“I really wish we didn’t have to take a math classes in college,” said Eva. “The ideas are all hard for me to understand. It’s like my brain doesn’t work that way.” Eva is like many college students, woefully unprepared for college math and classes that involve math. Many teachers witness this struggle within their classroom and students, requiring future changes to be made. However, the field of education is constantly evolving. Whether it is because of the introduction of new technology or even new ways of teaching itself, teachers need to be innovators. A new initiative in the teaching community is Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM); it will better prepare children for higher education and future high paying jobs.
STEM education is vital to the future success of America’s economy and its future workers. “STEM job creation over the next 10 years will outpace non-STEM jobs significantly, growing 17 percent as compared to 9.8 percent for non-stem positions” (Why STEM Education Matters, 2011, para. 1). Many companies are resorting to outsourcing the technology and engineering part of these jobs. “Google, Microsoft, IBM, Facebook, and other major tech companies -- insist businesses cannot find the skills they require in the domestic labor market and need access to a bigger, global pool of STEM workers” (McSherry, 2013, para.11). However, if the domestic pool of these workers were greater, then companies would no longer be required to import them. A reevaluation of the level of education that students are leaving American high school with is taking place. Innovative changes made within the schools will hopefully bring the U.S. up to the level of education global workers are receiving, but we must begin when child...
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...or a recovery of the jobs that were previously outsourced to be done by Americans for America, facilitating economic growth and prosperity.
Works Cited
Why Stem Education Matters. (2011). U.S. Commerce Department. Retrieved from http://www.nms.org/Portals/0/Docs/Why%20Stem%20Education%20Matters.pdf
MCSherry, J. (2013). 2013 Ineeting Engry Survey: Pressure Up, Salaries Down. Electronic Design, 61(11), 26. Retrieved from http://eds.b.ebscohost.com.lib.kaplan.edu/eds/detail?sid=1e76bc50-b47d-4907-9b94-55898d5dcddb%40sessionmgr115&vid=5&hid=115&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmU%3d#db=f5h&AN=91103806
Moomaw, S. (2013). Teaching STEM In the Early Years: Activities for Integrating Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. St Paul, MN: Redleaf Press.
With wonderful learning opportunities, a team of sharp and intelligent classmates and teachers, and specialized equipment, the Governor’s School at Innovation Park is the ultimate dream of all determined math/science devotees. With my natural curiosity for mathematics and science and eagerness to take on challenging ideas, I can collaborate with the team at Governor’s School to develop our wide spectrum of ideas and abilities into a highly sophisticated product.
STEM, also known as Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics, is the field that is advancing at a rapid rate. Within STEM, there are many occupations across the four fields. As years go on, more and more people start to have a growing interest in STEM, but this can’t be said for women. Women almost take up half of the workforce, but when it comes to STEM, women only take about 24%, almost half of the women aren’t participating in STEM. The numbers continue to get worse. From 2000 - 2009, the numbers have remained at a constant 24%. At this rate, employers could potentially see a decline in women’s representation, but there have been efforts to change this rate (Beede et al par. 6). This could mean disastrous problems in the world as more problems will arise and there’s nothing to be done because companies are non-diverse and
Steen, Lynn Arthur . "Integrating School Science and Mathematics: Fad or Folly?." St. Olaf College. (1999): n. page. Web. 12 Dec. 2013..
Froma Harrop’s essay New Threat to Skilled U.S. Workers is a detailed and factual essay about the mystery of job-outsourcing. She also mentioned the long-term effects of the issue on our economy. Harrop’s audience for her essay leans towards skilled U.S. workers who are unaware that many jobs are moving overseas, but includes young college students as well. At the beginning of the essay Harrop immediately starts with an account from Alan Blinder, a Princeton economist. She describes his great displeasure after hearing how enthusiastic U.S. executives were while discussing job-outsourcing. Another pertinent piece of information included in Blinder’s account was his prediction that a great amount of jobs would be lost in the near future. “We speak of computer programing, book-keeping, graphic design and other careers once thought firmly planted in American soil” (Harrop 130) Harrop’s use of other sources helps give more credibility to the essay; however, it can decrease the complexity. Aft...
“We are going to do in the future what Americans are doing today. Your job is to invent the future” says Jaithirth Rao of the Indian company MphasiS to Thomas Friedman, author of The World is Flat (389). America has always been abreast of the latest and greatest ideas and designs. However, America’s position in the world is becoming increasingly difficult to guarantee due the decreasing number of college graduates. Tamar Lewin reports in a New York Times article how a recent study by Complete College America discovered that “despite decades of steadily climbing enrollment rates, the percentage of students making it to the finish line is barely budging” (College Graduation Rates). Why? A simple answer is that a large number of American high schools aren’t adequately preparing their students for college. To reset this trend, good work ethic, innovative courses, and early vocational and technical training should be introduced and encouraged in high schools. Thomas Friedman and his book The World is Flat describe the effects of globalization on the world. Foreign schools are quickly rising to and even surpassing the levels of education in America, putting our place in the world in jeopardy.
By keeping the old ways of teaching, students are never prepared for jobs that actually exist. Instead students are forced to learn the standard way and lose the ability to apply their prior knowledge to current jobs. Modernized teaching allows an individual to form a creative side of thinking. This is done by using technology, where individuals are able to explore and think of things in new ways never thought of before. Davidson discusses how the education system strictly focuses on preparing students for higher education rather than properly preparing them for jobs in their fields of interest. She
The United States is a country that thrives through technological advancement. The wealth and success of this nation is dependent on providing every child, regardless of race, ethnicity, or gender, with the opportunity to obtain technological skills that are essential for a successful future. Unfortunately, educational funding for technology has failed to take precedent. In realizing that, the question then becomes, how is a country expected to thrive from the use and advancement of technology, when failing to properly train future leaders? Funding must be provided for schools to purchase technological equipment, such as computers, in order to ensure that each child has an equal chance to thrive in a country that is defined by its advancement in technology.
In this generation, with this continuously improving developments and the global economy, education that is of high quality is not only the pathway towards opportunity but it is a pre-requisite that one needs for achieving success. Since educational achievement and economic progress are inextricably linked, it is essential to educate every student in America so as to graduate from high school fully prepared to join college and for a career is of national importance. So as to create an economy that will last, there should be revision of competitive and complete education that can enable learners to succeed in the global economy that is based on innovation and knowledge. This essay argues for reform of K-12 education through includes stopping cuts in education budgets to curb teacher attrition, incorporation of technology to empower teachers on delivery, expansion of the K-12 engineering curriculum and accountability reforms including the delivery of tests so as to improve K-12 education in the United States.
College preparation is not the only area in which schools are failing students. According to Achieve, Inc. (2005), 39% of high school graduates in the workforce say that they have deficiencies. When asked about being prepared for future jobs, forty-six percent say that they are deficient in the skills needed. These shortcomings in the education system will escalate when in the next 10 years, 80% of job openings will require education or training past the high school level (Achieve, 2010). One third of jobs will require a bachelor’s degree. Lower educational attainment is a national problem. Competing countries now boast more workers with associates degree...
Have you wondered what would be the best degree to have in your life? The STEM vs. Humanities argument is a decades-long debate, but in this new era, the answer is quickly becoming clear. The STEM field is rapidly growing, with new and innovative advances. STEM degrees are becoming increasingly useful for young adults, far ahead of humanities and liberal arts degrees. STEM majors make more money, are better employed, and are better educated and prepared for work. STEM graduates are making nearly $16,000 more than their liberal arts counterparts and are more likely to hold a full-time job. The job market for STEM fields is also favorable for young adults, with the unemployment rate of STEM majors being a full 1.6% lower than the unemployment
With this promise came serious concerns over education taught students ranked 28th in the United States out of 40 other countries in Mathematics and Sciences. 80% of occupations depend on knowledge of Mathematics and Science (Week and Obama 2009). In order to ensure that educators have enough money to fund the endeavor to be more competitive with the rest of the world in Mathematics and Science, President Obama will increase federal spending in education with an additional 18 billion dollars in k-12 classrooms, guaranteeing educators have the teachers, technology, and professional development to attain highly quali...
This class has opened my mind to the incredible impact that STEM Education can have on our society. I do not work in an institution that has a STEM program. I work at a preschool; this makes my practice of any type of STEM program extremely limited. However, it is a private school. All my students come from households where one or both of their parents are professionals. These professionals want their children to be academically prepared for school. This means we must academically, mentally, and emotionally prepare them for their future schooling. I teach my students how to be a functioning participant in a classroom while exploring mathematics, science, art, history, literature and pre-writing. Puzzles, counting, shapes, measuring, etc. are on the daily agenda. Science is a huge part of our curriculum. Science in the
In the United States, many lack the skills necessary for college. Unfortunately, the education system fails to prepare some of its students for work or higher learning. Despite these circumstances, teachers and bureaucrats seek improvements to obtain higher success. In spite of the pressure for success, the current situation is not yielding the desired results. Moreover, in the recent State of the Union Address in early 2014, President Barack Obama stated the need for improved education, especially in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, or STEM fields. Yet, what should reformers pursue? Researchers have observed recurring problems to direct the improvement of education. The information presented, particularly over the past ten years, has revealed a need to involve the students that lag the most. Education risks excluding k-12 boys and minorities, as well as remedial education collegians, in higher education.
Throughout out this semester, I’ve had the opportunity to gain a better understanding when it comes to teaching Mathematics in the classroom. During the course of this semester, EDEL 440 has showed my classmates and myself the appropriate ways mathematics can be taught in an elementary classroom and how the students in the classroom may retrieve the information. During my years of school, mathematics has been my favorite subject. Over the years, math has challenged me on so many different levels. Having the opportunity to see the appropriate ways math should be taught in an Elementary classroom has giving me a
The National Science Education Standards have set the standards for teaching science. Under Program standard B the standards discuss the best ways children learn science. Program standard B states ì the program of study in the science should be developmentally appropriate, interesting and relevant to students lives: emphasize student understanding through inquiry,, and be connected with other school subjects.î This sums up what teachers need to be doing un their classrooms to teach science. The traditional textbook only and work sheet teaching of science is clearly not recommended with inquiry and hands on experiences. Standard B shows representations of methods to use not only in the teaching of science but other subject areas.