Stembridge Labs : Key Features of STEM Education

Traditional education in India is comparatively more popular than the modern teaching approach – STEM. While traditional method of teaching is confined to books and classrooms, STEM calls for experiments and experiences. Today, when technological advancements are taking over the world, traditional academic education needs drastic transformation. This is where STEM education fits in.

While the traditional curriculum includes a little bit of everything, Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics – STEM – puts extra focus on these four disciplines. If India needs to keep pace with the global technological advancements, STEM must be accepted by the leading educators.  

Here are the key features of STEM education:

Implementation

While traditional education system puts emphasis on learning pre-existing theories and memorizing them, STEM requires implementation of these theories. With practical implementation of the learned theories, students are able to realise the real life applications of these theories.

Creation

When students are busy experimenting, they have a scope for out of the box thinking. Unlike traditional methods of education, they are not memorising hypothesis which is already known to the world. Instead, get into critical thinking, innovate something new and learn through practical approaches. New age discoveries and innovations like robotics and 3D printers are all credited to STEM.

Learning through doing

Learning is common to both traditional as well as STEM education. However, learning the subjects does not build creativity. STEM, on the other hand, imparts creativity and enable students to ask important questions like how a particular phenomenon occurs, what the need of it is and what the effects are. When students explore STEM, they become curious to learn and explore.

Meaningful interactions

In general, teachers speak about a particular topic while students listen to them. This kind of teaching is mostly termed boring by the students. STEM is not at all boring as speaking is turned into interactions. As STEM lessons are not limited only to classrooms or textbooks, it is more exciting and engaging. It is not just giving lectures, but getting engaged into meaningful interactions that lead to innovation.

Experimenting

Learning from mistakes is the biggest agenda of STEM education. Failure is considered a lesson and it gives experience as students become aware of the mechanism, not just the process.

The increasing development in the field of technology requires making transformational changes in the traditional education system. To create highly skilled workforce in order to compete with the world, it is crucial to bring STEM education in India and make necessary developments for the same. Fortunately, steps are being taken in this direction.