The teachers asked a really great question during the faculty meeting:
One of the major initiative identified from the Grymes Memorial School 2014 strategic planning was STEM. We put together a task force and here are some of our initial thoughts:
Background
Around 2006 a new term was coined "STEM" to describe an industry need for employees with expertise in Science Technology Engineering and Math. There was a concern by prominent people like Bill Gates that:
Their initial concerns were:
- The United States faces a shortfall of scientists and engineers who can help develop tomorrow’s promising technology.
- STEM education is closely linked with our nation’s economic prosperity in the modern global economy; strong STEM skills are a central element of a well-rounded education and essential to effective citizenship.
- That US students were scoring near the bottom on International Tests in Math and Science.
- Students were not pursing STEM related college degrees.
- The majority of graduate students studying STEM related degrees in the US were foreigners.
- There was a projection of a growth in STEM related jobs.
- STEM jobs are viewed as good paying white collar jobs.
- The US had lots of STEM related job openings that were being filled by foreigners.
Their initial concerns were:
- STEM education in high school, which fails to prepare students for the rigors of science and math at the college level.
- Lack of qualified STEM teachers.
What is it?
- STEM stands for Science Technology Engineering and Math
- STEAM stands for Science Technology Engineering Arts and Math
- STREAM stands for Science Technology Reading Engineering Arts and Math
What is STEM?
STEM is a grouping of similar disciplines, and a way of identifying a strategy and approach to education and link to careers. (source)
STEM is a grouping of similar disciplines, and a way of identifying a strategy and approach to education and link to careers. (source)
Why add Arts to STEM and evolve it to STEAM?
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Why did STEAM evolve into STREAM?
- STREAM initiatives are programs that integrate Hands-on Science and Literacy Integration: It combines research based model for science instruction with an instructional scaffolding approach to writing, vocabulary, discussion, and data organization. It building reading, writing and math skills within a scientific context. (source)
- Science, technology, and math require different "reading skills" and "vocabulary".
- Interesting note: The average science course requires a student to learn the same number of new vocabulary words he or she would learn in a foreign-language course. (source)
- Communications skills are critically important to all students.
Benefits of STrEaM
The benefits of STrEaM are beneficial to all students, not just one's going into STEM careers.
You could argue that these are the same skills you need to be a good writer. When you research a topic for a history paper, the research process is similar to the scientific process. Every class at school should be teaching these skills. The beauty of learning them when "programming" let's say, is the fact that it is "not" subjective. Students get immediate feedback if they haven't done it right. Sometimes it's harder to see in an English assignment.
The benefits of STrEaM are beneficial to all students, not just one's going into STEM careers.
- critical thinking skills
- higher order thinking
- problem solving
- logic
- scientific process
You could argue that these are the same skills you need to be a good writer. When you research a topic for a history paper, the research process is similar to the scientific process. Every class at school should be teaching these skills. The beauty of learning them when "programming" let's say, is the fact that it is "not" subjective. Students get immediate feedback if they haven't done it right. Sometimes it's harder to see in an English assignment.
What's the Difference Between STEM and STrEaM
Here is a "facetious" example of something that was "engineered" vs something that was "designed"
Here is a "facetious" example of something that was "engineered" vs something that was "designed"
New Initiatives
Initially the STEM initiatives were centered around getting schools to do what they were already supposed to do, but doing it well. This included developing a pool of qualified STEM educators (hiring, education requirements, professional development, increased wages, metrics to test teacher effectiveness, etc.) and creating technology themed schools, etc, but along with these ideas, new ideas emerged. Here are some that have gotten a lot of interest:
Initially the STEM initiatives were centered around getting schools to do what they were already supposed to do, but doing it well. This included developing a pool of qualified STEM educators (hiring, education requirements, professional development, increased wages, metrics to test teacher effectiveness, etc.) and creating technology themed schools, etc, but along with these ideas, new ideas emerged. Here are some that have gotten a lot of interest:
- Cross Curricular projects
- Computer Programming
- Maker Space/Do It Yourself
- Robotics
- Micro-controller projects
What does STrEaM look like?
Two very popular Grymes science projects that exemplify STrEaM are the 4th grade Simple Machines project and the school Science Fair project. Here is another Grymes science example on the Persistence of Vision. In 7th grade science class the students learn about the persistence of vision. In English class they learn about the history of movies, how they work, and they make a movie. In computer class the students learn about animation and then they make one.
Currently our students learn about sound waves in science class. The curriculum could be strengthened if we also did a project in computer class by changing the way our voice sounds using an audio editor like audacity and the students made musical instruments in music class to demonstrate the same concepts.
The Mathematics of Synergy
There are many benefits to cross curricular integration. Done well and intentionally, lessons can have much more impact on students learning. Here's a real life example of our first grade Rainforest Research project.
There are many benefits to cross curricular integration. Done well and intentionally, lessons can have much more impact on students learning. Here's a real life example of our first grade Rainforest Research project.
How does STrEaM affect Grymes?
- It's important to remember that we are a K-8 school. It is not our intent to direct our students to a specific career or field. Our goal is to give students the fundamentals they will need to succeed no matter what direction they choose. We should have a curriculum that broadens their choices when they get to high school, not limits them. We need to remember our mission which is to nurture character, build thinkers, cultivate creativity, foster community, and launch learners.
- It's also important to remember that more than one thing can be important at the same time. Just because STEM is getting a lot of press, doesn't mean that the arts, reading and writing, physical education, history, character building, public speaking, etc. aren't important. Students of today, who are being prepared for the unknown jobs of tomorrow, need to be fluent in all of the core subjects. (source)
- What it means is making sure our program is as strong as possible, both individually (math, science, and technology) and in aggregate (integrate where it makes sense). We have a finite amount of time with students and we must make the best use of that time. We need to look at STrEaM research, best practices, and other teacher's experiences, etc. and implement what makes sense in our curriculum.
- That said, we should evaluate each individual subject for continuous improvement- Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math curriculum and make sure each curriculum is the best it can be
- Ensure we have highly qualified educators (hiring, education, experience, professional development, time, pay, etc.)
- Evaluate where we have holes (add programming, maker movement, etc. and determine how we can add them to our program. It might mean doing a "pilot" project within our existing class and/or introduce it as an extra-curricular activity.
- Where can we collaborate to build stronger cross curricular lessons? Look for projects that we can use as "proof of concepts" to understand the intricacies of interdisciplinary projects and their benefits. For example: How can we make time to collaborate? When we collaborate, we need to make sure "The whole is greater than the sum of its parts" (Aristotle). It's not for show. It takes a lot of time and effort and we need to make sure it's best for the students.
- Student Centered Approach - Sometimes it’s hard for teacher’s to coordinate cross curricular activities. Another approach is to make it student centered. When a teacher assigns a project, students are asked to extend the project to include other subjects.Students and/or groups of students will likely extend the project based on their own interests (math, science, art, music, etc.). When sharing their projects with the class, other students will learn something from a different perspective.
- Other skills that should be considered are: Inquiry based learning (curiosity), solving real world problems (authentic), experiential/hands-on, innovation, collaboration, foster grit (perseverance, persistence) etc.
- Other STrEaM initiatives to consider: Computer programming, Maker Space/Do It Yourself, Robotics, Micro Controller projects
- Make more time - Consider moving some projects from Computer class into the classroom to make time for more “technology” related lessons like computer programming, etc. Run after school programs like STEM Club and Robotics Club (this doesn’t include everyone).
- Misc things: exposing students to STEM occupations and prominent people in the field, etc.