I am currently a Junior majoring in elementary education. One thing I have noticed is that science has always been an intimidating subject in school. So, I was wondering how we can remove that fear from students and make it a subject that they look forward to. One thing in particular I would like to learn more about is how we can make STEM engaging for students.
Hello Maria,
From my experience, one way to engage students and have them look forward to the subject is by being transparent. This can be done by showing students where science is applied in the real world and how it is interconnected with the other subjects taught in school. One strategy that I like to refer to is hands-on/minds-on learning. This is where students are actively engaging with science and explore different fields of science through exploration, inquiry, and collaboration with their peers.
I hope this helps!
- Brittany Lingenfelter
Preservice Teacher
Wartburg College '24
Good luck with your educational pursuits and congratulations for choosing what promises to be a very rewarding profession! I don't think our children come to us with a fear of science. Would you agree that they fear what they don't know or understand, yet are expected to ssometimes with little support. One of the great resources we have as teachers include the educational research that our learning theorists have shared on how children learn and excel in subjects like science. Providing scaffolding; using engaging, interesting phenomena; allowing for hands-on exploration; etc. - these are all ways to hook our students into wanting to learn without being afraid of what they don't understand YET.
As far as engaging STEM lessons, the NSTA Learning Center has a multitude of resources. Check out their STEM Resources webpage. If you go one click further and click on the VIEW ALL, you will be able to filter by grade level, type of resource, and NSTA journal, among other things. Happy Searching!
Sincerely,
Prof. Mohr
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