Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM)
It seems that we can't go more than a few weeks without reading another article about how poorly students in the United States do on math and science when compared to their international peers. And yet, we can't help noticing that so many of the technological breakthroughs in the last decades - even centuries - have taken place in United States. So how is it that the United States can be such a leader in STEM products, but fall short on quality STEM education for all of our students? Thankfully, we're not the only ones asking this question. Educational research now gives us some good answers about how to create great STEM programs starting with our youngest children. The STEM programs at Cypress were designed with this research in mind.
At Cypress, children do not 'take' STEM. The core idea behind STEM is that science, technology, engineering, and mathematics must be taught in ways that blend these subjects together and allow multidimensional application. At Cypress we plan proactively to integrate learning across content areas. This doesn't mean that we don't have classes dedicated specifically to math and science content. We do. But, our students shouldn't be surprised to find that a concept they just studied in science, comes up that same day in math or language arts or even music. We know from experience that integration of subject material creates sparks in our students' minds and promotes innovative thinking and understandings.
While seamlessly connecting the STEM subjects together is an important part of effective STEM teaching, integration of subjects in and of itself is not enough. That is why we are so excited about our Problem-Based Learning programming. Problem-Based Learning exemplifies an inquiry based approach to teaching STEM and is a unique approach for New Orleans. We know our approach to STEM will propel many of our students into future careers in science, technology, engineering and math.
It seems that we can't go more than a few weeks without reading another article about how poorly students in the United States do on math and science when compared to their international peers. And yet, we can't help noticing that so many of the technological breakthroughs in the last decades - even centuries - have taken place in United States. So how is it that the United States can be such a leader in STEM products, but fall short on quality STEM education for all of our students? Thankfully, we're not the only ones asking this question. Educational research now gives us some good answers about how to create great STEM programs starting with our youngest children. The STEM programs at Cypress were designed with this research in mind.
At Cypress, children do not 'take' STEM. The core idea behind STEM is that science, technology, engineering, and mathematics must be taught in ways that blend these subjects together and allow multidimensional application. At Cypress we plan proactively to integrate learning across content areas. This doesn't mean that we don't have classes dedicated specifically to math and science content. We do. But, our students shouldn't be surprised to find that a concept they just studied in science, comes up that same day in math or language arts or even music. We know from experience that integration of subject material creates sparks in our students' minds and promotes innovative thinking and understandings.
While seamlessly connecting the STEM subjects together is an important part of effective STEM teaching, integration of subjects in and of itself is not enough. That is why we are so excited about our Problem-Based Learning programming. Problem-Based Learning exemplifies an inquiry based approach to teaching STEM and is a unique approach for New Orleans. We know our approach to STEM will propel many of our students into future careers in science, technology, engineering and math.
