What are STEM skills?
STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) is an approach to education that focuses on the hard sciences, develops critical thinking skills, and improves problem-solving abilities.
What are the benefits of STEM?
What are the benefits of STEM?
STEM equips kids with competencies that will enable them to overcome personal challenges, pursue careers in technical fields such as software engineering or artificial intelligence, find creative solutions to difficult problems, and understand how the world works. For example, perseverance is important to success in almost any endeavor.
What are STEM skills?
Skills gained from STEM education include:
- Complex Problem-solving
- Critical thinking
- Reasoning
- Creativity
- Teamwork
- Self-confidence
STEM helps kids learn to stick with difficult tasks and abstract ideas.
Math is hard. Coding is too. Kids who push through the frustrations learn that great rewards lie on the other side of big challenges. John F. Kennedy articulated the attitude of STEM professionals in 1962 when he said, “We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard.” Professionals in STEM fields often enjoy complex problems.
Is coding a part of STEM?
Coding is one of those skills that can be applied broadly across many different disciplines. While coding is often compared to learning a language, the skills learned in coding are actually more closely related to the STEM subjects.
For instance, the process of debugging code aligns nicely with the scientific method. Coders and scientists both test their hypotheses through experimentation. They observe the results and adjust based on what they see. Math concepts can easily be seen in coding. Things like measuring distances and working with variables are foundational. And many of our technologies and engineering jobs are dependent upon a firm foundation of code. When we look at the concepts that make up STEM, coding is linked with each of them.
problems.
Is coding a part of STEM?
Coding is one of those skills that can be applied broadly across many different disciplines. While coding is often compared to learning a language, the skills learned in coding are actually more closely related to the STEM subjects.
For instance, the process of debugging code aligns nicely with the scientific method. Coders and scientists both test their hypotheses through experimentation. They observe the results and adjust based on what they see. Math concepts can easily be seen in coding. Things like measuring distances and working with variables are foundational. And many of our technologies and engineering jobs are dependent upon a firm foundation of code. When we look at the concepts that make up STEM, coding is linked with each of them.
problems.
Why is STEM so important in early childhood education?
We incorporate STEM learnings in all our curiculum
Getting into STEM early can be the key to a lifelong interest and a productive career in related disciplines, especially for girls. Women currently represent a smaller percentage of people in STEM careers than men. Women remain underrepresented in engineering (14%), computer (25%) and physical science (39%) occupations (Pew Research Center 2018). But some organizations are trying to change that, and they need qualified candidates with STEM backgrounds to do it.
STEM teaches kids the skills they need to do well in school, and not just in their STEM classes. Critical thinking is valuable in reading, writing, and other subjects. STEM also gets students interested in constructive hobbies. Many people working in computer science and engineering started out by experimenting with computer programming, ham radio, or electronics as kids.