STEM stands for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. STEM education benefits students by providing them with all the skills required to set them on their desired career paths. It opens doors and paves the way for them to reach quality jobs with the highest pay. STEM graduates are guaranteed success in their future because they’re being equipped with a variety of tools in their pockets to solve any practical and realistic problems they may encounter. Aside from problem-solving, STEM promotes critical thinking, collaboration, and perseverance. These skills are vital to have as we face the real world. So it’s important this skill set is available to all students to ensure they have a quality life ahead of them.
The aim now is to promote it in schools in order for every student to have the right to STEM education. To make this easily accessible, PASCO scientific provides science lab equipment and teacher resources to connect students directly to science and STEM concepts. This also ensures students get the best classroom technology for physics and engineering, as well.
Here are a few tips on how to promote STEM education in your school:
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Order STEM books
Reading is already known to influence children in a positive light. Stories shape children’s mindsets, giving them a cultural understanding of the world and helping them obtain certain perspectives. Reading is, perhaps, the most fundamental source for a child’s development. So STEM should be introduced the same way. Consider reading one or two STEM books a week to expand your classroom’s mindset and help your learners become knowledgeable regarding the subject.
Download apps
With the ever-growing technology of today, STEM is determined to make STEM activities easily accessible to all schools. You can download the apps for your classroom to engage in the resourceful and educational challenges. Instead of squeezing everything into your timetable, a simple 15-minute STEM challenge a week should suffice. This will allow children access to these apps and will encourage them to collaborate together. After all, education is just a click away!
Bring in a STEM expert
Rather than having teachers take on any extra work, delegate the workload by asking a STEM expert to volunteer for the day and to come to speak with students. You’ll be surprised to know how many people have some STEM experience and are willing to come in to teach a workshop or schedule a Q&A session. You could even distribute out letters to all students’ parents, as they may have some knowledge in the field and would be willing to impart wisdom.
Plan a PBL opportunity
Project-based learning holds significant importance in education. This provides children with an extended time to respond to issues set within a real-world context. This approach shares a remarkable likeness to STEM education as it encourages children to collaborate together, discuss solutions and bounce ideas off of one another; overall, creating the element of teamwork and conflict resolution. Planning a PBL opportunity in classrooms will help you introduce STEM activities and have the children fully engaged in their education and ready to participate.
Start young
This may not be feasible in all schools, but if you have the chance, it’s best to introduce STEM education to children as early as possible. Younger children find it easier to take an interest in STEM activities. It’s vital to develop their interests in science at an early age to encourage their imaginations and creative capabilities. Even though the above mentioned are excellent methods for attracting the interest of older students, the younger they are the easier it will be. Children who are exposed to science at an early age are more likely going to stick with it as they get older.
Participate in training
If you plan to have STEM experienced guest speakers perform a Q&A session or a workshop, teachers and parents should take an interest too. The best way to entice students to learn is to showcase the excitement that comes with learning. Once they get an understanding that adults can learn new things too and how it’s never too late to enhance their abilities, students will be more likely to explore it.
STEM education is a part of nearly all careers in which students obtain after they graduate, which is why children need to be inspired by STEM activities. Whether a student delves right into the field of science and technology or not, the skill set they will acquire will benefit them in all areas of their lives and ensure they can handle the real world and make a decent living.
