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STEM educational activities prepare students for the real world. They help in their holistic development and promote skillsets like problem-solving, creativity, and inquiry.
Originally, the abbreviation STEM was introduced by the U.S National Science Foundation in the year 2001. But now the integrated knowledge and skills from the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics are gaining more importance in this dynamic digital world. As a result, our educational institutions including accredited online school are embracing STEM disciplines and curricula.
Let’s understand STEM education is a gateway to success in this Information age!
1. STEM is a pathway for great career prospects
17.9% of students in the USA chose STEM degrees in the year 2018. And since then, these numbers are growing in leaps and bounds. The main reason behind the popularity of these fields is their future prospects. In fact, it is estimated that the employment change in STEM occupations will be around 10.5% between the years 2020 to 2030. On the other hand, the non-STEM occupations are expected to change by 7.5% in the same duration.
The biggest reason behind this popularity is that STEM careers have better salary prospects. And their median annual wage is around $89,780. Which is obviously better than that of the non-STEM careers ($40,020). Source – U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics. This difference clearly shows that STEM jobs are the future of global employment.
2. STEM industry promising occupation choices
In this Information Age, STEM occupations are now beyond just the laboratory jobs. And it suits several professionals with their unique and inherent skillsets. A leading news journal shared a list of the best STEM careers which included the much-sought-after profiles like civil engineers, data scientists, psychologists, nurses, statisticians, dentists, etc.
The best part about these career options is that many of them do not need expensive and fancy degrees. And yet these offer a better salary package and a credible career pathway for professionals.
Another standout feature is that these career choices are suitable for both experienced professionals and recent graduates who plan to start their professional lives with a stable and promising occupation. All in all, educational attainment in STEM disciplines leads to an array of career options. And many of these are among the highest paying occupations within the job market.
3. Empowers to combat the challenges of life
STEM education fosters skill-building in students, which makes them more capable of understanding human behavior and the world at large. With these advanced abilities, students acquire an understanding of the real world around them. And they learn how to face and combat the challenges of this world even before they actually step into it.
These disciplines/fields foster an innovative bent of mind, which in turn makes the learners calculative and rational individuals. Exploratory learning across these fields also makes them proficient in a variety of tasks and their objection handling, which makes them more analytical about the global challenges. And they contribute towards resolving these issues by the virtue of their skillsets.
To this effect, you should definitely explre Brilliant, a one-of-a-kind virtual learning environment that wonderfully gamifies complicated idea understanding. For STEM students, the mix of high-quality programs, unique instructional structure, combined with beginner-friendliness makes it interesting. So, if you are wondering ‘is Brilliant worth it?’, the answer is yes.
After this broad outline of STEM education and it’s general importance in today’s world, Let’s move further and explore how STEM educational activities support students and prepares them for the future
1. 21st-century skill-building in the digital world
Creativity, critical thinking, problem-solving, innovation, design thinking, experimentation, etc. are the sought-after skills in this digital world. These skillsets build a sense of confidence in the individual. And they learn how to move ahead and emerge stronger despite hardships and challenges.
These fields encourage a trial-and-error methodology. Wherein an individual feels an inherent zeal to keep trying until the time he/she succeeds with the expected results. These disciplines/fields also foster advanced skills and high-order thinking capabilities in students. Which in turn makes them capable to work collaboratively within a team.
2. Helps to thrive in a competitive world with high cognitive demands
As the future of education, STEM learning programs incorporate and facilitate global competencies. STEM educational activities introduce educational innovation in the classroom and makes students critical thinkers. Today, when the world is in the recovery phase of the post-Covid challenges, STEM education is in demand in the top traditional schools and digital schooling platforms. It supports an individual’s holistic development through cognitive knowledge, and advanced skills. And prepares them for the competitive workforce and the upcoming challenges of everyday life.
3. Academic/soft and life skills
STEM education is a pillar that supports the inculcation of these essential academic and life skills in students. These qualities make the learners enlightened and rational thinkers. And they have the capacity to address the most serious issues/challenges of the world.
Similarly, soft skills acquired through STEM educational activities teach the kids how to adapt to various situations and scenarios in life, because this digital age is now more rapid, dynamic, and fast-paced than ever. Our young learners now need to possess both academic and 21st century soft skills (such as time management, empathy, collaboration, teamwork, communication, flexibility, etc.). This ultimately makes them competitive and visionary individuals in the long run.
Keeping all these benefits in mind, top accredited online schools and traditional platforms focus on building STEM skills in students.
Some more facts:
- United Nations
The Sustainability Insight #5 Investments in Science, Engineering, Technology, and Mathematics acknowledges the benefits of STEM learning for all levels of society. Because it improves the reasoning abilities of students and promotes inquisitiveness in them.
- U.S Ministry of Education
The world’s leading education system also believes in the importance of STEM learning to prepare students for the complex challenges of this world.
- Online STEM learning
Online STEM education is a credible solution for high-quality STEM educational activities for students across the world. And today, they are fortunate to avail the benefit of 100% online schooling in several parts of the world. STEM learning is now available within the comforts of the student’s home settings. Because the top international online schools offer high quality fully online STEM courses.
Other than this option, you can also nurture these skills in your children from an early age. Here’s a quick look at some practical ways of doing so:
Fun ways of problem-solving
Our children are curious beings. And this quality makes them exceptional problem solvers. Try to introduce questions from real-life scenarios to them. And encourage critical and divergent thinking. For instance, you can trigger their minds with questions related to random things that they see around them. Such as the impact of water quality on the life of fish. You can also introduce mathematical concepts to them with the help of household items, and let them solve issues related to an equal division of the commodities/eatables amongst the family members.
Encourage researching
This is another way to support your loved one with the help of technology. Let your kids make mindful use of gadgets. And let them research the hot topics related to Science or other similar fields. Do not forget to reinforce their STEM learning outcomes with appropriate appreciation and rewards.
Collaborative and individual Project
This age-old project based method is equally useful to introduce STEM concepts, terminologies, and theories to the kids. Let the kids create projects on rampant issues (like deforestation, depletion of non-renewable resources, global warming, the declining rates of groundwater, etc.) And always allow them enough time to research and get back with relevant findings. Culminate these activities with a solution-oriented approach, so that children understand their responsibility and become more careful about the global threats to our humankind. You can also promote collaboration by assigning the same projects to siblings, cousins, neighbors, or friends. And children can collate their individual information and present these facts as a team.
Final Words
Our future depends on STEM. So get ready to give your loved ones the right handholding for STEM learning and see how this process of knowledge construction helps them to be successful in all their future endeavors!