Math and Science Education Crisis
There is a crisis in American education today; too few students are graduating from
high school fully prepared to begin a career or a college degree program (Diaz &
King, 2007). Policymakers and education reform proponents are raising a call for
students to learn complex, cognitive, social and communication skills to develop
“habits of mind” – often referred to as 21st century skills. Students need to practice
solving problems and making informed decisions, rather than merely warehousing
collections of facts (Kolodner, et al., 2003).
Too often science education fails to engage student interests and is separate from
their everyday experiences. Curriculum and education reform efforts suggest that
when students “do science” they gain knowledge and skills that are transferrable to
future problems and that help prepare them to approach college and career with
the tools to succeed (Diaz & King, 2007). Research tells us that students learn best
when encouraged to construct their own knowledge of the world around them
(Satchwell & Loepp, 2002). It is through integrated STEM projects that this type of
learning can occur.