If you’re wondering “What is STEM?” you’re in the right place! As a new STEM teacher, you’re about to start an awesome, exciting, and super fun journey!
But let’s be real – starting a STEM class can feel overwhelming. What should you teach? How do you get started? Don’t worry – keep reading to feel confident going into your first weeks of STEM and beyond!
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What is STEM?
Let’s tackle the big question: What is STEM? While you probably know that STEM stands for science, technology, engineering, and math, there’s much more to it than that. Many people assume that teaching these four subjects separately is STEM. That’s not it at all!
STEM is a unique teaching approach that builds problem-solving skills and prepares students for real-world challenges. Think of it as training young minds to tackle problems the way professionals do.
Anne Jolly, in her book STEM by Design, puts it perfectly: “In teaching STEM, you’ll be involving students in an approach to learning that focuses on combining knowledge from four content areas – science, technology, engineering, and mathematics – to solve current, real-world problems” (2017, p.8).
In other words, students will be presented with a real-world challenge and use the engineering design process along with their science, technology, engineering, and math skills and knowledge to develop a solution to the problem.
An engineering challenge doesn’t have to only include the STEM subjects, and it doesn’t have to involve all four disciplines, but it does have to include problem-solving as the focus.
Pro tip: If you are looking for a STEM Teacher textbook, STEM by Design is the one!
Getting Started with STEM
Since problem-solving is the heart of STEM, start by teaching your students the engineering design process. Think of it as giving them a roadmap for tackling any challenge. Once they understand this process, they can handle any STEM challenge you throw their way!
The Engineering Design Process
The engineering design process is your students’ go-to problem-solving strategy – it’s what real engineers use every day! While you’ll find different versions online, they all follow a similar pattern:
- Analyze the problem and define success criteria
- Research and brainstorm possible solutions
- Plan and create your solution
- Test and evaluate results
- Improve and repeat the cycle
Want to dive deeper? Check out our detailed article on the engineering design process!
Teaching Students to Think Like Engineers
Here’s an outline of how I start my STEM classes every year. This tried and true plan allows students to build their problem-solving skills and lay the groundwork for a successful year of STEM.
1. Explicitly teach teamwork skills.
Engineers work on teams. Before students can do any STEM challenges, they must know how to be a good team member and practice it. Otherwise, even the most interesting and exciting challenges can be a flop.
If you need ideas for how to teach this vital skill, read by article on teaching effective teamwork skills.
2. Let them experience a STEM challenge!
Right after we work on teamwork skills, I give my students a design challenge. I tell them their only grade will be based on their teamwork (the teamwork rubric I use is here), and they do not need to solve the problem successfully.
I want students to construct their own understanding of the engineering design process by experiencing the problem-solving approach firsthand.
This background knowledge will help them make connections and learn vocabulary when you introduce the process in the next lesson.
3. Introduce the engineering design process steps and vocabulary.
Show them a chart of the design process that you will be sticking with throughout the course. Grab a copy of my free engineering design process poster below for free!
Explain what happens during each step of the process. Have students make connections to the challenge and steps they went through previously. Let them observe others working through the design process in TV shows or articles. Teach them the important vocabulary, like criteria, constraints, and prototype.
4. Assess their learning through another STEM challenge.
Now that they are familiar with the problem solving approach, allow them to apply the engineering design process to a new problem.
At first, some students will really struggle with brainstorming and having their prototypes fail, but as they learn this is all part of the process, they will get better and better at it.
Need more support? Grab this complete 5-week unit plan with over 200 pages of digital and print resources to ensure your students master the engineering design process and meet middle school engineering standards, all while having a lot of fun!
What’s Next?
Once your students understand what STEM is and master these basics, the world is their oyster! Whether they’re interested in environmental science, robotics, or anything in between, they’ll have the tools to tackle any challenge.
Pro tip: Let your students help choose your next direction! What are their interests? What real-world problems exist in those fields? Or you can grab one of our easy-to-implement middle school STEM challenges.
What Did I Miss?
Do you have other burning questions or concerns about STEM-based education? Let me know in the comments and I’ll get back to you!
This is truly the most fun subject to teach! Wishing you the best school year yet!
Here’s to inspiring future scientists and engineers,
Works Cited
Jolly, A. (2017). STEM by Design: Strategies and Activities for Grades 4-8. Routledge.
