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| What are your thoughts on STEM education in schools? Good, bad and ugly? |
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| Ed.Kloonk:
--- Quote from: I wanted a rude username on February 18, 2020, 01:18:38 am --- --- Quote from: laureng on February 17, 2020, 11:24:34 pm ---not because they don't have an interest and an aptitude, but because we just didn't engage them properly, or they only saw stereotypes they didn't fit into --- End quote --- This goes well beyond gender stereotypes. In year 8 or so I remember hearing a radio ad for engineering ... the message was something along the lines of "engineers make things happen" ... but my response was, who would want to be an engineer, they're nerds. It's telling that we have a higher than usual proportion of commenters from the Anglosphere in this thread. Our culture doesn't respect engineering. It's not Herr Ingenieur or equivalent as on the Continent. Scientists are nerds. Mathematicians are autists. In my opinion, any educator who wants to inspire children in STEM will have a lot of ground work to show them the societal benefits of it, the prestige in it, the fun and coolness to be had. And that's a big ask from teachers who, especially in earlier years, generally aren't STEM types themselves. A worthy challenge though. --- End quote --- I see it in a much more sinister light. The craft of learning to teach has been replaced by a study of PC, P's & Q's and crisis management. The bar of entry is so low now that anyone who can be bothered to stick around long enough for the entire course will indeed get placed in the education system somewhere. Many of these people have pretty lousy self esteem. What they learn in UNI is how to perfect the art of destroying things. Contrast that a potential engineer of primary school age, who wants to build things. The system is against that person, all the way. Killed in the crib. |
| coppice:
--- Quote from: Ed.Kloonk on February 18, 2020, 05:35:00 am ---I see it in a much more sinister light. The craft of learning to teach has been replaced by a study of PC, P's & Q's and crisis management. The bar of entry is so low now that anyone who can be bothered to stick around long enough for the entire course will indeed get placed in the education system somewhere. Many of these people have pretty lousy self esteem. What they learn in UNI is how to perfect the art of destroying things. Contrast that a potential engineer of primary school age, who wants to build things. The system is against that person, all the way. Killed in the crib. --- End quote --- A key thing that separates most engineers from most non-engineers is the non-engineers see the world as a zero sum game. That "A" can only get something by taking it from "B". Engineers see everything beyond land and raw materials as the elements from which to create something greater. I'm using engineer in a broad sense here. A chef has an engineer's mind set. Give them some ingredients, and their immediate thought is how to create something greater from them. You can't teach this. Its an innate part of their character. You see this starkly in things like the climate debate. Engineers look for ways to create solutions, while non-engineers think they can only improve things by cutting back. |
| SiliconWizard:
--- Quote from: coppice on February 18, 2020, 02:26:03 pm ---A key thing that separates most engineers from most non-engineers is the non-engineers see the world as a zero sum game. That "A" can only get something by taking it from "B". Engineers see everything beyond land and raw materials as the elements from which to create something greater. --- End quote --- That's an interesting partitioning. That may not exactly map to engineers vs. non-engineers, but that's definitely the partitioning between cooperative/constructive people vs. non-cooperative/destructive people, and I agree that the former tend to take engineering or creative jobs in general more so than the latter. |
| Mr. Scram:
--- Quote from: SiliconWizard on February 18, 2020, 02:37:29 pm ---That's an interesting partitioning. That may not exactly map to engineers vs. non-engineers, but that's definitely the partitioning between cooperative/constructive people vs. non-cooperative/destructive people, and I agree that the former tend to take engineering or creative jobs in general more so than the latter. --- End quote --- I think all of us encounter this in our professional lives too. Because people and companies are trying to reduce risk or cost in their little area they overlook the bigger picture and everyone benefitting from going ahead. This often even happens when it's pointed out. |
| smorriso3:
--- Quote from: coppice on February 16, 2020, 11:31:00 am --- --- Quote from: smorriso3 on February 15, 2020, 06:44:04 am ---The Ugly: Students who focus on nothing but good grades. I'm a senior officer in our campus IEEE chapter and I'm mentoring several students, some of which are EXCELLENT academically but poor when it comes to networking and career building. Yeah! Some (I don't want to call them kids) students are phenomenally good with maths but just don't care when it comes to networking and/or soft skills. Thats hard because as a mentor I really... want... them... to... care... thats not something thats easy to instill in somebody --- End quote --- You are describing the character of the majority of people with an interest and talent for STEM subjects. Its not ugly. Its just something you need to help students to mitigate if they are going to have a successful career. --- End quote --- Hi! 'Ugly' is a bad word. Do any of you have tips on how to encourage participation from young STEM professionals? What frustrates me the most is having to anchor a meeting/event because students who I care very much about aren't engaged in participating. Most of the tips from professionals 10-yrs my senior is order pizza. Is there any hope for getting young engineers to get more engaged and/or prioritize group-work more seriously? |
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