As I read Thomas Friedman's article "Whats our Sputnik?", I was struck by the thought of how the American people view the world and education has changed in the last 50 years. When the Sputnik was shot into space, the American people were under a constant threat of war, a war that could affect every person in the United States, we had just gotten out of two world wars and a smaller war. I remember having drills for Nuclear attacks as an elementary student in the 70's. The constant feeling of having to do what was needed to keep our country safe and the rest of the world safe drove me and many other students to pursue the study of math and science. With the advent of all of the technology students are used to having help with even simple math problems and using spell check and do not take as much time to ensure that even the most simple problems are solved, they rely on technology. It is great to use technology for help and to help solve problems, but problem solving skills and thought processes also need to be worked on by students and teachers. STEM education is used to help students develop this thought process, to become self assure and to allow students the opportunity to try designs (whether experiments or building an object) of their own design (Lantz, Jr., 2009).
Teachers need to incorporate STEM education into their curriculum to help students develop the necessary skills. Administrators need to allow teachers time to attend conventions and other professional development classes so that teachers can learn how to incorporate STEM into their everyday lessons. Technology needs to be available to the students and teachers, along with the necessary training, so that students are working on up to date skills and developing the all important thought process skills.
References:
Friedman, T. L. (2010, January 10). What's Our Sputnik?. New York Times (New York City), p. 8.
Lantz, Jr., H. B. (2009). Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Education What Form? What Function?. Current Technology Integrations. Retrieved January 15, 2012, from www.currtechintegrations.com/pdf/STEMEducationArticle.pdf
