Blog
2023: Full STEAM Ahead!
Jump to course: STEAM
“It is a miracle that imagination survives formal education.” -Albert Einstein
The STEAM approach to learning is something we (educators) can rely on as an extremely effective way to engage our students in deeper learning. STEAM is not a strategy but an approach to teaching multiple concepts in a way in which our students apply what they know to solve real world issues. It may take some coordination with other teachers depending on how your school delivers curriculum to students. Many schools have the major subjects separated into departments: Science, Math, Social Studies, English. As a result, teachers are specialized in teaching content of one specific major. This idea was supposed to allow teachers to become experts in their specialty and offer a higher level of expertise to their students. Unfortunately, separating the major subject areas has resulted in a lack of understanding as to why we need to know them in the first place.
“Why do we need to know this?” -Any student
Ugh, this statement is the glaring fact that students are missing the reliance our core subject areas have on each other and how critical they are to solving global issues. The fact is, our students are only students for a very short time. They will enter college, military, the workforce, etc., before they are 20 years old. Many students look back at their school experience confused as to what it all meant – even more look back and realize they have not learned what they needed to succeed in college and career and struggle to keep up. Think about your own school experience? Were you ready for college or military or a career when you graduated?
According to Education.com, “More than 80 percent of employers said recent graduates were deficient in “applied skills” like communication, work ethic, and critical thinking. And 72 percent said they were deficient in basic writing skills. College grads didn’t fare much better. Not even a quarter were deemed “excellent” in terms of overall preparation – most were dubbed “adequate” or less. And at $22,218 per year for an average private college, those are sad scores indeed.”
Preparing our students for life after school is our basic job as educators. Critical thinking, communication, and writing are just a few of the skills employers have requested schools and college emphasize since these are the skills their new employees are lacking. Life skills like finance, interviewing, decision making/consequences, community involvement are other areas our students seem to have limited knowledge and it is having a negative effect on their ability to become successful members of society. To top it all off, the consensus is that school is boring, meaningless and worst of all, “School kills creativity.” -Ken Robinson.
So, what are we doing about it? Administrators and teachers and parents have the power to change this. They have the power to reflect on current teaching practices and decide what is working and what can be changed. A STEAM approach to learning forces people to assess how we view and deliver instruction, then gives us a way to change it. Using the core subjects (together) to solve issues that matter to the students is the STEAM approach.
For example, a lesson could involve a small “team” of students charged with the task of repairing failing infrastructure. They pick a section of the town that needs repairs like a road or bridge. Then they go through the process of figuring out how to secure funds for the repair, what materials and equipment are need and how the road or bridge is actually fixed. To complete this task, they need to apply communication, creativity, critical thinking, math, engineering and art skills, just to name a few. Their vocabulary is increased and they are able to voice their opinion about the safety and esthetics of a structure that will become part of the town for years to come. Students who participate in this type of project know what they are doing is meaningful so they are more engaged so they tend to remember the learning.
Check out our 15-profession al development hour STEAM course for more information on you can help transform education into something effective and meaningful.
Projects to be Completed:
- STEAM Approach to Learning
- STEAM Experience
- STEAM Analysis
- STEAM Lesson Re-Design
- The STEAM Lesson Plan
- Gear Up
The Teacher’s Academy provides professional development courses that can be downloaded and completed from anywhere. Courses are relevant and written by teachers. Many projects are lessons and activities that teachers can customize to be used in their classrooms right away. The Teacher’s Academy is proud to serve teachers in over 22 states: Pennsylvania, Arizona, Texas, Colorado, Michigan, Indiana, Tennessee, Virginia, Massachusetts, etc.