A STEMS2 unit should allow the students to
see the integration between Science, Technology, Engineering, Math, Social
Sciences, and Sense of Place. I feel that right now, people teach all of these
things separately but I feel that the purpose of making an acronym is so that
we know that these things should be treated differently but they work very well
together. The point that I’m trying to make here is that instead of one day
having the students learn about science or one day have the students learn
about math, but make an entire unit or lesson that involves applying each of
the different categories as a whole. If we do this, I feel that our students
would be more engaged because many of these topics involve the students to be
hands-on, do problem solving, make use of modern and non-modern day technology,
and even use or apply what they have learned towards their environment and
society.
The experiences that the students should
engage in should definitely be related to real-life experiences that they’ll
encounter. However, this may be difficult because we can’t have field trips to
everybody’s homes every day because we not only need to fulfill our STEMS2
goals, but also our standards of the curriculum that we’re involving STEMS2 in.
Therefore, I feel that we should have a balance of engaging the students
outside of the classroom and within the classroom so that they are engaged with
actual surroundings that they’ll encounter. They will not be stuck in a classroom
for the rest of their lives… unless they become a teacher =P
It is difficult for me to give a time limit
for how long this unit should be because I feel that the best units or lessons
are the ones that the students will carry on and experience for the rest of
their lives. If we can give them the skills that they’ll use and remember in
our STEMS2 class, then it’ll be the best unit ever. It is unfortunate though that
as for me, I’m limited on the curriculum that’s already made for my class, so I
not only need to focus on STEMS2, but just physics experiences that they need
to encounter. I love having to incorporate or think of the ideas that keep
popping into my head about applying STEMS2 into a physics point of view though.
Therefore, to summarize the key parts simply, I feel that
our STEMS2 unit should:
Emphasize the integration and connection between Science,
Technology, Engineering, Math, Social Sciences (societal issues), and Sense of
Place (taking care of the environment and others)
Make a connection with the standards in the classes that we’ll
be teaching in
Use multiple ways to assess the students both inside and
outside of the classroom
“Learning Journeys” that relate to the students’ life and
sense of place
There’s probably more, but these are definitely the ones
that are jumping out at me. Hope you enjoyed the read!
