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Monday, July 13, 2015

DOLLAR DAZE IV - THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU ARE LOSING?

STEM educators employ a particular mindset that encourages students to engage in activities and improve themselves.
HTTP://BLOG.KNOWATOM.COM/ARE-YOU-MODELING-A-STEM-MINDSET|BY FRANCIS VIGEANT

I understand KnowAtom is costly, especially if you think specifically SCIENCE. After all LPS now has an Asst, Director of Curriculum for that who is not being paid for out of a grant this year. My schooling was all in the SCIENCES and yes, even some maths. There was a time, believe it or not, I thought at a pretty high level. A few days in a coma took care of that problem.

The thing is there is such a curriculum crossover with the learning of this type of mindset it's unrealistic and unfair to concentrate and attribute the cost to any one specific area. The benefits are to your global education. As much as I am anti-math I will never forget my high school guidance counselor pointing out the parallels between good writing and math (See I used a MATH term, who says GEOMETRY was such a waste of time?). After all, the completion of a thought or balancing a chemical equation is just making sure both sides are even across the equal sign. I owe whatever successes I've had in court (NO one really wins) to being taught in high school how to complete a GEOMETRIC proof. You don't know how much it pains me to say that.

There is something here to mitigate all of this self inflicted mathematical torture though. I sense a little CLASSICAL PHILOSOPHY in this approach. Look at this:

Replace traditional lectures and quizzes with an inquiry-based approach to STEM learning that makes students real engineers and scientists in the classroom. When students are problem solvers, they learn that there are many solutions to an issue, and that with work, trial and error, and the willingness to experiment, anyone can succeed.

If that isn't the SOCRATIC METHOD of dialogues, a BACK and FORTH method of learning I don't know what is. It is an approach that serves the students well in every subject.

It's all about learning how to learn.


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