Discussion on:

Making the case for STEM skills - for everyone

Having spent over 30 years trying to explain very basic science to committees, boards, Directors, accountants, lawyers, I would welcome the full implementation of this idea. I think and attractive curriculum could be developed because as my experience has shown basic science can be explained but if the audience has no background or interest there is little point.

It is shocking to find many persosns who actually went to college, many have a BS or higher degree, and yet, they don't understand basic scientific principles. Colleges, Universities, and even high school education curriculums need to be revised. New, creative, and non-traditional methods of teaching need to be used. In this world, people must know about science and technology or they risk their own wellbeing, progress, and even maybe their lives.

That sounds like the strong core skills, basic, well rounded education myself and others of my generation received before the school systems were corrupted in the 1980s and beyond.

To graduate high school we were required to take and pass at least 2 semesters each of trigonometry, geometry, general science, biology, physics, and chemistry. All of those classes fostered creative thinking and problem solving.

To update for the 21st century all you would really need is to add to that would be a few computer science classes that teach the basics of how a computer works and you would have a well rounded STEM foundation.

What are they teaching in high school today? Basket weaving?

I also think blaming standardized tests is a cop out. If schools taught a strong core curriculum they would not need to teach to the test. The kids would pass with what should be considered basic knowledge.

I agree with you about the problem with testing and teaching to the tests. The biggest problem is that teaching is focused on the bottom of the bell curve and those at the top of the bell curve are bored.

Another problem is that the tests tend to be multiple guess type that can be quickly graded. What is missing are essays that can show if the student is showing either analytical processes or if they are BSing. There are no oral evaluation and too often there isn't any practical testing (finding the bug in a machine).

Almost every man had a good if basic science and electricity background and could change a light socket, install a plumbing pipe and know the principles of brazing it, or even fix a radio set. Women too, but they were not taught those things or did not motivate to learn them.

Somewhere along the ine the reason for the -need- to have the basic STEM knowledge has been forgotten. STEM is one of the things that helped the USA be great.

I don't know if they teach basket weaving in today's high school, but I bet not if it involves using a knife to cut the straw. Or electricity, or a torch, power tools, flamable liquids, sandpaper.. etc etc.
My friend's daughter got a job at the "(name witheld) School Radio Station". Yes a 10KW FM station. haha nice for the schools to have money.. but I asked her, "So, have you signed up to work the transmitter"? (which today would only involve logging the meter readings!) "Oh no.. they won't let us near that, it's behind glass..". So she had to be a DJ and then do the programming. She wanted to learn something about the electronics and transmitter. but no, let's not do that, let's dumb it all down to the least common technical denominator, let's just have artists and paper pushers. Nothing against DJs and talent but she wanted to be a "radio engineer". Poor 15 year old kid. Don't they realize there is an unfair shortage of female engineers?

All the brains are full of carpet remnants and syrupy drivel. It is almost as if "doing one's own handy work" or having a backyard shop or lab to tinker in would violate some social taboo or something. It's the lack of STEM and that promotes such ignorance and intellectual sloth on a national scale.
2 men take their boats to the lake and go fishing. They cheat and use fish finders, but one of them built his own fish finder and designed it to also make the sounds to lure the fish over. While the other guy with the storebought fish finder is mocking the neighbor's home made job, the hacker gets the bite every time.

The premise sounds great, especially when one considers that the majority of people in the US is engaged in magical thinking. The problem is that most leaders in government and business lack the informed thinking suggested by proponents of using STEM teaching.

While jobs that need STEM thinking are hot, too many are not being filled by qualified US citizens. This goes back to the problem with leaders not understanding STEM enough to make intelligent hiring decisions. This feeds into the political cycle in that these reality challenged leaders support candidates that are also reality challenged for important offices. I read that a lot of lobbyists prefer someone who will listen to them for information instead of the ones who are wonky enough to actually understand the problem.

Unfortunately, I've come to believe that most people simply don't have the genetic makeup for STEM skills. You can teach people arithmetic, and you can get people to memorize Newton's three laws, but most people will never be able to figure out why their car won't start or their computer died. It takes a special set of skills that most people simply don't have. This is not a put down any more than saying most people don't have exceptional artistic talents. It's just where we are at our current stage of evolution.

STEM skills were a relatively late addition to the genetic makeup of our brains. In contrast, language skills go much further back and most of us are very good with them. If the average person had STEM skills comparable to their language skills, we'd all be Einsteins.

If you think about it, modern society started to succeed when we could take the insights of the relatively few who were gifted with STEM skills and put them to use in factories, in fields, etc. Until recently, most of our work was organized so that the average factory or office worker did not need significant STEM skills. That may be changing, but if so we're trying to beat evolution. It may not be possible.

It is exactly that kind of thinking that has dumbed down the US educational system.

Most of the poorly performing students in our schools are BORED. They are not challenged by the teachers or the curriculum.

That is proven every year in charter schools around the country. When students getting Cs and Ds in class while failing standardized tests in public schools get transferred to a good charter school they get As and Bs and pass standardized tests with ease.

Same kids, just tougher classes and higher expectations from the school.

I have seen 18 year olds responsible for the care and maintenance of million dollar equipment in the military. They do exceptional work when taught and challenged. The lives of dozens, if not hundreds, are in their hands.

Yet many of them were not trusted to sell raffle tickets at a high school fair because teachers and administrators considered it too much responsibility for a kid.

We must expect more from them. I know it was expected of me at their age.

My children's high school began a STEM Academy this year. Unfortunately my older son being a junior was not able to enroll. However, my son who is a sophmore is enrolled and he is challenged on a daily basis. He enjoys the classes and the content being taught. I wish their school had started this program a couple of years early.