My Observation in STEM Education

STEM education is the integration of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. There is often a misconception that each subject is a separate entity; however, STEM is a paradigm of crosscutting concepts that can be applied in the real world to solve problems. The elements of STEM education that I’ve seen thus far in my internship is that science, technology, and math are integrated throughout each discipline. For example, my biology students are currently learning math statistical concepts like sum, mean, standard deviation, and graphing. They are able to use their iPads during class to do research and use math apps to assist in solving problems. Statistical analysis is an important skill for students to know for experiment development and for interpretation of results. I haven’t seen engineering concepts yet, but there are after school programs available for students to design and build drones.

As a student teacher, I have been fortunate to observe a variety of teaching practices not only with my mentor, but with other teachers in the science department. The pedagogical approaches I’ve seen so far are inquiry and problem-based learning. The science department collaborates with each other frequently and because of the close community connection with each other, they have developed a good curriculum that will allow students to improve their critical thinking skills, problem solving skills, and science skills. They have also developed opportunities for students to take what they learn in the classroom and bring it to life. As I mentioned earlier, there is a drone club in which students build drones from scratch and fly it. In terms of assessment, my mentor incorporates various platforms and formats which include Socrative, Quizlet, Jeopardy, paper quizzes, and alternative assessments. While I’ve observed many positives, I’ve also observed STEM misconceptions particularly with religion. I’ve noticed that evolution is not in the curriculum, but in place of that, students talk about ethics and the impact STEM has on the global economy.

About every week to every other week, students have lab time. We have an ongoing Monarch Butterfly Lab in my freshman biology classes so students can observe the lifecycle and make both qualitative and quantitative observations. In my zoology class, students will learn about the 9 phyla and will be able to compare and contrast the complexity of each organism. My mentor and I realize that the material can be dry for the students so we are going to try to incorporate cuisine with each phyla and have already coordinated with the school chef to come up with recipes. When we go over mollusks, students will be able to dissect squid and then make calamari. Incorporating cuisine and allowing students to help make the food will help promote engagement and make learning fun. On a global economy standpoint, students tie real world issues to concepts learned in class. My zoology class presented on the phylum cnidaria and its uses in goods, trading, and cuisine. One student presented on coral and the economic benefit with jewelry as the prices can vary all the way up to $20,000. Having students research these types of things help them realize that science is all around them and it has an impact on society.

I think my school setting has a good STEM education program in place, but I’ve noticed literacy gaps with my freshmen. Students are in tune with technology, but I think they depend on it too much especially when it comes to Google. In the work I’ve graded, I’ve noticed many spelling errors with basic grammar like knowing the difference between “there, their, and they’re” and not knowing the “i before e except after c” rule. My school is considered college prep and I’m not seeing that on a literacy level, and I think STEM and literacy are treated as separate entities right now. I think integrative STEM education and improving literacy will be ways to improve STEM educational opportunities. Freshmen need to be introduced to informational text early on and be taught how to read in the technical way as that’s an important skill to have especially in STEM. There are many summer activities for students like robotics camp so I think those are excellent design based approaches to intrigue student interest, but having more of that during the school year to integrate more of STEM is important. Overall, I’m really happy with my school placement and I see a lot of the positives in STEM education. I look forward to learning more from my mentor and incorporating the pedagogies I’ve learned so far to create my own STEM teaching style.