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QUESTION OF THE MONTH : How Do You Inspire a Child's Interest in STEM?

vijeth_ds

e14 Question of the Month

Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) is an term used to talk about related tech disciplines and is used to frame educational curriculum. Taking a STEM class in school is one thing, but sparking the interest in STEM of a child or inspiring them is another. 

Parents

  • The environment plays a large part as the child needs exposure and access to the tools and the building blocks. However within that environment they need guidance, support and encouragement along the way at a pace and level that fits their development needs. Patience can be an issue, so need to apply appropriate layers of abstraction until they are ready to delve deeper.

    Distractions and bad influences are likely to be an issue, as if something else looks more fun, then their young minds will wander.

    Exposure to real world context is important, they need to see STEM in the real world and be able to relate it to what they are learning from the text books. This is a lot easier these days with access to digital media on-line. 

    I'd be very wary of over relying on classes in school. This is a tricky one though as most people only go through school once so they can't really compare them with similar classes in other schools or how the curriculum has changed over time. Access to supplemental educational content today should be a game changer as should access to word processing, design tools and virtual environments. Same with access to low cost but powerful computing and digital cameras at home which benefits most subjects.

    Oh and parents - unless they work in STEM subjects, keep them at a safe distance.

Reply

  • The environment plays a large part as the child needs exposure and access to the tools and the building blocks. However within that environment they need guidance, support and encouragement along the way at a pace and level that fits their development needs. Patience can be an issue, so need to apply appropriate layers of abstraction until they are ready to delve deeper.

    Distractions and bad influences are likely to be an issue, as if something else looks more fun, then their young minds will wander.

    Exposure to real world context is important, they need to see STEM in the real world and be able to relate it to what they are learning from the text books. This is a lot easier these days with access to digital media on-line. 

    I'd be very wary of over relying on classes in school. This is a tricky one though as most people only go through school once so they can't really compare them with similar classes in other schools or how the curriculum has changed over time. Access to supplemental educational content today should be a game changer as should access to word processing, design tools and virtual environments. Same with access to low cost but powerful computing and digital cameras at home which benefits most subjects.

    Oh and parents - unless they work in STEM subjects, keep them at a safe distance.

Children
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