STEM refers to Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. STEM learning penetrates through different parts of our lives. And the reason for this is the interdependence of the world and STEM. As we know, Science is everywhere around us, technology is the reason for our development, engineering tackles the challenges of changing weather and environment, and mathematics is in every activity we perform. By infusing STEM programs in schools, we can give students opportunities to explore the concepts of STEM and grow in the same direction.
Infusing STEM programs in schools require good experience and implementation of different activities. Here are a few ways in which you can include STEM learning in your school.
School Visits
School visits are one of the simplest ways of inculcating professional learning and STEM learning. Visiting different schools are comparatively integrated and more active than the traditional pedagogy of education. There are many schools out there that are worth seeing for children. Also, school visits provide a broad spectrum to students and give them a new experience of learning. The students get much-needed exposure by visiting schools with different learning systems, and hence this helps them stand out of the crowd.
Field Trips
If you are looking for a durable and valuable form of learning through STEM hands-on learning, field trips top the list. Field trips include trips to transportation hubs, museums, tech-related places, energy production facilities, etc. All you have to do is get to know all such places in your town or nearby area and take your students for a visit. Such trips not only turn out as a source of entertainment for students but also gives them an idea of practical learning. The trip guides, activity sheets, educator guides, and projects given at several trips help them understand the ways in which theoretical knowledge can be applied in life.
Maker Time
Reserving long blocks of time for performing and focusing on various activities is another way of including STEM learning in the schools. Apart from the integration of STEM in the core curriculum of the schools, many education institutes focus on maker time activities. Here the schools plan on focusing different time slots or one whole day of the week on a particular task that will give students a new experience. This leads to an authentic engagement around STEM topics and therefore is quite beneficial for students.
Makerspace
If your students are willing to create something on their own, then thinking of developing a maker space is the best thing to go for. STEM activities for kids include building a space for the students for their creations, such as having a space for sewing machines, recording studios, 3D printers, or any such tool that will give rise to students’ urge to create something new, something on their own.
Engineering Curriculum
Installing an engineering curriculum in schools is the need of the hour. The perfectly made STEM curriculum offers a launch curriculum for elementary learning, a gateway curriculum for middle school, and multiple articulated disciplines in high school learning for helping students learn about engineering, computer science, and biomedical science at the initial level itself. These learning experiences through STEM learning in schools have given students extremely engaging content and real-world experiences.
Project-Based Learning
The STEM program focuses on practicing project-based learning with the best activities. Through different demonstrations of education, schools personalized learning and emphasized a variety of projects at a time. Therefore this can be another way of infusing STEM learning and getting the best results in return.
Career Offerings
STEM is said to be a part of CTE. As CTE courses are offered through the pathways of Science, Informational Technology, Engineering, and Math in STEM, students also get a chance to get their hands on job-ready certifications and college credits in high schools. Whether the student belongs to the field of arts or agriculture, they can gain foundational knowledge and skills to pursue their career in the desired areas.
Challenge Based Learning
STEM learning can be promoted in the best way by using global goals efficiently. With topics like zero hunger, many goals can be incorporated for different high school projects of STEM programs. This will benefit the world as well as students by giving a new approach to global goals. It will also help students to step up their ways of thinking out of the box.
STEM can also be integrated by adding art and creativity to the programs. This will encourage and inspire students to establish their own roads to success.
