stem education essay

stem education essay

The Importance of STEM Education: A Comprehensive Analysis

1. Introduction to STEM Education

Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics are all present in the real world around us. This, of course, makes STEM understanding somewhat more than an acrimonious word or an acronym. Integrating microscopes into a biomedical science class, for example, provides learners with a closer examination of the microscopic elements of the human body that they cannot see with the naked eye. This shows them a real-world instance of why they must study the subjects they dislike and of something that many of my learners have reported disliking is worth studying. Science is interconnected. Students who are successful in STEM are also able to transfer their knowledge by investigating, considering, and evaluating possibilities to achieve specific objectives.

STEM, which stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics, encompasses a group of subjects that play a critical role in enhancing a student’s capability to be inventive, solve problems, and think logically. STEM education also makes it possible to prepare students for a field of research, which is a rapidly changing industry that is constantly advancing as new technologies and techniques are developed with the goal of solving challenging problems. STEM is essential for everyday life and a prosperous future, and it is critical that all students pursue STEM. STEM is inextricably linked to all facets of a person’s existence. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, the continuing need for technology and the anticipated increase in careers in technical fields indicate a promising future for those learners. The need for STEM experts is currently and will continue to grow at a rate of 17% per year.

2. Benefits of STEM Education

In relation to industry and business, learning within these disciplines translates into career development and potential advancement. Mastery not of the separate disciplines, but of their interrelated prospects, gives a greater edge in many of the professions that involve STEM, from pharmaceuticals to engineering. A strong foundation in mathematics, for example, is crucial for the completion of qualifications in the fields of finance and economics. Beyond this, the benefits of STEM learning go as far as affecting broader social designs. The overall advancement and the actual innovation of individuals within this group mean that technological and scientific progress is much greater, with advantages such as new and improved medicines.

Learning in the STEM disciplines means laying down a strong foundation in the concepts of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. It means developing fundamental problem-solving skills within learners that stretch beyond the learning of the individual disciplines. It stretches into fine-tuning an individual’s creativity and ingenuity. It also helps to develop a greater understanding of the ever more complex world around us and is a method of educating people to successfully operate within this increasingly complex and technologically advanced world. The benefits of STEM education are not only restricted to individual developments. The benefits of STEM education can be seen in a broader sense, across societies and different sectors.

STEM education is fundamental because it encompasses almost all possible avenues of growth and learning. STEM education inculcates critical thinking within the minds of learners and increases the ability to use concepts of science and mathematics as tools, rather than a rigid form of understanding the world. It prepares learners to be on the frontier of the advancing future and opens up a wide range of opportunities and possibilities for them. In essence, the STEM model of education broadens the horizons of learners and makes learning more of a life-long, problem-solving journey rather than a burden to be taken on for a few brief years.

3. Challenges and Solutions in STEM Education

There are several challenges that confront STEM education if it is to be adopted widely across the region. Firstly, low enrollment in secondary school limits the ability to implement Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) curriculums. For example, the richest country in the sample, Solomon Islands, has an upper secondary gross enrollment rate of only 33.6%. The very poor bandwidth throughout much of the region constrains the potential for technology-led STEM activities, particularly in rural and remote areas. Technologies can eliminate, overcome or work-around quite a few of the obstacles to inclusive STEM practice. Two of the applications – Google Earth and Scratch – stand out for the explicit advance realization that might be part of the overall body of teachers’ knowledge.

STEM education’s benefits for individuals and its potential to transform a nation and a region are well-documented elsewhere. However, implementing these potential benefits is not easier as the literature would have us believe. There are a series of challenges, from the profoundly practical, such as bandwidth and access in remote areas, to the profound pedagogic – inclusive practice is fundamentally a social and ethical issue that permeates a teacher’s practice. Fortunately, there is also evidence that problems can be solved, and problems of inclusivity, or even engaging local parents can be solved using technology and understanding the stories STEM tells about a future. Finally, it is felt that STEM education has the capacity to attract a largely unaddressed market. Little research has been done in the more rural or city fringes and few STEM education solutions target such a demographic.

4. Innovations and Best Practices in STEM Education

It’s part of a larger program on our campus and has integrated its content into informal career-based units for K-12 students that are held on our campus as half-day activities, as well as for after-school clubs at the high school level and curriculum used in two Introduction to Technology high-school courses. The success of the investigation has broad implications for the future workforce and leadership. Participation in competitions increases the visibility of students. It provides them with a way to showcase their competence and potential for application of education.

This instructional model is designed to introduce high-school learners to the interdisciplinary field of photonics technology and the process of multidisciplinary engineering design. It requires collaboration between academia, economic development initiatives, and industry to prepare students for education and careers in the scientific and technical areas, specifically in photonics technology. “Introducing Optics: Photonic Multidisciplinary Engineering Design Education Curriculum” (NSF grant EEC 0754321). Launched in 2008, this outreach-based program was piloted in the Rochester, New York area and has since been expanded to include 6 programs in New York alone and programs in New Mexico and Michigan seeking to incorporate the content of this model as the “A” in STEM, or STEAM.

Boothroyd (1999) has suggested best practice incorporates student engagement in real-world research, access to college-level design and learning, facilitation of relationships as a central team-building activity, and exposure to the basic principles that will function in the industry and the laboratory. Students are given opportunities to investigate STEM careers by visiting industries and through job shadowing. They interview engineers during presentations given by the volunteers, detailing their career paths and what they do on a daily basis. They gain additional information from industry tours and visit corporate Research & Development facilities. Students in programs that have the resources are offered opportunities for internships in applied science and engineering research.

An early (2013) program of the Department of Education-funded labs and science leadership has evolved into two programs (STEM Centers of Innovation and STEM Hubs and Spokes) and larger initiatives such as Measu and Maine STEM Partnership, all designed to increase K-12 STEM student growth and achievement through high quality, effective STEM teacher professional development. Many other informal and formal education programs place a large emphasis on creativity as students design, build, test, troubleshoot, and improve the design of a product.

Though STEM education isn’t a new concept, recent and updated teaching methodologies are currently employed in modern classrooms to increase student engagement and understanding of context and relevance. These innovative practices are largely influenced by the U.S. National Science Foundation’s recognition of a country where “all Americans can contribute to and benefit from advancements in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics”, while favorably addressing high-U.S. population careers.

Innovations and Best Practice in STEM Education

5. Conclusion and Future Directions

Students who develop a positive attitude (interest, self-efficacy, and perception of set knowledge) find it easier to analyze, understand, and engage with theories. Research also shows a strong correlation between attitudes of interest, self-efficacy, and the ability of science and scientific problem-solving, the ability to examine and summarize in children, cooperation and self-confidence, and the ability to create and discuss ideas in scientific groups as well as non-scientific. Despite the need for STEM educational programs, they first created interdisciplinary importance in education. Data analysis and interpretation methods are stressed and grouped by categorical content into the unique components of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. STEM education, providing predictions of today’s world, will enable educational programs to be diversified and developed in new directions appropriate for tomorrow’s world. The results of the research and suggestions for readers are presented in this study to be used as a tool in this framework, and many directions are provided.

Today, children, youth, teachers, and countries need to learn and teach subjects integrated in STEM to become successful citizens of the 21st century. STEM education is not only for the needs of the present, but for individuals to pursue careers within school and beyond. STEM educational programs draw upon knowledge and skills in a curriculum to create a population able to take into account both scientific and technological knowledge, as well as its impact and applications. Today, with STEM education opportunities, young people will be able to be creative and innovative. To the best of our knowledge, this is the most comprehensive and cutting-edge review of the literature that can be used to evaluate the importance of STEM education in schools and the not-so-distant future.