You’ve heard the new buzz around the staff room table, STEM. Yep, it’s another change in the way education is taught. But how do we teach STEM?
Well really, STEM is not a new way to teach it’s just a new way to label something many teachers have been doing for a long time.
So how can you set up a STEM program at your school?
There are several steps to make sure you will have success when you teach STEM. You may be introducing STEM in a single classroom or it may be for the whole school. Either way these steps will help to ensure you’re on the pathway to success.
1. Understand what STEM is
STEM is much more than just taking science, technology, engineering and math out of the classroom and teaching it in the same way under a different title.
STEM is about developing problem solving and critical thinking skills in our students from a learner centered environment.
I came across this definition from STEAM powered family – It’s a philosophy of education that embraces teaching skills and subjects in an a way that resembles real life. It is very rare that any of the STEM subject areas are applied independently of each other.
This article from Education ABC talks about how the focus has shifted away from lessons around learning “content” to a stronger emphasis on learning and applying scientific skills, design thinking, and digital and design technology production skills. Delivering STEM through thematic learning activities provides a much more diverse range of ways for students to engage.
2. Understand the pedagogy in order to teach STEM effectively
Ok, alright, I know we are all teachers and we have been through university or college to get here, surely we know how to teach? However hear me out. I used to be a classroom teacher too (can I hear an Amen? Cos I’m telling you, classroom teaching is a hard gig. I applaud each and every one of you).
Now as a specialist STEM teacher, the way I teach is totally different.
It is very difficult not to ‘help’ students in the way I use to. If a student was struggling in class, I would show them a correct way of doing the task. But who’s to say my way is the only correct way? There are many ways to solve a problem, particularly in STEM. If I was to always show a student how to do it, all of my students’ projects would look and be exactly the same. That is no way to teach problem solving, critical thinking and creativity.
According to Bruning, Schraw, Norby, and Ronning 2004 – Learning is a constructive, not a receptive, process but how can you apply this to your classroom?
Start simple. No one wants to overwhelm anyone here. We all have enough on our plates.
Use the engineering design process to help guide your lessons. (you can get a free copy here).
Remember to allow students to make the mistakes themselves. I challenge you when a students asks you for help to answer with the following:
‘What do you think you could do to improve the design?’ or
‘How do you think you could fix it yourself?’.
If the students are not given the opportunity to fail and think of a new solution, you are robbing them of the skills they need to problem solve.
3. Prepare and be organised
Regardless of if you are teaching 15 or 50 students you need to prepare for STEM lessons. Get all the supplies needed for that lesson in an easy to access place. Ideally some kind of trolley or caddy.
Label everything. Yes, this is time consuming but I guarantee it’ll be worth it.
Once students know where all the supplies are they can access them themselves without relying on your assistance. Get scrapbooks or folders for the students to keep their designs in (you can get free editable labels here )
3.1 Prepare your lesson
Start with;
- The Learning Intention, what would you like your students to learn by the end of this lesson?
- Whole class introduction. I like to spark curiosity with a video clip or story.
- Design Brief. what is the challenge or task? For example: You are an Structural Engineer. Your task is to design and build a shelter for animals to survive a bushfire. (access free Design Brief and planning documents here).
- Plan your time for each task. Introduction 10 mins. Design Brief Planning 10 minutes. Construction 20 mins. Clean Up 10 mins. Conclusion 10mins. In my experience my STEM challenges take at least 45 minutes to one hour. You may need to work over two weeks, and that’s perfectly ok.
Photocopy anything you may need and have it ready.
4. Set student expectations before starting
Know what you will and WILL NOT allow in your STEM space before starting the lesson. In my class STEM is a privilege that students don’t want to miss out on. A few things that are expect in my class are;
- Respect ALL materials and equipment, that means also putting it back where you found it.
- Everyone cleans up everyone mess – no one gets to sit down once the entire place is clean, because for me, I have 13 classes coming through my space over two days. It has to be kept clean.
- The only response to being put into a group/team is ‘Hooray’. My students know that I do not tolerate eye rolling or groaning because students are not in the group they would prefer. If you can’t say something nice, then kindly be silent.
- Keep trying. Some people figure out the answer in the first try. It may take others 5 tries but I expect you to keep trying. I don’t expect that every group will complete the design in the time frame we have. For some groups it just won’t be possible, but it doesn’t mean that they haven’t learned anything. They may have found 5 ways that DON’T work!
5. Teach your STEM class
Using the lesson plan that I outlined above, start! Teach your STEM class.
After setting the expectations and demonstrating them I begin with the provocation. Students will be excited by now. They will have curiosity and want to know what they are going to be doing. It is then that you write the design brief on the board. Your first lesson will take much longer than subsequent ones. You will need to introduce your students to the design brief an how to fill it out. What we mean when we say materials for example.
When students complete their plan, I usually sign off on it and they can begin their build, doing it this way serves two purposes. I can check their work and it means not everyone is grabbing and snatching at the materials all at once.
When the designs are completed and the room is clean, it is valuable to get the group to sit in a circle. This is where students can show what they produced and other students can ask questions or make suggestions about the design. My students use the STEM question starter poster to get ideas on how to pose an appropriate question.
So now you are ready to start your own STEM classroom sessions. You’ve been introduced to what STEM is and the pedagogy behind it. You know about setting clear expectations and how to be prepared and lastly you know how to run a STEM lesson.
You will discover that this is the best thing for you as a teacher and for the students as well. Watch them grow and discover that they are far more capable than they ever imagined.
PS: Embrace the craziness – it will get messy!
Your Homework
Attempt one of the steps I mentioned above and leave me a comment about how it went. How do you feel about teaching STEM now?