Teaching STEM part 3
According to several studies, in the next decade, there will be about 1.5 million more jobs in science and technology than college graduates to fill them. The shortage will be more severe in developing countries and may have a devastating consequence to their economy. Even countries with a large population such as India and China will not have enough people to improve their growing economy as most of their best-skilled workers will probably leave for better jobs elsewhere. To encourage more college students to study Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM), we need to build a strong foundation in science and math in both elementary and high school. But we need to use different teaching methods because traditional method of memorization is not suitable for these subjects, and make students fear math and science.
When teaching science to young students, traditional education is focusing mostly on formulas and textbooks, rather than allowing them to discover how science works. Children in elementary school are curious; they want to know about things that they are interested in. They learn by observing things around them, asking questions, discuss with friends then formulate their ideas, and that is how they learn. At this age, most children like to ask questions, and we need to encourage them by giving the answer and challenging them to learn more instead of giving them books and tell them to memorize facts. That will discourage them to learn about science. Science and math are closely related. Children learn science by observation, asking questions, analyze the facts, experiment with data and developing the concept. Just like math, they count, compare, measure, record and draw a conclusion and eventually understand the formulas.
Mathematics is important in helping children to think logically so they can solve problems. Children need to know some mathematics to study science. Math is needed in engineering, technology, chemistry, physics and much more. In my opinion, mathematics is the foundation of almost everything to help the student think logically and developing a deeper knowledge. Unfortunately, without proper teaching method, without encouragement and correlate mathematics with other fields, we make students afraid of math. In high school, students must learn Arithmetic, Algebra, Linear Algebra, and Calculus but how many know what they are for? How many appreciate math? How many know how to apply them to other fields? Students take them because they are taught in high school, and they must memorize formulas to pass exams. How many of them understand that the basics of Differential Equations, Probability, Statistics, Numerical Analysis, and Discrete Mathematics are the core foundation of software engineering, big data analysis, deep learning s and machine learning? But without a clear explanation of the relationship between math and science, many students do not see the need to learn them.
The main reason, many students, do not select STEM fields because they fear math and science because they do not have basic foundations in elementary and high school. In my program at Carnegie Mellon, I developed a “Foundation of Mathematics” course and required all students to take it in their first year, before they even take the “Introduction to Computer Science 101”. In this course, I spend the time to review some basic concepts and make students go over some math exercises to make sure that they have enough foundation to continue. The approach is not about memorization but to understand how math can be applied to all the courses that they must take in my program. In the beginning, many students complained: “We have passed national exams, we already learn them in high school then why to make us take them again?” I explained: “I know you have taken them but this is a different approach. If you know math well, you will not have difficult in my course; it is easy to get a high grade.” Within a few weeks, many students admitted: “This is very different from what we learned in the past, it is not difficult but enjoyable. Now we know the difference between Applied math from Theoretical math as taught previously.” I told the class: “Even you did not do well in math classes in high school, you can build your foundation here so you will not have difficulty in the next four years. Because you need a strong foundation in math to study science, any science, including computer science.”
I often tell my students: “When I was young, I was afraid of math more than afraid of ghost. I did very poorly in all of my math classes from elementary to high school. Every time I saw numbers then I had a headache. When I was in 9th grade, a teacher understood my fear and willing to help me. She told me: “The reason you do not like math because you do not have enough confidence. The problem is probably you avoid math in lower grades or did not learn enough basics well, so you lost the ability to build up your math skills. What you need is to rebuild your basics then you will do well.” Each day, she gave me ten short exercises that I must finish before leaving school. Most are the basics math that I did not learn previously. Within few months, I improved and was able to catch up with other students in school. Even fifty years later, I still remember her valuable advice. I share my view with students: “A dedicated teacher can make a difference in students' learning. I owned so much for many teachers who taught me and that is why even today, I retired from working in the industry but returning to school to teach so I can help develop another generation of students in math and science. Software engineering and mathematics are not difficult; it requires commitment and practices. As long as you are willing to spend the time to study, spend the time to do exercises, spend the time to practice, you will do well.”
I believe Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) is not about special knowledge for a few smart students to get jobs at top companies in developed countries. It is about training a competitive workforce that is needed to keep a country's economy thriving. Today with the explosion of knowledge and technology, every country gets impacted by them. Unfortunately, many leaders do not understand the impact of technology yet. They still think having computer laptop in every office or let workers use mobile phones means they are readied for the 21st century. Having computers and mobile phone are not the same as training young people on technology. There is an urgent need to educate people on what they can do with technology and allow them to innovate, to create, and to improve the economy. You do not learn science just by having technology devices. You need to encourage young students to read more, learn more, and build a foundation as early as possible so they can adapt to whatever change in the job market.
If you look into the young population today, you can predict the future of the country. The people that are most likely to succeed are just a few who have access to a good education system and whose family can afford it. But there are many who do not have access to books, schools, and proper education. We need to look at those facts and numbers and ask ourselves: “What are these people do in the next twenty years, when they grow up without jobs, and without hope? What will our economy be with the next generation? If we do not act now by providing more STEM education to all, the future is very bleak.
Sources
- Blogs of Prof. John Vu, Carnegie Mellon University
