Liberating Teachers

In my school district, many after-school and extracurricular activities are led by teachers who not only bring a passion towards STEM subjects into the classroom, but also spend extensive personal time engaging students in clubs such as FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) and Science Olympiad.  Furthermore, the district now allows personal technological tools into the classroom, including cell phones and iPads.  In the past the practice was to ban such devices, however recently I have seen more educators embracing the advantages that these tools can bring to the learning experience.

What is still missing is an integration of the many forms of online courseware that are currently available, often for free.  I have not seen my district’s schools officially using anything like Khan academy or courses offered by universities, such as MIT’s Open Courseware or EdX (programs that I will discuss in more detail in a future post).  There are some exceptions.  For instance, some of the high school students fulfill the health credit requirement by taking an online charter school version of the class.  In one case that I know of, this allowed the student to free some afternoon time on his schedule so that he could do an internship a few hours per week.   Others take online classes to get ahead so that they have room in their schedules for more advanced classes.

Few would argue that one of the key components of meeting the STEM challenge is attracting strong math and science students into the teaching profession.  However, we also need to allow the existing talented teachers, who are already committed and positioned to make a difference today, the freedom to explore and take advantage of technology in their own classrooms.   I would like to see a lot more flexibility in the schools for a blended approach of traditional and online learning.  There is no sense in bringing a lot of energetic, talented STEM graduates into a classroom that stifles their ability to creative engage students and limits their ability to fully leverage the varied resources available today.

Elmo Embraces STEM

I grew up watching Cookie Monster, Big Bird, Ernie & Bert and the other characters that lived on Sesame Street.  My kids, in turn, were entertained by and learned some things from a little red monster named Elmo along with the original crew.  I’ve sporadically viewed two generations worth of episodes over the years, and I remember a lot of the content emphasizing shapes, letters, colors, words, and social development.  There was definitely also some math included; after all, one of the major characters is The Count.  In fact, I vividly recall a lesson on fractions as Ernie & Bert tried to evenly split their pizza and juice, with Ernie taking bites and sips from both sides in an attempt to balance the portions.  I also remember some science concepts, such as Grover doing something with a spaceship and something about planets.  But generally, when I think of Sesame Street, I think of a focus on reading more so than STEM.

If my general perception of Sesame Street is accurate, then apparently things have changed.  I just saw an press release announcing that the show’s 42nd season (airing late 2011/early 2012) focuses on STEM.  Really?  My curiosity was piqued, therefore I just spent some time looking at the past decade of Sesame Street programming.  Season 42 does indeed focus on STEM, with covered topics including measurement, bubble mixtures, buoyancy, experiments and robotics.  The upcoming season 43 which debuts in Sept 2012 continues on this theme, adding Art to the mix.  In other words, they are expanding from STEM to STE(A)M.

Below is a list summarizing the main focus of each of Sesame Street’s seasons since 2001, garnered from both the Muppet Wiki and Sesame Street Press Kits.  Clearly there has been a steady shift towards more math and science based topics in the past few years.  I am happy to see that Sesame Street remains relevant today and is adapting to respond to the challenge to inspire kids to get excited about STEM.

Season 32 (2001)
Focuses on music and art and “emphasizes the importance of the creative process in child development through hands-on projects.”

Season 33 (2002)
Focuses on stories about fear, loss, bullies and inclusion

Season 34 (2003)
The curriculum for Season 34 is going global to “emphasize similarities among all of us while celebrating our cultural differences.”

Season 35 (2004)
Celebrates the show’s 35^th anniversary, featuring favorite moments

Season 36 (2005)
In response to studies in child obesity in America, the key focus is healthy habits.

Season 37 (2006)
Focuses on getting kids ready for school and the classroom experience.

Season 38 (2007)
One of the main learning objectives promoted during the season is literacy and vocabulary enhancement.

Season 39 (2008)
Focuses on math literacy “designed to help children put their mathematical thinking into words and talk about how they solve problems.”

Season 40 (2009)
Focuses on environmentalism and is “designed to nurture young children’s appreciation and love for nature.”

Season 41 (2010)
Continues the show’s two-year initiative “My World is Green & Growing,” an initiative embracing a robust science and mathematics curriculum. For season 41, Sesame Street will address the processes of scientific investigation, with 13 shows focused on this topic. One of the main curricular goals is to encourage children to think scientifically and to model the scientific process.

Season 42 (2011)
Continues to focus on the STEM curriculum; encouraging children to think critically about science, technology, engineering and math. The curriculum helps children develop a better understanding of how things work, and builds stronger cognitive reasoning, critical thinking and problem solving skills.

Season 43 (Debuts Sept 2012)
Continues Sesame Workshop’s STEM curriculum (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math), expanding it to STEAM (adding Art).

Curiosity Lost?

When I hear about students’ lack of interest in STEM subjects, it perplexes me because I immediately think of the hordes of kids that crowd science museums.  Or of the elementary school student who gets excited about a science experiment at school.  Or of kids who seem more comfortable than many adults with everyday technology. I think the problem we face is maintaining kids’ interest, not generating it in the first place.  Little ones love discovery in all forms and they don’t discriminate against the STEM subjects.  At what point does the curiosity begin to fade and why?

Interest in STEM subjects seems to begin waning in middle school (junior high).  Maybe the inflection point occurs as soon as the math becomes challenging.  Or perhaps students in middle school suddenly have a lot of different things vying for their attention and more autonomy over how they spend their free time.  Many schools begin their foreign language instruction, introduce musical instruments and form school sports teams at this level.  Even the coolest STEM enrichment activities must struggle to compete with the allure of all of the clubs and activities available starting in middle school.

My daughter, an academically gifted high schooler who intends to pursue a STEM major, decided not to rejoin her Science Olympiad team in eighth grade, announcing that her schedule was simply too full.  She still volunteered, helping former teammates prepare for contests as her time permitted, however her number priority was soccer and she would not commit to fully joining the Science Olympiad ranks.  Although she is at the highest level of soccer play for her age group and her team won South Texas State Championship this past season, I still sigh in lament when I think about how her dedication to her sport edged out her participation in the science club.

I give my daughter a jab every once in a while for choosing soccer over science.  And this choice from a person who actually excels in and enjoys math and science.  What chance do we have of enticing the individual who has already lost the passion for these subjects sometime during the elementary to middle school transition?  Understanding and addressing the reasons kids turn away from STEM subjects is a key step towards the goal of increasing the number of American students who go on to pursue degrees leading them to STEM careers.

Math is Core

I have always loved math and it remains my favorite discipline.  I love the aesthetics of the numerical figures themselves and the logic involved with telling a beautiful mathematical story.  As exciting as learning math is, teaching it is just as rewarding.  Over the years I have tutored many students, including my own kids.  I smile when I think of that moment of understanding when a toddler truly grasps the concept of what a number represents.  I am ecstatic when a student’s frustration over a difficult concept dissipates in an “aha” moment of enlightenment.  Math brings me joy in many forms.

I wanted to major in math as an undergrad, but was encouraged to pursue a practical path and opted for instead mechanical engineering.  At the time, I was given the impression that math was for those that teach and engineering was for those that do, and I wanted to be in the latter category.  Plus, admittedly, I was attracted to the higher salaries offered to engineers.  I didn’t foresee a lucrative path as a mathematician.  I had also considered science (physics), but that was for researchers and I couldn’t envision myself forging a career as a lab rat.

As it turns out, any STEM field would have been a great path for me because my first love of math runs through all of them.  The STEM acronym is a bit of a force-fit, implying four parallel disciplines, or as some will explain, representing an interdisciplinary approach among  the subjects.  The latter description acknowledges that the subjects don’t necessarily stand alone, but I’d nevertheless argue that math is a foundational subject and deserves special consideration.  A student of science or engineering would struggle without a solid grasp of mathematic concepts.  I’ve always been a bit dissatisfied with the STEM acronym for this reason.  Also, the distinction between Technology and Engineering is unclear and is often debated among experts.  It might even be a bit redundant to include both in the acronym.   It’s a handy term, however, and it’s used widely by those in academia, the government and the media.   I’ve likewise adopted it in this blog, though in my mind the “M” is bold and maybe even a little bigger than the “STE” in order to represent math’s role as a core discipline.

STEM 2022 Challenge

The President hosted the nation’s first White House Science Fair  in 2010, honoring a commitment he made during his Nov 2009 Educate to Innovate campaign.  In February 2012, he welcomed participants to the second White House Science Fair.  At this event, he highlighted the critical need to motivate more college students to pursue STEM-related majors.  His call to action for ”One million more American graduates in science, technology, engineering and math over the next 10 years,” follows a President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) report projecting a shortage of STEM professionals.  The report summarizes the problem as follows:

• Economic projections point to a need for approximately 1 million more STEM professionals than the U.S. will produce at the current rate over the next decade if the country is to retain its historical preeminence

• Currently the United States graduates about 300,000 bachelor and associate degrees in STEM fields annually, with fewer than 40% of students who enter college intending to major in a STEM field complete a STEM degree.

• Increasing the retention of STEM majors from 40% to 50% would, alone, generate three­ quarters of the targeted 1 million additional STEM degrees over the next decade

Increasing the number of students interested in pursuing STEM fields is an obvious step towards addressing the one million person shortfall, and many initiatives are underway in both the private and pubic sector in an attempt to address this.  However, as this report indicates, perhaps improving retention rates is more achievable in the short-term.  After all, the battle of stimulating interest in STEM is already won with students who declare STEM majors.  The challenge then becomes providing the student with tools to be successful, providing encouragement and mentoring during the four or five years of study. STEM majors are notoriously tough, but the right support network is helpful in encouraging students to push through the long nights, painful problem sets and excruciating tests.

PCAST concluded that retaining more students in STEM majors is “the lowest­ cost, fastest policy option to providing the STEM professionals that the nation needs.”  It recommends the following to achieve this:

(1) catalyze widespread adoption of empirically validated teaching practices

(2) advocate and provide support for replacing standard laboratory courses with discovery­based research courses

(3) launch a national experiment in postsecondary mathematics education to address the mathematics ­preparation gap

(4) encourage partnerships among stakeholders to diversify pathways to STEM careers

(5) create a Presidential Council on STEM Education with leadership from the academic and business communities to provide strategic leadership for transformative and sustainable change in STEM undergraduate education

The PCAST study is a start, but we have a long journey ahead of us if we are to increase the number of STEM graduates by one million by 2022.  It is a challenge worth taking and I intend to do what I can to be part of the solution.

What is STEM?

STEM is an acronym representing Science, Technology, Engineering and Math.  Judith A. Ramaley adopted the term when she was assistant director of the National Science Foundation’s Education and Human Resources organization from 2001 to 2004.  In an interview with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in Feb 2009, Dr. Ramaley explained that NSF had previously used the acronym SMET which “subtly implies that science and math came first or were better.”  She changed it “because science and math support the other two disciplines and because STEM sounds nicer than SMET.”