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Hopefully you don’t have that constraint, but realistically you probably do. And those all-important problems may need to synchronize with a specific set of math and/or science standards from the school system’s pacing guide. They have to be problems that students can reasonably grapple with. But for me, identifying real-world problems that students can solve is one of the hardest parts of creating STEM lessons. Providing students with real-world problems and asking them to brainstorm solutions will bring their higher order thinking skills into play. In its policy paper on establishing effective K-12 STEM education programs, the National Research Council reports that students in high-performing STEM programs have opportunities to learn science, mathematics, and engineering by addressing problems that have real-world applications. Providing students with real-world problems to solve fuels their curiosity and investigative interests. Problem solving is really the heart of STEM investigations.

We know, for example, that a good STEM lesson accomplishes these things:

While things seem a bit muddled on the STEM teacher preparation front, we do know some things about STEM curriculum. That’s an impressive job description however, one source describes the teacher preparation system for STEM teachers as “chaotic, incoherent, and uncoordinated, filled with ‘excellent programs, terrible programs, and many in between.’” That’s not surprising, since the STEM acronym has only been around for a few years. They work together with students on activities to develop students’ critical thinking, communication, assessment, and inquiry skills. STEM teachers pose problems and combine problem solving with project-based learning across disciplines. See Anne’s recent posts for more real-world STEM.