A recent article in Education Week breaks down key issues for improving STEM education.
1) How topics are explained is essential to motivation
Nearly half of teens in a recent EdWeek Research Center survey said having teachers who explain things so they understand them would have a major impact on their level of motivation in science, technology, engineering, and math classes.
Educators agree. Most middle and high school teachers of STEM subjects (59%) also said having teachers explain things so students can understand them would have a major impact on students’ motivation in STEM classes.
Students say they understand a subject better when teachers explain topics using everyday terms, real-life examples, pop culture and other things that interest them.
2) Teachers need to understand the content
Teachers might struggle to explain topics in ways students understand because they might not have a good grasp of the content themselves, experts say.
“Every teacher has had one of those days or one of those topics,” where no matter how many different ways they’ve explained it, students still didn’t understand it, says Christine Royce, a professor at Shippensburg University’s teacher education department, and a past president of the National Science Teaching Association.
“You have to actually know [the subject and the content] to understand the application of it,” she said.
3) Many students don’t learn STEM basics early on
Many students come into middle and high school classrooms without knowing all the basics from earlier grades.
Nearly 70% of middle and high school teachers said that a major barrier for students to learn STEM subjects is that they “didn’t learn all the basics in earlier grades,” according to the EdWeek Research Center survey.
“Students are coming with unfinished learning,” says Michelle Stie, the vice president of program design and innovation for the National Math and Science Initiative, a nonprofit that works with educators to help students become successful in STEM. “Sometimes, they’re not ready for what you are trying to present.”
Teachers need to know how to accelerate students through gaps in their content knowledge, Stie says. It takes training and support, as well as an understanding of what students were supposed to have learned in earlier grades.
4) Teachers need to be aware of student misconceptions
“You’re [a teacher with] the perfect example [for a concept], and it might have worked last year, or it might have worked last period, and all of a sudden, you just have a couple of students who have some kind of disconnect with what you’re trying to explain,” Royce says. “That often goes back to a student’s prior misconceptions. Something in their mind is not helping them connect those pieces together. A teacher must uncover what that is when that happens.”
For instance, if a science teacher has a lesson on stars and asks their students what color star is the hottest, it’s likely that students will say red, even though the answer is blue or blue-white. That’s because people have been preconditioned to think the color red means hot, Royce says.
5) Time and money are critical to better STEM learning
Teachers need time to build relationships with students and learn what interests them enough to know what real-world connections would motivate them. Time is also needed for teachers to collaborate with each other and share strategies that work — especially when finding new and relevant ways to explain complex STEM concepts. More professional development to hone these skills is also needed.
Districts also should ensure that teachers have the time to observe their peers teaching. There are always techniques teachers use that others haven’t considered.
Education Week
