Introduction to STEM

education
STEM education emerges as an opportunity in the face of the dynamics of the
different economic sectors of societies that have been demanding a society and
people qualified in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.
Dimensions that lead to integration into the curricula of educational institutions to
determine new ways of teaching and learning.

Each historical moment of the human being is characterized by social, political, economic,
technological and environmental dynamics that determine the forms of teaching and
learning conceived in the projects of educational institutions. The 21st century has not
been immune to these dynamics based on new methodologies, strategies, curricula and
educational approaches, so STEM is an alternative that affects the ways of teaching and
learning of the present.

STEM education is presented as the way to educate in an integrative way without dividing
knowledge, seeking that students can learn and use Science and Engineering to solve the
problems that arise in society, preparing future citizens. of the 21st century that are now
permanently surrounded by technology so that they can understand it, use it and make
correct decisions about it, and manage to develop new solutions with the support of
Science and Engineering.

What is STEM education?

STEM education according to Botero (2018) is made up of the English acronym

STEM. It is worth mentioning that in our Spanish language the acronym is STEM,
but here reference will be made to STEM. To discover its meaning and other
information, explore the following learning resource that will help identify basic
elements of STEM education.
How does STEM education emerge?
STEM is an acronym created in 1990 by the NSF (National Science Foundation) of
the United States, a government agency that promotes research in all non-medical
fields of science and technology, however, it is important to identify historical
moments of being. human in relation to Science, Technology, Engineering and
Mathematics.

Thus, you should start by thinking about these questions: how does STEM
education arise? What characteristics does STEM education have? To resolve
these questions and others that will arise, we invite you to learn about the
background of STEM education.

1. Primitive man and nature have walked hand in hand since their appearance 315
billion years ago.
2. Initially he used his hands and legs as technological instruments to solve basic
transportation and communication problems, among others.
3. Man has made use of Science, Technique and Technology, turning them into great
tools to adapt and dominate nature.
4. To the extent of its reach, it conditioned its environment for the development of
society.
5. In the 20th century, the rise of science, technology and engineering began,
increasingly improving work.
6. In the 21st century, a hyperconnected world emerges with diverse and big
problems that sometimes seem not to be solved, but new ways and horizons are
opening up to interact in society.
7. Among the major developments is the possibility of changing fossil fuels for clean
energies that do not continue to pollute the planet.
8. The development of interplanetary travel to other planets such as Mars.
9. All this development leads to preparing future generations of citizens, according to
the needs of the 21st century.
10. But it continues to be taught in the same way planned by the Greeks and Romans:
a school, a classroom, a teacher or light of wisdom that guides his students along
the path of knowledge, which have been configured by separate paths: Sciences,
Language , Mathematics, History, Geography, Arts, Physical Education... which are
taught masterfully and each one in its established space
11. STEM Education is the way to educate in an integrative way, seeking that students
can learn and use science and engineering to solve problems, preparing future
citizens of the 21st century.

In 1990 in the United States, the idea of coining the subjects of Science,
Technology with Engineering and Mathematics arose in the National Science
Foundation - NSF (Katzenmeyer, 2006), presenting changes in the way in which
the subject should be taught. It should be more in line with the current reality,
where technological advances are so extensive that it is not possible to assimilate
all the impacts on society.

The reflection that was presented at the National Science Foundation at that time
was how the United States society, a world leader in many fields and technological
developments, especially in innovation, was lagging behind in socio-economic
advances ( Purzer, 2014); Among the most relevant conclusions were:

Currently, American society has scientists, engineers and technicians and other
professions who were trained with the developed world 34 years ago.

The contrast between the training received and the current reality allows us to
make the right decisions to continue maintaining the development of global
leadership.

New advances configure situations such as the possibility of remote work, which
generates the need for companies to be interconnected, either because their
employees work from home or because their company headquarters are located in
different places around the world. These new needs It demands new ways of
facing reality and requires the strengthening and development of certain skills.

The reference framework is a document conceived in the United States between

1989 and 2012 and included contributions not only from educational organizations,
but from different companies in the country; In this way, contributions were
obtained that allowed the strengthening of science teaching in schools. Among
them are philanthropic organizations such as: Carnegie Corporation of New York,
Achieve Inc., The American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the
National Science Teacher Association NSTA. Sciences).

The final document was developed by four groups led

by experts from the education sector such as:

Physical Sciences Group represented by Dr. Joseph Krajcik

Life Sciences Group by Dr. Rodger Bybee
Earth and Space Sciences Group by Dr. Michel Wysesion
Engineering, Technology and Science Applications Group by Dr. Cary Sneider
Joseph S. Krajcik serves as director of the Create for STEM Institute in the USA. USA
Create for STEM is a joint institute between the College of Natural Sciences and the
College of Education, at the University of Michigan, that seeks to improve the teaching and
learning of science and mathematics from kindergarten through college through innovation
and research both in the US. USA as in other countries.
Throughout his career, Krajcik has focused on working with science teachers to reform
science teaching practices to promote student engagement and learning in science
through the design, development, and testing of science learning environments. project-
based sciences .

Among the general objectives established in this document for the training of 12th
grade students were:

Have sufficient knowledge of Sciences and Engineering to be able to take part in

discussions on related topics.

Be careful consumers of scientific and technological information related to daily life.

Learn about science in environments outside of school.

Have the skills to pursue careers of your choice, especially those in Sciences,
Technology and Engineering.

The reference framework considers a new concept of education from the

perspective of three dimensions, as follows:

Science and Engineering Practices.

Transversal concepts.

Fundamental disciplinary ideas.

Use Mathematics and Computational Thinking

It shows the use of mathematics as a universal language of science that allows

shaping phenomena such as the management of matrices to solve the analysis of
large volumes of data in a probabilistic and statistical manner of real-life problems.
Example: passenger flow in a transportation system.
There is a clear difference in the use of mathematics and computational thinking in
science and engineering, let's look at two examples:
Sciences: they are fundamental for the representation of variables, in building
simulations and predictions of physical systems and allow carrying out tests that
allow supporting or refuting proposed hypotheses.
Engineering: they are essential for the design, since they allow simulations to be
carried out that demonstrate compliance with the specifications and in this way
verify the tests of the physical model, its operation and develop the respective
improvements.

Purposes of STEM education

At a global level there are many experiences on STEM education, especially in the
United States based on technology standards and the new Natural Sciences
standards for the new generations, with which a great educational revolution has
occurred, but at the of Latin America is not a very widespread topic, so this course
seeks to make known the characteristics of this new education that seeks to
transform education for the 21st century.

It is then observed how the reference framework motivates the generation of

ideas on how to teach and learn science, following three aspects.

1. Teach STEM in the subjects of Science, Technology, Engineering and

Mathematics.
2. Develop STEM skills.
3. Focus on innovation.
3.2 Principles for the design of STEM strategies
It is important to highlight that, for this STEM education model, it is very important
that future citizens carry out engineering practices that give students the
opportunity to learn science concepts and discover their great achievements and
contributions to society, supported by four principles:
Principle of progress during development
Allow students to build their knowledge based on their curiosity about what
surrounds them and how the world was built.

Progressivity principle
Develop the principle of progress from the initial years of training and plan its
development through all grades of school study.

Principle of fundamental ideas

Prioritize the selection of fundamental ideas to give both teachers and students the
opportunity to have sufficient time to delve deeper and coherently experience the
topics; It is not about dictating a number of topics in a superficial way and without
opportunity for practice.

Principle of integrality between scientific research and

engineering design
Promote the learning of Science and Engineering by integrating these two
important components and the subjects of the curriculum.

According to Vásquez, Sneier and Comer (2013), when designing problems for the
development of learning experiences, it is necessary to have pedagogical principles for the
design of strategies that the teacher must always keep in mind when developing their
teachings. activities with their students. Therefore, the following information should be
reviewed to assess its contribution to teaching and learning practices in the Colombian
context.

Intentionality

Activities should always be developed thinking about merging the subjects. It is

clear that not all subjects are possible to integrate in all cases; however, the
objectives of each activity indicate the importance of comprehensiveness.
STEM education

It is not a methodology, it is not a curriculum or a study plan; It is not just another

ingredient to develop the class, it is about the way in which the topics are
presented, the decision of this new way implies the degree of depth that is given to
each aspect to be taught and its depth .
Relevance

The curricular standards, the study plan and the instructional activities indicate
what contents to present to the students and, at the end, their performance within
the topics related to these contents is evaluated. However, relevance must be
given to content with real-world problems of daily life in this country.
The above, always emphasizing how these concepts contribute to performing in
real situations. Therefore, to select the topics, it must be considered that, in order
to deepen the learning, the activities require more time to develop. Therefore, it will
be necessary to discard some topics and focus on others.
Developing skills for the 21st century

It is necessary to develop the capacity of citizens to function adequately in different

personal and professional fields; knowledge with in-depth teaching helps to
potentiate a social and economic force in accordance with current needs.
Challenge students

Students' interest must be maintained through challenges, this allows their curiosity
to be active, but a balance must be maintained and prevent them from getting
bored or giving up due to extreme demands.

mix it all

It is very important that students be able to engage in activities that allow them to
find solutions, build models and demonstrate the knowledge acquired. By exposing
him to these principles his learning is enhanced. When a student manages to learn
new concepts, he or she expresses his desire to demonstrate his achievements so
that they can be recognized .

Failing is part of the path of learning

It is an opportunity for discovery that is done through a process of analysis of

results and is the key to discovering new ways of carrying out the task and
achieving solutions that had not even been considered. The teacher must allow
students to reflect on what happened and The activity remains incomplete, this
allows the development of skills such as critical thinking, problem solving, creativity
and collaboration.

Once the above information is understood, some recommendations have been

selected for the design of strategies according to authors such as Traig (2015),
which complement the proposal of Vásquez, Sneier and Comer (2013). They are:

Have students express their prior knowledge about the specific topic that is being
presented. This alternative is very useful for the teacher because the level of
knowledge of the entire group can be determined.

Ensure that students remain in constant discovery, to motivate their learning.

Get students to take a position and defend their ideas regarding the specific topic
proposed and debate them in groups, so that they can support their knowledge
with tangible evidence.

Giving the student time to find meaning in their ideas, through the contribution of
other students' ideas, this allows evaluating whether understanding has been
complete; This deepening of learning will forge prior knowledge for future activities.

Maintain the attitude of “hands in pockets” in the face of any complication of the
students in the development of the proposed activity, so it is better not to teach that
the teacher is an escape route, the students will feel happy to get out of the
situation alone. the situation.

Guide the class through questions that arouse curiosity, so that they can verify if
they are achieving an acceptable solution with their knowledge. Example: what do
you think about this? Have you already tried this and that? What evidence supports
your claim? Is there another additional explanation?

Present always new activities in such a way that students do not present themselves in
discouraging situations because they already know the dynamics of the activity; The
teacher must maintain a repository of new topics to avoid these situations and maintain the
same student dynamic of discovering new knowledge.