From the Field: STEM INITIATIVES

“Necessity is the mother of invention”, as they say. And the resurgence of COVID variants, especially as they affect younger children, has encouraged educators to greater cooperation and forced the re-examination of ways to connect. Here are just a few of the initiatives in recent journals and conferences.

Promoting STEM Pathways   
What will the workforce of tomorrow look like? How will today’s learners prepare? While the answers are unclear, Sarah Redick and Amanda McCormick Smith suggest that students can begin their investigations through a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) Fair. 

Their description of the event is in the January/February issue of National Science Teaching Association’s Science Scope. It includes valuable tips for preparing presenters before the event, debriefing students afterward, and establishing structures that will allow the effort to continue over time.

​Recognizing that the future will require a variety of integrated skills, they remind planners: “Although STEM-specific subject knowledge is the focus of the day, many other content areas can find connections to the skills and habits of mind required for the workforce of tomorrow.”

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The Importance of STEM Integration in the Pandemic Response 
Constructing a response to the current pandemic involves integrated STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) skills.  Authors Katherine Baker, Emily Faulconer, Oliver Grundmann, Sarah Haines, Tyra Hall-Pogar, Lisa Kenyon, Susan Meabh Kelly, Peter Lindeman, Brian Schmaefsky, Candace Timpte, and David Wojnowski describe the elements of that response in an editorial in the March/April 2021 issue of The Journal of College Science Teaching. 

“The extraordinary work…to alleviate the SARS-CoV2 pandemic would not have been possible without collaboration between academia, industry, government laboratories, and regulatory agencies that speak the common language researchers around the world know—science.” The authors provide many more examples of collaboration beyond the pandemic: “Life-saving and life-prolonging medicines, communication technologies, modes of transportation, energy-efficient building materials, or early severe weather warning systems are just a few examples of STEM inventions with a global impact.” While the article is primarily directed toward those who design curricula, it also can provide a framework as students look for examples of multidisciplinary efforts in other areas.