On January 5-7, 2010 in DC, I attended a workshop for architects and educators hosted by the American Architectural Foundation and under the sponsorship of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The goal of the workshop was to gather ideas on how to promote STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) education in our K-12 education systems. One of the workshop’s goals was to raise questions about how we define a STEM school and how design can play an active part in promoting education.

During three days I had the opportunity to see what happens when some of the best minds from the design profession explore STEM school as a design challenge with representatives of six states involved in STEM education. We discussed how elements in educational facilities can provide both concrete examples of STEM principles, as well as an environment that encourages students to collaborate with each other and their teachers to develop a unique school. 

Evolution versus revolution. Which is the right technique for bringing change to our schools? Workshop participants continually mentioned that we are running out of time for evolution of the school systems and we need to have a revolution. One of the metaphors that framed the three days was that of the Trojan Horse. Bringing STEM education properly into a school was a way of bringing change to the schools by promoting collaboration, cooperation, and problem solving as part of the science curriculum.

We recognized at least two purposes in STEM. (1) We need to prepare a STEM workforce that can contribute and compete in a global marketplace. (2) We have a crisis in the schools because students are dropping out and the ones who are staying don’t have enough science knowledge. We need to boost their curiosity, challenge them and educate them.  There was the need and desire to define how a STEM school was different from other schools. We noted that one of the purposes of STEM was to help create a work force that could be globally competitive.

One of the first questions examined was “What makes a STEM high school different than even a good regular high school?” This question was discussed throughout without a real answer, but brought up a series of additional questions:

·         Was a STEM school just a good school?

·         Was it a good school that had become “better”?

·         What is the purpose of the STEM school? 

·         Is the purpose of the STEM school to turn out the next person who will solve cancer, or to develop a workforce that can compete for global jobs?

·         If a school teaches STEM subjects in an ordinary way is it a STEM school? (general consensus was NO)

·         Is the STEM pedagogy the main difference between a STEM school and other schools?

·         What is the STEM pedagogy? Does being a STEM school assume a particular pedagogy?

·         Can STEM promote science literacy? Can STEM benefit the non-science student?

·         Should STEM schools give out additional certificates? (IB students get an extra certificate.)

·         What are the characteristics of a STEM school versus a good school?

·         What is unique about a STEM school?

·         What identifies STEM faculty?

·         Is a STEM school a K-12 or a K-20 study?

·         Is it possible that we could include the arts and develop a STEAM (Science, technology, engineering, arts, mathematics) school instead of a STEM school? The arts were recognized as being very important in the creative part of the work.

Our discussions became more general and also more specific:

·         What is the role of science in a democracy?

·         How much change will teachers participate in? How many cycles of ed reform had the teachers been through? Some teachers already have been through many cycles of reform.

·         What should be the role of companies? What should their influence be on the curriculum?

·         How many high schools even have one engineering course?

·         Perhaps STEM could be written sTEm, and thus emphasize the importance of technology and engineering which utilized the skills of science and the skills of mathematics. 

We spent a great deal of time defining a STEM school by separating it out from a good school. It we acknowledged that there aren’t too many good schools and even fewer STEM schools. Evidence for that is the very low level of science literacy in the US. We agreed that a STEM school was more than just a good school because the idea of teaching four subjects in conjunction with each other was so unique.

We noted elements of a good school model

·         integrated curriculum

·         integrated arts and science

·         best pedagogical practices in all content areas

·         student centered environment

·         relevant curriculum/ related to the real world

·         students share responsibility

o   student voice is heard

o   student voice is valued

o   students contribute to decision making

o   students are respected

·         Students become

o   creative

o   critical thinkers

o   innovators

o   thought leaders

We noted elements of a  STEM school model.

·         goal of STEM school is to produce workforce for STEM careers to meet economic demands

·         provides math and science literacy for all students

·         multiple external collaborators

·         applied and theoretical learning

·         K-20 trajectory

·         open enrollment

·         hands on, project based learning

·         students are consumers of curriculum

·         faculty rich in STEM knowledge

·         faculty continues learning

·         broader course offering

·         integration of mathematics and science creates new knowledge

 

We agreed that design could promote STEM education by making the spaces of the school as flexible and as usable as possible. If we are to collaborate we need as much space as possible and the space needs to be responsive to the varied needs.