"Brakes squeak, and other stuff."
This was written by a customer at a bike repair festival where I was a volunteer. Most customers were asked to write their complaints on a card, or hang around and wait for the one or two people who were screening the bikes. Most customers wrote about a part that was causing a problem, such as a chain, tire or handlebars, or nothing at all. We had a couple people, myself included, who would answer verbal questions of those willing to wait for us, but these were generally people with very specific requests that involved high quality bicycles.
When I hear calls for more Science, Technology, Engineering, Math (STEM) teaching in grades 1-12, I often think of that day, especially that quote. I think the hope is that more of those students will be able to maintain their own bikes, or at least be able to explain what they need more clearly. Similar hopes haunt IT help desk workers, car mechanics, and others who make our complex economy work.
However, this is a blog about baking as much as policy. With the exception of mulberries, stems are just annoying compost once they've served their role attaching fruit to plant. As a professional "STEM" educator, I find myself very much in agreement with an Ohio State professor who put it well: "I can teach mathematics to someone with mechanical ability much easier than I can teach mechanics to someone with mathematical ability." One the best bike mechanics I know has a degree in anthropology. At the same time, it's hardly a safe bet that someone with a mechanical engineering PhD can change a tire or brake pads.
On top of this, we engineering professionals are not the only ones who wish students had a stronger background in our field before leaving high school. English programs around the country now sic graduate students on first year undergraduates to try and break them of habits learned on teh intertubes & txt msgs, and to teach basic grammar that was never learned. Text analysis, knowledge of history and even basic geography are all skills that are badly needed by all citizens of a republic.
To answer my question,"yes." But that does not mean we should flood the schools with math teachers, science text books and a battery of standardized tests. Mathematics is a language, not magic. Engineering is an art form that serves a purpose; its practitioners are not coldly rational so much as aware that reality can't wait to prove them wrong. Technology is often thought of in terms of gadgets, but it is the sum total of human endeavor, and must be understood in that context. Science, ultimately, is nothing more than that which we have not disproven yet.
The critical failing of most STEM education is that it teaches in terms of "right" and "wrong" answers to simple questions. The professional scientific and engineering world is full of "better" and "worse" solutions to very complicated problems. Ironically, this lesson is best taught in history, shop and home economics classes in high school. Good stems are needed to get good fruit, but it is important to remember that STEM is a means, not an end.
2 comments:
Theologians and liturgists have similar complaints and make similar comments about liturgy as language and art. When we're preoccupied with a world of black and white, either-or thinking, we probably aren't as open to the realm of symbol and metaphor. And if we don't know how to speak the language with which liturgy operates in our regular lives during the week, we MAY have amazing experiences of God's presence in our lives when we come to church either every Sunday or once in a blue moon, but this is by no means guaranteed. Good food for thought . ..
It's been a while since I've sauntered over here, so I'm commenting on a fairly old post, mainly because this is something that is rather near and dear to my heart. Actually, my father would probably be an even better person to talk about the problems with the current educational system, but I will try...
Where to start... I think I mentioned when I visited that, were I to teach now the class I taught in my last semester at ND, the grades would be significantly lower. It took me a long time to get to the point where I not only know but am ready to stand by my conviction that it's the learning process that is important, not the grade. Back then, I was way too willing to grade on a curve. Now, I believe that can only help to lead to lowered standards and a focus on grades instead of learning.
When I hear of such things as "teaching to the test" I want to simply run away. That is not teaching someone to make connections, to think, it is turning people into machines that can mark 'C' on question 20 of the test. The grades, though, are great!
Speaking of "STEM," for me what math and engineering did was to organize my thinking. Life is too complex to take all variables into consideration, but being able to create a plan to get from a start state to an end state is something that can be a great help in day to day life. Being able to see/find some sort of order in life also helps, though theology might have more to do with that than engineering :)
Since you mentioned a similar need to focus on language and history and other things, I should say that I think those can help, as well. History, especially, can be a great tool if either:
a) The teacher is good enough to not just teach a sequence of events, but to link those and show how one led to another, etc. Or,
b) The student looks at history with a similar purpose (much harder to do, especially with younger students).
So, why don't students learn these things? (as an aside, the misuse of English on blogs, Facebook, etc. makes me rather sad, because most of it is unintentional - I actually enjoy an intentional misuse of language, but that is a different story) Basically, I see a few main problems:
a) The parents care more about grades than their children's learning, so on the rare occasions when a teacher is willing to enforce standards, the teacher ends up the villain.
b) Teachers are not willing to enforce said standards. Part of it may have to do with experience (see my story as a first time teacher above) and part with not wanting to put up with the hassles that come with trying to enforce standards.
c) Year of diluting curricula have left an insufficient amount of actual material. I was very surprised when I came here fourteen years ago and I saw high-schoolers to math I was doing in fifth or sixth grade. Of course, it seems like Romania has gone ahead an aligned with civilized standards, but that's another story altogether.
There's more to be said here, but this is already way too long.
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