Teaching STEM not glorified craft!
I really hate when things are so prescribed that the only product a student can produce is the exact copy of the example the teacher has shown. Anything else is inferior! It drives me crazy that teachers can’t see how they are stifling students. If students are following a step by step guide then you are NOT teaching STEM, instead you are teaching gloried craft.
The most frustrating thing is, it is not your fault! Since STEM has come into the limelight over the last 10 years, every man and his dog are labelling their craft activities as STEM. If the activity involves zero student led design, chances are it is not a STEM activity.
How to identify a glorified CRAFT activity
2. Everyone’s design looks exactly the same.
3. Everyone has to use the same materials for each step.
How to identify a STEM activity
- The design task is open ended. Students can chose the materials that they use for each element.
- There are many ways to achieve a design solution, each way can be correct.
- Students actually design and engineer their own solution.
- Students creations will all look different.
So don’t beat yourself up if you have fallen into the trap of running a glorified craft activity, thinking that you were doing STEM. Instead, you can now make an informed decision and decipher what you consider to be a genuine STEM activity and what is just plain old craft.