Foundations of STEM programs

Science class has come a long way from baking soda volcanoes. No longer do K-12 students spend 40-some minutes in a science or math course, only to move on to the next subject and forget what they just learned. Rather, the emergence of STEM has shifted the focus to incorporate science in multiple aspects of education.

STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) fields have been on the rise in the past decade, with a number of schools emphasizing their importance to students at younger and younger ages. The different disciplines are seen as essential to education in a way not understood before. The Committee on Stem Education (CoSTEM) was even created in 2011 to develop a national strategy for investing federal funds in elementary through high school education. With U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projections estimating that STEM occupations will grow faster than the average for all other occupations—and with higher wages—the emphasis seems to be a priority.

Empowering the Whole Student

While the need to ramp up STEM curriculum in schools is apparent, the implementation of successful programs can take time. For St. Sebastian Parish School in Akron, the process of being awarded a STEM designation by the Ohio Board of Education took about a year and a half. Getting staff on board, visiting other STEM schools, developing partnerships with businesses and The University of Akron all took time, say Principal Anthony Rohr and STEM Coordinator Kelly Gupta. “It was through these partnerships that our ideas for our problem-based learning concepts were first developed,” they say.

Students at every level—from Pre-Kindergarten to eighth grade—are offered project- and problem-based learning opportunities. “St. Sebastian School is invested and committed to offering a rigorous integrated curriculum rooted in problem-based learning,” explain Rohr and Gupta. The goal is to give students the tools to be successful once they leave the classroom. “We want our students to become creative, thoughtful problem solvers.”

Problem-based learning involves open-ended problems to which students explore various solutions. “Whether the students determine there’s a problem to solve or the teachers give them a specific problem, students are immediately engaged in the research, planning, and development of [how] to solve the given problem,” say Rohr and Gupta. “Once possible solutions are determined, all students work towards the goal of testing their possible solutions and implementing them.” To track progress, students are required to submit a document detailing their design and thought process for each project. This allows teachers, parents and the students themselves to map out how the process worked from beginning to end.

St. Sebastian highlights the way STEM learning strengthens the whole student. “STEM learning is empowering for all our students, but especially for the younger ones,” say Rohr and Gupta. “It is amazing to see their faces light up when they discover that the solution they propose to solve a problem actually works! This makes them more likely to take educational ‘risks’ and become more creative thinkers.” Extracurricular activities—like Science Olympiad, Gravity Racing Challenge, and an ecology club that harvests produce for The Good Samaritan Hunger Center—foster this kind of creativity, underscoring the belief that STEM education should be cross-curricular. Rohr and Gupta say the students of St. Sebastian “are encouraged to find intersections between science and the arts and have a wide breadth of interests.”

An Integrated Approach

STEM learning is distinguished from a more conventional approach to science and math by integrating core subjects, rather than teaching them in isolation. “It isn’t so much what courses we offer [as] the unique way the subjects are taught that makes us STEM,” says Amanda Morgan, principal to fifth through eighth grade students and Instructional Leader of the National Inventors Hall of Fame School Center for STEM Learning. Creating the right learning environment is key, she says. Traditional classes—math, language arts, social studies, science—are taught right alongside engineering, digital literacy, instrumental and vocal music, and Mandarin Chinese.

“STEM is about constructivist or inquiry learning,” explains Morgan. “In that kind of environment, children are asked to play a much bigger part in their own learning. Rather than trying to give knowledge to kids, we coach them to find it for themselves.” The goal of this approach is to develop a stronger connection to the content being studied. This structure helps prepare students for careers that don’t exist yet, but will. “We design our learning around 21st century skills: collaboration, communication, creativity, self-direction.”

Using a “blended learning” model that combines online learning with classroom instruction, students at the Inventors Hall of Fame School progress at an individual pace. “For example, learners work in an online math program that is intuitive. Based on how a learner responds, they receive practice and instruction at their level,” explains Morgan. Teachers act as Learning Coaches who facilitate guidance for the content.

The school’s method of instruction resembles the problem-based learning system at St. Sebastian. “Coaches decide which learning standards they want to tackle and then work with community stakeholders to identify a problem that they then pose to the learners,” says Morgan.

This stakeholder involvement connects middle school students not only to the educational content, but to their community as well. “Problem-based learning as well as service learning are the perfect tools for creating opportunities for civic engagement, even for a 10-year-old. Our kids are presented with authentic problems by people in our community and are asked to work together to develop solutions that make a difference,” she explains. “To us, that is very real-world.”

Learning for the Future

Once students reach the high school level, STEM learning can reach a more focused level. Opportunities for students to concentrate their learning in STEM fields are emerging at specialized high schools across the country, and Northeast Ohio is no exception.

Stephanie Lammlein is the founding director of the Bio-Med Science Academy in Rootstown. The 9-12 public high school located on the campus of Northeast Ohio Medical University (NEOMED) graduated its second class this past spring. With an emphasis on innovative learning, the academy challenges students to a rigorous foundation grounded in STEM+M (science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine). “It’s really about hands-on learning and trying to grow kids’ 21st century skills,” says Lammlein.

Many students arrive at Bio-Med in search of a distinct education. “A lot of our students have interest in health care, but we also have students who are interested in all other facets of STEM. Or they’re just interested in learning differently,” explains Lammlein. As a mastery-based school, students have to perform at a certain proficiency level before they can move on. That being said, Bio-Med offers its students the foundations they need to succeed. “We’re a 1:1 school, so the kids all have laptops instead of textbooks,” says Lammlein. “Schools nowadays are ramping up the technology available to kids because it’s such an important piece of their lives, and how to use it properly is essential.”

Directing a school that is new and unique in structure comes with the task of assuring prospective families of its value. Lammlein says she is often asked the question, “Why STEM?” In explaining her answer, she cites the need for something new in the way we approach learning. “A lot of our education and how we teach hasn’t changed in many years. The pedagogy is still a great base, but we’ve got to start looking at how we do it a little differently,” she says. “I think STEM teaching helps bring academics to life. It’s more about applying your knowledge and knowing how to find answers and solve problems. I think that’s where our world is heading.”

Projects like “Senior Apex” give Bio-Med students a taste of that sophisticated problem solving. Students are required to find, secure, and complete some type of internship or research project during their final year of high school. Lammlein explains that “they’re finding projects that fit them and discovering whether it’s a career choice they want.” Seniors from this past year have obtained paid internships, taken graduate-level courses, and even trained as EMTs. “When you see a kid find their passion early on and they know ‘this is what I want to do,’ it’s priceless,” says Lammlein.

For Bio-Med, as well as several other schools with STEM programs, partnerships like the one with NEOMED have been indispensable. “In the world we live in, we all have to start working together. School can’t be separate,” says Lammlein. “Everyone needs to start working together to propel our country forward. The message is: start collaborating at all levels.”