How can teachers prepare students for careers in STEM ?
In order for teachers to prepare students for careers in STEM , they must first be prepared to teach the integrated subjects. Many elementary school teachers today are not trained in one specific subject; they are generalists. In order to be sure that schools are equipped with the most prepared teachers, all science and math teachers should have some training in those fields. There was research done to compare Chinese and American elementary school math teachers. American teachers are more focused on the procedures than on the underlying concepts and applications. Only about 13% of American students end up taking Calculus in high school, whereas almost every Chinese student takes it. Much of the reason is how students are taught; they are drilled with facts and processes, not with problem solving strategies.
While teachers are getting prepared for these math and science heavy subjects, they need to emphasize problem solving in the classroom. The core subjects of math and science are already incorporated into the curriculum, but technology and engineering must be made aware of early on. Teachers need to use lessons that contain creativity and innovation. Instead of separating all of the STEM subjects, teachers should allow for integration of one subject to another. There has to be more focus on hands on practical experiences rather than just learning facts and processes in order to create original and imaginative technological thinkers for the future. There are many ways teachers can find to have their students design, model, and test a hypothesis, as long is it is age relevant. When teachers are excited and able to motivate their students about STEM , students will become eager to learn and master those subjects.
http://libertylyceum.org/articles/mathteaching.shtml
http://www.iteaconnect.org/Publications/TandC/Sep09.pdf
http://www.usinnovation.org/state/pdf_stem/STEMEdMaryland2010.pdf
Ashley, this is a very good post and relevant to what we just heard at the MCTM Math Conference, on Friday. The big push in education, right now, and especially in math is a focus on conceptual knowledge. In my opinion, your post alludes to this point. Overall, the problem in our country is that students are being taught how to do things. In reality, much like the Chinese have figured out, it is much more important to teach students why they are doing things. Only then will the content come to life and "stick" with them.
ReplyDeleteAshley,
ReplyDeleteYour post hit home for me. I'm constantly thinking about how am I going to teach the students to be independent learners, and not just feed them information. For example, I had to teach electron configuration to my class, and I felt like I just told them the rules. The students didn't have to figure anything out.
Also, when I was researching for my inquiry questions, many of the articles mentioned how the elementary teacher's math skills affected their students' skills. So this supports the idea that all teachers should have training in the math and science fields.