Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (which are often referred to as the STEM subjects) provide students with critical thinking and problem-solving skills that will be in great demand industry-wide as IT advances. As companies opting to make themselves compatible with digitization grow in number, future generations will require the STEM skills to lead a technology-centric world, and preparing them for it must start at a young age.
Unfortunately, students’ math scores across the United States are strikingly low, with the U.S. barely managing a 470 in mathematics literacy on the international PISA test. This is the country’s lowest score yet, but since the test was first administered 15 years ago, the U.S. has never found itself on top.
Educators are becoming rightfully concerned about the kind of future American children will manage to create for themselves without the STEM skills many of them will need if they’re going to flourish in their careers. Initiatives to boost performance in STEM-related subjects have been a focus across many of the country’s school districts over the last decade, and what’s proven to be successful in helping students comprehend math and technologies, is introducing more technologies into the classroom.
From educational robotics, to app-based progress trackers, to computerized missions that use math as currency to play the game, educational applications are engaging current students in ways textbooks and standardized testing have failed to do. This is especially the case for a generation that’s grown up using modern technologies from a fledgling age; they find them comfortable and familiar, and teachers can therefore use them as valuable tools for integrating lessons.
Apart from making STEM more enjoyable, entertaining, and easier to understand, there is software out there that can also assess how students are doing in real-time, providing important statistics for both educators and policy makers. Visit Knowledgehook to learn more about how educational apps can give insight into each student’s strengths and weaknesses without having to wait for the results of a chapter quiz, unit test, or state-wide examination, allowing for faster intervention.
It also encourages new approaches to pedological thinking that support the success of students; for example, by looking at an app’s results, examiners are able to evaluate what form a question needs to take to better inspire or motivate the student to find a solution. Teachers on the front lines can also learn from these programs to form a teaching style better suited to how their students’ brains work, which will ultimately make maths more accessible. It will also create more favourable outcomes for them as they continue preparing for life in a world growing to be increasingly more hi-tech.
While improving students’ relationship to maths and sciences is one of America’s most glaring challenges, introducing new educational methods into individual schools and classrooms may be the solution for curbing a large-scale problem. This will enable educators to zero-in on what affects their students specifically and immediately, in hopes that providing coaching as it’s needed when it’s needed will encourage more positive engagement with STEM subjects as they take on a more prominent role in students’ futures.
