Stembridge Labs : Key Features of STEM Education
by Monil Girdhar digital markterTraditional 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.
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Created on Jul 5th 2018 06:22. Viewed 385 times.