Even in my limited experience as a teacher, I have seen some elements of STEM education in action. Back when we had our “Interview with an Educator” activity in ED605, I discussed with my mentor teacher how the curriculum in our district had changed recently. Previously, the focus was preparing students to take and pass the Biology HSA, which consequently placed an increased emphasis on the rote memorization of content knowledge. He explained to me that the new curriculum adopted the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and shifted the focus to skills and knowledge that transcended his subject matter. The Scientific and Engineering Practices and Crosscutting Concepts, for example, are more strongly emphasized now than they were when I was in high school, and I think that’s a good thing. My mentor teacher also said he was pleased with the removal of the Biology HSA from the graduation requirements because it places less stress on him and affords him more flexibility with his planning. The changes appear to have made the curriculum more student-centered, and I think that’s a good first step towards improving STEM education. I’ve also seen this at my current part-time internship at a local middle school, as the science teachers there are tweaking their lessons to better align them with NGSS and principles of inquiry learning.
One of the STEM instructional activities I am aware of in my current teaching setting is one that emphasizes the Scientific and Engineering Practices (SEP) that are relatively new in the curriculum. This activity presents students with a scenario and asks them to design an experiment to answer a question. The question is: how many drops of water can a coin hold? Students are presented with this scenario and are given freedom to learn on their own instead of being told to follow a set of explicit instructions. Ultimately, students are expected to label the steps of their experiment in order to better understand the SEP. For example, the students will plan their investigation, collect and analyze data, use mathematics to compare their data for different types of coins, and construct and present an argument based on their evidence. To further tie this activity into other STEM materials, students could be allowed to research why water is able to accumulate on top of a coin, leading into a discussion of the properties of water, including cohesion, adhesion, and polarity, among others. Many of the activities I have witnessed are in the process of being adapted to be more student-centered, but there is still room for improvement in this aspect. I mentioned in my last discussion board post that every experiment I’ve seen requires students to follow a set of written procedures that students complete with little interest or flexibility. Perhaps having students use their knowledge and research to create their own experiments would better align with current STEM ideals.
I haven’t observed any gaps in STEM learning among sub-populations based on my field experience, but I also have very limited experience. I haven’t been able to see the grades of students or the number of students enrolled in science courses in order to make any concrete comparisons; perhaps I will be able to do that next semester during my full-time internship. That being said, I am aware that minority populations, especially women and African-American students, tend to be underrepresented in STEM courses. I think it is encouraging that I have noticed minority students succeeding in science classes despite many statistics suggesting that stereotype threat and reduced opportunities may inhibit them. The schools I’ve worked in aren’t in the most ethnically diverse areas, but in the upper-level elective STEM courses I’ve observed there were just as many women enrolled as men. I’m considering exploring this issue in more depth with my upcoming action research project because it seems to be the most commonly mentioned issue with STEM education.
One thing I would do to improve the STEM educational opportunities at my school would be to incorporate more inquiry-based and student-centered learning. I still find that most new information is presented through PowerPoint presentations, and students are assessed primarily with written assessments. There are projects in the curriculum, but most of those are relatively straightforward like making a model of a cell or writing a paper about a genetic disorder. I’d like to see more projects that the students can design themselves. Projects that are ill-defined but well-designed give students choice and contribute to skill development. They tend to be time consuming, but these projects are what STEM education is all about. Similarly, I haven’t seen many alternative assessments that offer students the opportunity to express themselves using a variety of modes of representation. I encountered one when I was designing a photosynthesis lesson plan last term, and was really impressed with how the rubric was vague enough to allow students the flexibility to do what they want. The assignment can be found at the link below. Inquiry-based lessons and alternative assessments are supposed to be better for skill development and engaging students of various learning styles, so tweaking the existing curriculum to better align with these ideas should be the next step for improving STEM educational opportunities as my school.
Link to carbon cycle alternative assessment:
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