Providing a strong STEM foundation in K-12 schools is necessary to prepare students for well-paying, in-demand jobs; however, our education system has a history of leaving underrepresented groups in STEM behind in their academic preparation. To advance STEM diversity, The U.S. Department of Education announced on December 7, 2022, that it launched itsRaise the Bar: STEM Excellence for All Students Initiative, a new program to encourage high-quality PreK-college STEM education.
Issues impacting STEM education
- STEM educator shortage
- Empower teachers without a STEM background to teach STEM topics
- The need to build inclusive classrooms
- Modernizing STEM education
Making STEM relatable and fun is essential to capture students’ desire to take STEM subjects as high school electives to undergraduate coursework and beyond. Scaffolding STEM lessons is one way that educators can support students in pursuing more challenging math or science courses that prepare students for university-level STEM coursework rather than filtering students from underrepresented groups into classes that lack academic rigor. Examples of scaffolding include breaking large projects into smaller steps, providing explicit instruction and timely feedback, connecting new concepts to prior coursework or student experiences, and offering experiential learning.
Explore more STEM diversity topics
Want to explore STEM diversity more? You may like these other articles from our blog:
- Advance STEM Diversity with Culturally Responsive Making
- 5 Ways to Create Inclusive Classrooms
- Rethinking Math Education to Boost STEM Equity
Sources:
VARconnection 