Putting the T and E in STEM

One of my major concerns with all the current interest in STEM education is that the bulk of the efforts I’ve seen are focused on the Science and Math parts of the topic, with Technology and Engineering taking a back seat to everything else. To me, Technology goes way beyond using computers to create documents, but includes the ability to build one’s own programs from scratch. On the engineering side, my feeling is that kids need more opportunities to invent and build things with their hands – engaging in the kind of tinkering most engineers get to do. There are, of course, many schools that do offer a balanced approach to STEM, and they are to be applauded. But there are many more who do not offer the richness that hands-on construction affords. We have libraries to enrich kids heads. Does your school have workshops where they can enrich their hands and minds together?

The situation is made even worse for many kids who are having trouble in school, since they are often funneled into even more draconian rote-learning environments rather than being given the chance to explore learning in ways that might well be more natural to them.

My bias is home grown. I’ve been an electronics tinkerer since I was a little kid. I used to find old radios that I would take apart for their parts, some of which ended up in projects of my own design. I had no teachers helping me – I just figured things out for myself, with the support of my folks who helped provide me with the tools of construction, some of which I still use today. Of course my tinkering took place decades before personal computers were invented. Programming was replaced by building. And, yes, I made plenty of mistakes and did some stupid things – but, through it all I learned a lot.

By the time I got my PhD and started working at the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center, I had developed both my hands and my mind. Since (among other things) I have degrees in engineering, both of these domains got a good workout. For example, one design methodology I learned (once the personal computer came into existence) was that there was a decision one made as a designer as to which tasks were better done in software, and which ones were best done with hardware. Since I worked in both fields, this kind of thinking made great sense to me.

But this trip down memory lane has a point – simply that far too many young people would have no idea what I’m talking about. But this can change, almost for free. Furthermore, it can change in ways that are appropriate for young children as well as for adults – all using the same tools.

First, on the programming front, the Scratch language from MIT  is accessible to all and, through its construction-set metaphors, builds good programming habits if students decide to learn more traditional languages later. This free tool can address a lot of the missing materials on the Technology side of STEM.

On the Engineering side of STEM, one amazing and inexpensive tool is the Arduino programmable controller. This open source piece of hardware acts as the interface between the computer and (for example) a robot built by a student with a few parts and recycled materials.

Basically, you create a program for the Arduino that will sense inputs of various types (light, sound, physical pressure, temperature, etc.)and then, based on your program design, run motors, control lamps, and do myriad things limited only by your imagination. While you are free to build your own Arduino system from scratch, most choose to purchase a fully assembled board (shown above) for about $30, or $TB 0.1 (one tenth the cost of a traditional textbook) from vendors like Sparkfun whose catalog also includes all the other electrical components you might need for your projects. Even RadioShack has jumped on the Arduino bandwagon!

As for programming the Arduino, the free software from the Arduino site contains all you need to create programs to be downloaded to your board. But, the language in which these programs are written is not as easy to master as languages like Scratch.

Not to worry – there is a special version of Scratch for the Arduino device (Scratch for Arduino). By connecting your Arduino to the USB port of your computer and creating programs in this version of Scratch, you’ve opened the door for Technology and Engineering education in some pretty powerful ways.

The screen above shows a couple of programs that cause lights to blink in sequence, and to plot the level of light hitting a photocell used to turn the lights off. I could have just as easily created a Scratch program to run an electric car that follows an arbitrary line drawn on the floor – or to have a robot solve a maze – or just about anything else. Now while the Arduino does not have enough power to run most motors directly, motor driver circuits can be built using about a quarter’s worth of parts.

Once kids get started with the Arduino, they suddenly develop an interest in learning to use multimeters, oscilloscopes, and a bunch of other tools (including soldering irons.) They start to view the world of the made through new eyes once they have learned to make things themselves.

So, when it comes to STEM education, I think we should get serious or go home. The tools are there along with amazingly rich libraries of support materials. It is beyond time for us to realize that Science and Math alone do not a STEM curriculum make.

Beachside Staff Development

Today we took part in a STEM workshop in the small town of Gaibú, a short trip south of the large city of Recife in the Brazilian State of Penambuco. The teachers were all from public schools in the State who were honing their skills in STEM subjects for high school students.

What maked the location so interesting is that it is next to the new industrial city of Suape, an area that is growing by leaps and bounds. Suape has a deep water port, making it a logical destination for everything from cargo ships to shipbuilding. Not too many years ago, this area was largely empty. Today it is growing 24 hours a day.

I remember when the sky around here was so dark that the stars looked like lanterns. Today the glow of Suape can be seen from miles away. While only 60,000 people work there today, that number will grow to 300,000 or more in a few years, and many of these jobs require STEM skills. This places a great challenge on local educators. Brazil graduates about 35,000 engineers each year, and the demands for new talent in just the automotive and petroleum areas alone requires this many engineers or more, each year. While immigration from other places (including Spain, Japan, and the United States) is helping, Brazil needs to grow more of its own STEM talent, hence the project we are working on here.

Of course the challenge is not limited to Brazil. Other countries are experiencing a shortage of qualified STEM workers. Even in the US, where the economy is slowly recovering, the demand will eclipse our capacity to fill it with the number of STEM graduates in our pipeline.

I’ve long said (as is supported by data from the UN) that economic development is strongly linked to education. This is increasingly the case today, and educational systems worldwide need to do everything they can to foster the creativity and insight of students who may embark on a career path in one (or more) of the dynamic STEM fields.  Failure to meet this challenge will hurt any country that ignores the need.

Books you “do,” not just read…

Last week, we attended the National Technology Leadership Summit in Washington, DC and spent two days designing a STEM project that will be published as an interactive book that makes use of 3D fabricators, and a host of other cool tools.  Our topic was Space Weather, and the target audience was 6th grade students.  (Although I’ve found that great activities work across a wide range of ages.)

We were able to see a prototype publication created by the fab@school project (http://www.fabathome.org)

Prototype book

This project is avidly supported by Glen Bull from the University of Virginia who, along with his colleagues at Cornell and elsewhere are carrying the message that atoms are the new bits.

Projects like this can have a great impact on education as long as teachers are willing to step away from the lockstep curriculum of the past.

3D fabrication for kids

It’s only a prototype at this point, but these folks are on to something huge. (http://www.origo3dprinting.com/). While inexpensive 3D printers are not particularly new, the Origo designers have gone after the end-user – in their minds, ten-year-old children who may want to design and build their own toys. Assuming they get funding, this product is a real game changer!

Origo prototype

Hope Santa leaves one of these under my tree!