School systems have long relied on the principles of traditional education, but recent educational trends challenge this approach. Most notably, STEM education has emerged as a good contender. It has prompted teachers to adapt traditional curricula to make the subject matter more engaging and improve student involvement. Join us as we discuss both approaches and try to settle the STEM education vs. traditional education debate.
STEM Learning
First, let’s look at the most notable features of STEM learning.
Applying Knowledge
STEM stands for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Rather than developing student potential within a classroom setting, this approach focuses on teaching learners how to respond to future challenges.
Proponents of STEM education recognize that the world is rapidly changing and constantly floods people with seemingly limitless information. As a result, this approach highlights the importance of developing generic skills and integrating them into modern environments from an early age.
Instead of giving students impractical subject knowledge, STEM learning goes further. It employs goal-setting, revision, self-planning, self-monitoring, and self-evaluation to encourage learners to apply technical and scientific knowledge to real-world situations.
Detailed Exploration of STEM Subjects
STEM is by far one of the most detailed approaches to education. It introduces a wide range of scientific fields to young students. However, instead of briefly covering several key concepts, the method allows teachers to create comprehensive activities to develop diverse skill sets.
For example, one task could encompass both technology and media literacy. Students learn about scientific concepts, how to find and use valuable resources, and the importance of teamwork.
Considering STEM subjects have long been a store spot for many learners, this approach makes these fields more fun, engaging, and accessible. Not to mention, it allows educators to capture their students’ attention more easily.
Rather than focusing on one principle, they can combine related and interesting STEM fields into one lesson and connect it to real-world applications they can understand.
Integrated Courses
A STEM-oriented setting shows learners how different types of knowledge are interrelated. One common complaint among young learners is that they don’t realize how specific subject matter works in real life.
Through STEM-based activities, children see how all branches of science connect to and directly affect the real world.
Consequently, they’re more likely to pay attention to their courses and see how the topics relate to their other classes. When they make these connections, students will remember and retrieve valuable information more easily.
Learning By Doing
Another reason this approach shines in the STEM education vs. traditional education battle is that it’s thoroughly hands-on. It recognizes that students achieve the best learning results by adopting practical methods based on experiential learning.
It embraces active teaching strategies, promoting activities that improve classroom engagement. For example, some students might doze off listening to their teacher explain the property of volume with equations.
But when the teacher introduces a task where students place objects inside containers, they’ll become more interested and understand the concept’s real-world application.
Moreover, the proactive approach teaches learners how to adapt and overcome unexpected obstacles. It eliminates the fear of change while fostering a growth mindset, which is instrumental for students’ future academic and professional careers.
Discovering Facts
Although teachers in STEM settings present students with a set of data, they don’t reveal all the facts. Instead, they use group tasks and activities to urge learners to discover information independently.
But, of course, this doesn’t mean STEM education doesn’t require teacher guidance.
But the teacher is just that—a guide. They’ll show their class the right path and let students come to conclusions using critical thinking, problem-solving, and teamwork skills.
Relies on Student-Centric Approaches
As we’ve mentioned, students take the lead in STEM settings. Rather than being the authoritative “sage on a stage,” the teacher divides the class into smaller groups.
The goal is for students to use the provided prompts to reach innovative conclusions and bounce ideas off each other. Some projects stretch for several weeks and require even more dedication and collaboration.
Multifarious
STEM programs typically involve a wide range of activities. For example, while students might make moon cutouts during one lesson, they could work on a lunar phase calculator the next.
With such activities, thinking about innovative solutions is never too early. For example, while a first-grade class builds a LEGO rocket, the teacher could encourage them to think about which sensors the spacecraft would require.
Promotes Collaborative Learning
As discussed, collaborative learning is the core tenet of STEM education. Teachers agree that teamwork is most effective for young learners, bolstering knowledge acquisition and retention through collaborative learning.
As a result, STEM settings rarely present students with opportunities for individual projects. More often, they place several student teams in competition with each other.
As learners work together to outperform the other groups, they learn how to help their teammates while growing their knowledge.
Improves Overall Performance
Perhaps the most significant advantage of STEM learning is its positive impact on student performance. A learner’s success depends on their understanding of essential concepts and how well they’ve applied them to specific tasks.
If they’ve merely memorized their lessons, they won’t receive a high grade unless they think critically about the subject matter.
Traditional Education
Here are some of the most recognizable hallmarks of traditional education.
Retention of Information
The goal of traditional education is the retention of knowledge. While the information may be valuable, students receive minimal guidance on applying it to real-life situations.
Consequently, they may struggle to remain interested in the study materials. In addition, this learning mode leaves little room for innovation, so learners have few opportunities to reinterpret the subject matter.
Teaching a Bit of Everything
Unlike STEM learning, traditional education isn’t a balanced blend of several science fields. Instead, students learn just enough to scratch the surface of different areas. But they may not gain enough information to develop a more profound interest in a particular field.
Unfortunately, this surface-level approach could discourage students from pursuing a career in STEM-related areas. Moreover, this decision could prevent them from landing high-paying jobs.
According to the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), two out of three U.S. workers are part of the booming STEM economy. The IEEE further estimates STEM occupations generate over $2 trillion in annual federal tax revenue.
Segregated Courses
Traditional education separates subjects. While the segregated courses help students memorize a wide range of information, they don’t do much to highlight the interrelatedness of this knowledge.
Acquiring Knowledge by Reading
In traditional settings, the primary way students learn is through reading textbooks and other resources. However, depending on the school and teacher, learners may engage in group and task-based activities as rarely as a few times during a semester.
Replicating Facts
Traditional education teaches sets of proven facts, urging students to memorize the information. While some educators introduce engaging worksheets to diversify the content, the conventional setting often fails to challenge students to think critically.
Teacher-Governed Setting Requiring Individual Work
Traditional teaching relies on instructors who organize and relay information to students. Ideally, they’ll take notes and study diligently to master the subject.
However, since traditional curricula can be inflexible, instructors struggle to find ways to implement group projects. Thus, there’s minimal teamwork, and students use self-studying to improve their scores.
Repetitive
Going through the motions of daily education can feel tedious, minimizing class participation, motivation, and focus.
Trains Memory
How successful learners fare on exams depends primarily on how well they’ve memorized the study material. Traditional assessment usually works with pre-defined questions that don’t test the learners’ more profound understanding of the content.
STEM Education vs. Traditional Education—What the Future Holds
Many school systems have identified a need for change when assessing which approach prevails in the STEM education vs. traditional education debate.
The modern world requires an educational approach that promotes self-motivation and self-discipline, both areas where STEM settings excel.
As the need to fill more STEM positions increases, we’ll likely see more schools adapting their classrooms to encourage task-based and collaborative learning.
