What’s a STEM Without Its Roots? A Brief History of STEM (Burn 2 Learn Series: Part II)

A special thanks to:  Marlin Page, Yul Allen, Mona Berry, Kathleen Grinwis, K Puttkammer, Jennifer Johnson, Amanda McCarthy & Samantha Roberts  for offering your encouragement and support.

Written by: Andrew B. Raupp, HKSEE / Founder STEM.org?

Part I: Update

“Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.”            

-Thomas Henry Huxley, 19th century biologist

“I am always ready to learn, although I do not always like being taught.”                  

-Winston Churchill, British Prime Minister

Think fast: when you picture the California Gold Rush, what comes to mind?

Stick with us now. Imagine the scene. Dusty covered wagons battered from their westward journey. Smoky cooking fires and the smell of flour and grease. The sharp sound of shovels and axes hitting dirt, then stone. The glint of a prized gold nugget in a dark pile of rock.

Now, that’s certainly a lovely picture, but let’s widen our vision to include the men on the outskirts of the frame, those who worked not with luck and brute strength, but instead toiled from ramshackle shops and trade wagons stocked with tools, supplies, clothing and other sundries. These savvy salesmen, among them blue jean businessman Levi Strauss, made their cash by capitalizing on the fervor of the times. Men from all walks of life were driven by the thousands to seek their fortunes in the soil and silt of California; all Strauss and his ilk had to do was provide the things the ‘49ers needed, sit back, and rake in the profits.

This gold rush metaphor has been circulated for years to remind startup business owners that wealth doesn’t always originate with the most flashy, obvious path to prosperity. Instead, it’s possible to build profits by simply assessing the needs of your possible customer base and understanding the conditions of the times in which we live.

Which brings us to the state of education in America today.

For the remainder of this section, let’s think of student achievement as the possible payout, and let’s work together to quickly get you up to speed on the current conditions facing students and teachers. We understand that you’re looking to understand the hot-button concepts dictating the national education conversation today, and this section will give you the facts you need without sending you on a fool’s errand for that perfect golden nugget. There is no “new” way to teach. There is no quick-fix answer to turn your middle school science class into the next class of NASA rockstars. Instead, we offer a catalog of information and tools you can bring to your own marketplace—the classroom—designed to help you better meet your students’ needs without sacrificing your own.

Section 1: What’s a STEM Without Its Roots? A Brief History of STEM 

“There is no clear link between the use of technologies for social and leisure purposes, and the ability to use them for educational purposes…Essentially, being able to use Facebook does not necessarily mean that you'll be able to effectively search for a journal article.”

-Dr. Christopher Jones, The Open University

Let’s begin with the beginning. STEM, as we’ll refer to it in this resource, it’s an acronym that refers to the academic disciplines of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. You’ve no doubt heard it referenced in countless PDs, seen it slapped on the label of your school’s science textbook, and have seen programs cropping up that purport to bring STEM education to your students. But when did this all begin?

Pinning down the exact origin of the STEM movement can be tricky. Some analysts point to the 1980s, when Japan burst onto the national consumer scene with the latest in high-tech gadgetry: the Walkman[1]. Others claim that efforts to identify students interested in STEM programs started as early as the 1970s, but that this work was ultimately dismissed as “elitist”[2]. Why worry about the kids who showed an interest in the Apple IIE when we had kids who needed to get Hooked on Phonics, right?

By the early 2000s, the Internet had already begun to revolutionize the way we think about personal technology. But instead of this era producing young workers keen to understand and innovate in ever growing fields of STEM industry, scientists and private leaders alike found the pipeline of fresh talent nearly nonexistent. After taking steps to collaborate with public research organizations to investigate the problem of STEM education, leaders in the STEM field confirmed their greatest fears: America was failing to produce the employees needed to compete in the increasingly tech savvy global marketplace.

And here’s where it gets sticky. In a review of a national survey of nearly 6,000 mathematics and science teachers conducted way back in the gentle pre-NCLB year of 2000, analysts found that teachers generally felt less than adequately prepared to teach technology and advanced science courses, citing lack of preparation and resources as the main causes of concern. Sound familiar? Only 25% of elementary teachers surveyed stated that they felt prepared to teach science, and though middle and high school teachers reported more confidence, there was an overall gap between the self-reported readiness of science teachers versus those teaching basic mathematics or literacy courses[3]. In addition, only 25%-30% of elementary, middle, and high schools reported having designated lead teachers in place for science/mathematics departments.

As it turns out, teachers, who consistently get a bad rap in the popular press for collectively failing their students, have actually been clamoring for support, resources and instructional leadership for over a decade. We’re not surprised, and we know you’re not either. That’s why you’re reading this post, to get the resources you need without waiting around for an administrator or a district lead to give you permission or the official party line. When it comes to the needs of their students, teachers have long been the experts. It’s figuring out how to deliver on limited resources that’s the challenge, but fortunately, a shift in thinking may be far more powerful than any expensive program or box full of laboratory tools.

Money Talks: How STEM is Affecting National Education Policy and Funding

A shift in thinking about STEM education has already begun to occur at the top of the public school food chain, all the way up on the President’s desk. After a series of reports from STEM industry leaders came out between 2000 and 2005 predicting a major deficit in the STEM talent pipeline thanks to older STEM workers retiring, the U.S. Department of Education started looking seriously at recommendations on how to boost our STEM workforce.

One 2007 report recommended that the U.S. Government focus on recruiting science and math teachers through scholarships and retain them through targeted professional development opportunities, like summer institutes where teachers are compensated through federal funded stipends[4]. Sounds great, right? According the report, this investment of time, training and federal money would provide teachers with the education to enter the classroom prepared and the incentive to remain in the profession long enough to make a noticeable impact.

The dollars are starting to make their way to teachers and schools, but the process is still fairly slow-going. In a 2012 policy announcement, President Obama called for a number of initiatives at the federal level to both “recruit” and “reward” excellent STEM teachers, which all sounds great, sure[5]. As do the projections that indicate that STEM jobs will increase by as much as 17% by 2018, creating massive opportunities for young people in America[6]. Obama’s 2009 pledge to train an additional 100,000 teachers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics and invest $20 million in research efforts by 2020 is already underway, and, according to a summary from his 2014 budget, the President has also earmarked $180 million to increase access to STEM opportunities at the K-12 level and an additional $265 million to “support networks of school districts, universities, science agencies, museums, businesses and other educational entities focused on STEM education.”[7] [8]

But until the feds start showing up at each science classroom in America with bagloads of cash, experts and additional resources, what are teachers supposed to do in the meantime?

4 Myths and Methods of Growing a Garden of STEM Scholars

1. Today’s students are naturally better equipped to master technology thanks to their exposure to computers and new technology. MYTH! As the opening quote to this section made clear, one of the most common myths about bringing STEM into the modern classroom is that today’s “digital natives” are already well on their way to an engineering career just because of their impressive familiarity with personal technology. Turns out, however, that interest and aptitude in STEM subjects isn’t transmitted via osmosis! Today’s students, though they may be able to hashtag a tweet and text an emoticon faster than you can turn on your desktop, still need quality instruction in how to use technology appropriately in academic settings, especially when it comes to assessing different data sources for reliability and bias.

2. To get students up to speed on difficult STEM subjects, teachers should spend more time crafting information rich lectures to replicate college seminars. MYTH! In fact, research suggests that teachers need to spend less time talking and maximize the amount of class time devoted to students forming and testing out hypothesis, charting data, exploring research questions, and otherwise taking charge of their own learning.

3. Teachers should look for partnerships outside of the classroom to enrich STEM opportunities for students. METHOD. It might take a village to raise a child, but it’s going to take an even bigger collaboration to train the next generation of knowledge workers in America. Working as an island in your science classroom just isn’t the way to student success anymore. Don’t be shy about seeking additional resources, or, better yet, asking your administration for help. That cool $265 million set aside for educational agencies isn’t just limited to schools, and more and more hardworking organizations (like STEM.org?) are ready to support your daily classroom practice with targeted activities and enrichments designed to give your students a boost.

4. Ditch the textbook at all costs. MYTH! While it’s true that many textbooks are poorly designed and don’t seem up to the challenge of giving students rich, real-world experiences, you can still get plenty of mileage out of a traditional science textbook. See the “Brain Break!” at the end of this post for a great example, and feel free to share your own creative textbook “hacks” with us via InMail.

Finally, the biggest myth of all may be the most persistent: bringing rigorous science, technology, engineering and mathematics to your classroom simply doesn’t need costly programs or even a whole ton of class time. Instead, we’ll show you in our Navigate, Innovate and Valuate sections even more concrete shifts you can make in your thinking and your practice to start laying a more solid foundation of the critical thinking skills that make up the backbone of STEM education and career paths. Stay tuned, and read on for updates on the Next Generation Science Standards, the Common Core State Standards Initiative, plus a special Administrator Spotlight that will shine light on both principals and teachers alike.

Brain Break!:  Science Textbook Scavenger Hunt

The textbook scavenger hunt is a teaching activity that can, with a little adjustment and appropriate framing, go from a fairly dull way to eat up a few minutes at the beginning of the school year to a powerful critical thinking activity. This activity can also serve as an informal diagnostic to measure your students’ familiarity with the content.

Grade Level: 4-12

Subject: Can be adapted for any subject area with a textbook.

Objective: Begin to shift students’ perceptions of their textbook from a know-it-all bore to the jumping off point for exploration and critical questioning.

Procedure:

1.Using your student’s science textbook, design a series of 4-6 questions that will get them familiar with the contents and layout of the book. The goal here is to get students paging through the text and identifying the topics covered.

2.Next, design several open ended questions that force students to start a conversation with the ideas they find in their textbook. For example:

?Which findings do you think came first, those presented on page 150 or those in the sidebar on page 136? Explain your reasoning.

?What sort of experiment could you conduct to test if the information on page 267 is really true? What would need to happen for you to be convinced?

?Choose two topics you encountered that you’re curious about learning more about. Write down the page number where you found them and explain what you’d like to know more about.

?Choose two topics that you feel most familiar with. Write down the page number where you found them and record an additional piece of information you know about this topic that was not listed in the text.

Further Reading

Afterschool Alliance, https://www.afterschoolalliance.org/STEMfunding.cfm

This organization works with a number of philanthropic and governmental organizations to help teachers and schools find and secure funding for a number of afterschool programs, including STEM initiatives.

National Education Association (NEA), https://www.nea.org/tools/lessons/stem-resources.html

The NEA pulls together a list of over 10 high-quality web resources, featuring STEM activities for students, professional development for teachers, and sites to download and print materials and lesson plans for free.

STEM Education Coalition, www.stemedcoalition.org

An alliance of over 500 organizations from the business and academic communities as well as workers and thinkers from STEM fields. Their site offers an easy to navigate “STEM Resources” page for further reading on many of the reports referenced in this chapter plus regular updates on the state of STEM.

To Be Continued...

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