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STEM Learning Was Not a Thing Back in the Day

Close your eyes and reflect for a moment as you go back in time to when you were a student in grade school. Do you recall ever pondering the question of, when would you ever use the mathematics skills you were exposed to? Did you wonder then if you’d ever get a good future return on your effort investment that was needed to successfully master the concepts introduced?

For todays’ grade school student, the Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) and Science Technology Engineering Arts and Mathematics (STEAM) learning movements were initiated in an attempt to help provide some insight into these kinds of ponderings. The idea is to integrate applied technology, engineering, and arts activities into daily science and mathematics learning. Additionally, there was hope that the inclusion of STEM or STEAM activities would help increase student science and mathematics academic performance measures.

State of STEM in K-12

Well, according to a 2021 National Science Foundation (NSF) report, even with the introduction of STEM activities, American K-12 student STEM related performance indicator levels haven’t changed much and also lag behind similar indicator levels taken of students in other countries. In fact, the report shares that American mathematics students are in last place when compared to students from countries with similar resources and economies.

However, keep in mind that the innovative STEM and STEAM movements where introduced in the early 2000s. This is a year well after many of us seasoned adults graduated from high school.  That is and for the most part, our grade school science and mathematics course topic learning were light on the application exposure! I can recall how back then, interesting mathematical function work was performed with the help of lengthy paper-based function reference tables and pages upon pages of hand written calculations on notebook paper just to solve a single problem. It was a different time indeed!

Why Seasoned Adults Need Applied Learning Experiences

Fast forward to the current time, and my role has reversed such that I am now positioned not as student but as the coach and trainer of adult learners. Over the years I have found that adults have tended to enjoy learning mathematics and statistics principles when instruction aligned them with applications related to their experiences and areas interest.  In fact, in adult learning theory circles, there is an old proverb that is often quoted that appears to summaries adult learning considerations:

Tell me, I forget.

Show me, I remember.

Involve me, I understand.

Let’s face it; during our grade school experience when we were initially introduced to mathematics concepts, the amount of time our instructors spent in ‘tell me ‘ mode was quite disproportional to the time they spent in ‘show me’ or ‘involve me’ modes.  That is, it’s likely that many of us seasoned adults may have forgotten quite a bit of what we learned of grade school mathematics particularly so if we have not been readily using it of late.

And, it’s no secret that memory and retention typically change as we age. I believe that as seasoned adults, who may want to attempt to recall and use forgotten mathematics, we will likely need as many ‘show me’ and ‘involve me’ learning experiences as we can get!

Why STEAM-D Learning as Opposed to Just Having STEM or STEAM Learning?

As seasoned adults, there are many life factors and considerations that are important to us that may not be as pertinent (or just are simply taken for granted as a given) for those in other age groups. Some of those factors that come to my mind are:

• Mobility
• Health
• Independent Living
• Mental Agility

There are lots of interesting things going on given the advancement of modern technology, that have the potential to impact our ability to well experience these four life factors in positive ways as we age. These new technologies (such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), Internet of Things (IoT) and so on …)  seem to evolve and sprout up every day.  Interestingly however, fundamental mathematics, data, and statistics principles underly all of these advances and provide us with keys to better understanding them today. A command of these keys should also help us similarly in the future as these technologies continue to evolve new ones are introduced.

As seasoned adults, we need regular exposure to these advanced technology ideas  so that we know what they are and that they exist. We need to witness demonstrations, of these technology ideas at work, through the lens of fundamental analysis tools that we already have familiarity with like mathematics and statistics. We also need these exposures to occur during our learning experiences in a manner that helps ensure that we can better retain what we are exposed to about these technologies.

And , we need to have quality instructor guidance that nurtures us as we get involved and find opportunities to use these technologies in artistically creative and interesting ways. we need learning approaches taken that make sense and will be relevant to our personal reality. We need instruction on pertinent topics so that we can better understand how best to utilize these technologies to address and discuss life factors that are meaningful to our group.

I believe that engaging in Statistics, Technology, Electronics, Art, Mathematics, and Data (STEAM-D) integrated activities can aid us seasoned adults in these professional and personal development processes. We’ve been around on this earth a long time; so to be effective the learning environment experience and instructor needs to also respect and include integration of the vast knowledge and background that we bring when we participate in a STEAM-D session. As a STEAM-D trainer and coach, I strive to do these very things and more in the sessions that I deliver. Stay connected with me to learn more about up and coming STEAM-D offerings.