What connections are there in STEM education and postsecondary expectations for students?
STEM education prepares students for postsecondary life in many ways. Incorporating inquiry-based learning into the curriculum allows students to have a desire to gain content knowledge, as well as allowing them to identify problems, while developing solutions. Project-based learning also provides students with the skills needed for college and careers, such as time management, goal setting and giving them the agency to work through technical problems. Twenty-first century skills enable students to practice today’s workforce norms, such as collaboration, critical thinking, and creativity. Finally, the engineering design process allows students to utilize cognitive strategies needed for college and career readiness.
Provide examples of assignments that would satisfy the criteria of both.
1) In high school geometry, students learn about transversals, parallel lines and the types of angles that result from these intersections. At the last school I was at, we had students draw their own city, labeling the different types of angle pairs with different landmarks. However, this could be further developed to allow students to incorporate a scale drawing as well.
2) Currently, Arizona has been suffering from the worst drought it has experienced in over one century. Since much of this is a result of how water from the Colorado River was divided among the states, students could research this history, and then perhaps use mathematics to determine how much water one of our cities or municipalities needs. They could perform calculations and develop a written proposal on how to address this crisis. This would be a group assignment that is tied to something that will affect their future.
