the STEM curriculum intend to build the following skills within its learners
- problem solving skills
- promoting creativity
- critical analysis
- development of teamwork skills
- independent thinking
- communication
- digital literacy
WHY IS STEM IMPORTANT
The keys components of STEM is the power of integration. As mentioned above the concept of teaching subjects as over lapping fields, creates a well rounded and solid foundation. Lesson within the classroom environment are often taught on a experiment based approach, showing real world examples. This in itself is extremely powerful as it prepares students for the real and not some fictional idea of what happens within the work environment.
STEM in its purest form is that STEM projects real life.
WHAT DOES STEM HOPE TO FIX
The world has been changing at such a rapid rate over the last 5 years, included in these 5 years comes about the serious concerns over job security due to the increasing use of automation which has led to the disappearances of many jobs. These jobs are not totally disappearing but have gone through a significant face lift as a result of technological advances.
This innovation drive, is what is currently creating the driving force for the need of STEM based education. STEM aims to bridge that gap between what is currently being taught in schools and universities and what the world needs.
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