BLOG POST 2: M Dale Streigle - NASA, STEM & PBL

While completing the reading for this class, we were provided, via information in the report, Before It's Too Late: A Report to the Nation from the National Commission on Mathematics and Science Teaching for the 21st Century (http://www.phystec.org/items/detail.cfm?ID=4059), four reasons to make changes in our current mode of teaching:

1. Our interdependent global economy is dependent on mathematics and science-related knowledge and abilities;
2. Our citizens need both mathematics and science for their everyday decision-making;
3. Our nation's security is linked to mathematics and science; and
4. Mathematics and science are primary sources of lifelong learning and the progress of our civilization.

According to What is 21st Century Education (http://www.21stcenturyschools.com/What_is_21st_Century_Education.htm), seven survival skills are key:

1. Critical Thinking and Problem Solving
2. Collaboration across Networks and Leading by Influence
3. Agility and Adaptability
4. Initiative and Entrepreneurialism
5. Effective Oral and Written Communication
6. Accessing and Analyzing Information
7. Curiosity and Imagination

And, within the framework of Partnership for 21^st Century Skills (http://www.p21.org/our-work/p21-framework), we are told that requisite skills today's students must possess to succeed in the 21st Century include:

1. Use various types of reasoning.
2. Effectively analyze and evaluate evidence, arguments, claims, and beliefs.
3. Analyze and evaluate major alternative points of view.
4. Synthesize and make connections between information and arguments.
5. Interpret information and draw conclusions.
6. Reflect critically on learning experiences and processes.
7. Articulate thoughts and ideas effectively using oral, written, and nonverbal communication skills.
8. Utilize multiple media and technologies, and know how to judge their effectiveness.

Keeping all of the above in mind, I'll proceed to explain how I believe NASA, STEM and PBL meet the needs of 21st century education.

 NASA
NASA, by its very nature, epitomizes the interwoven nature of science, technology, engineering and mathematics.  The Soviets launched Sputnik 1 a bit more than a year after my birth.  Rather than being ecstatic, citizens of the United States were aghast.  We did not then have the technology to replicate the Soviet feat and were fearful of attack.  President Eisenhower and congress acted swiftly, creating the office of Presidential Science Advisor, and establishing the National Aeronautics and Space Agency (http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2007APS..APR.T6002H).  Schools were directed to devote more time to instruction in science and mathematics, and the National Science Foundation was funded at a vastly higher level (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sputnik_crisis).  NASA is symbolic of intelligence and higher level thinking, which is why it is still common for people to state of brainy individuals, "What are you...some kind of rocket scientist?"  NASA helps people understand the need for science and math in everyday decision-making and helps ensure national security.  NASA emphasizes the importance of critical thinking and problem-solving as well as agility and adaptability. Consider how crucial such was to the astronauts after the oxygen tank rupture within the Service Module forced them into the Landing Module for the return trip.  The astronauts soon found the Landing Module was unable to keep up with scrubbing the CO2 they released and had to come up with a way to use the scrubber from the Service Module even though the two scrubbers were not interchangeable.  NASA simulates curiosity and imagination as we dream of exploring space and traveling to new worlds.  We might never have had the Star Trek and Star Wars franchises had it not been for extreme interest in NASA space exploration.

I was quite impressed with the 50th Anniversary of NASA site (http://www.nasa.gov/externalflash/50th/main.html).  I really enjoyed its interactive nature, narrations and music.  The site permits individuals to explore various aspects of NASA development via decade, and is exceptionally informative.  I would state emphatically that this website was designed specifically with the needs of 21st Century education in mind.

STEM (albeit, I've been reading that a more progressive approach is STEAM - science, technology, engineering, art and math, hence the steam punk graphic).
From prior exposure and from the readings in this class (http://www.pbs.org/moodle/file.php/4021/docs/stem_standards.pdf), I would say STEM focuses very much on the Standards to meet the needs of 21st Century education.  STEM focuses on problems inherently influential in the lives of students.  Once problems have been identified, national and local standards are written and implemented to guide teachers in classroom instructional techniques.  Rather than the isolated approach which is typical (i.e. just science standards for science, just math standards for math, etc.), STEM ensures an integration of standards from all aspects from its acronym (science standards, technology standards, engineering standards and math standards).  I believe STEM addresses its importance as a primary source of lifelong learning, as well as guiding students in their analysis and evaluation of alternative points of view, the manner in which students synthesize and make connections from data, and how they interpret information before drawing conclusions.

PBL
According to Finkle and Torp (http://www.cotf.edu/ete/teacher/teacherout.html), "problem-based learning is a curriculum development and instructional system that simultaneously develops both problem solving strategies and disciplinary knowledge bases and skills by placing students in the active role of problem solvers confronted with an ill-structured problem that mirrors real-world problems".  And within our assigned reading (http://www.pbs.org/moodle/mod/resource/view.php?id=162169), we are told that Problem-based Learning is "a frame around a unit – the vehicle you use to engage students as they discover information they need to solve a problem".  What I take away from this is that Problem-based Learning is a tool which utilizes specific hands-on instructional techniques.  Students must do rather then simply write what they are told.  Experiments are designed specifically to address topics considered to be important as per STEM standards.  Student involvement in the experiments (problems or projects) creates an investment by the students as they learn to think and perform like scientists.  Students learn that solutions rarely immediately present themselves.  Rather, finding solutions is frequently a drawn-out process requiring substantial investment of time and necessitating modification of project design if original design does not generate meaningful data.

I would argue that in addition to what I've written above, Problem-based Learning helps meet the needs of 21st Century education by guiding students in seeing the need for science and math in everyday decision-making and reflecting critically on learning experiences and processes.