Virtually every economic study of the last 30 years has reached the same conclusion—innovations in the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields are the primary drivers of global growth.
STEM is at the heart of new companies, new industries, and new jobs—nearly every means of national wealth creation. Since the introduction of the 24® Game in 1988 and First In Math (FIM) in 2002, Suntex has been creating opportunities for children to recognize mathematics as the door to a gratifying future in STEM related fields.
Proficiency in the thinking processes that STEM disciplines develop can be the great equalizer for this generation. Although many young people aspire to professional sports or Hollywood stardom, STEM education can provide a more certain path to a quality life. Only one in 10 million can be a LeBron James or Lady Gaga—but anyone can use STEM skills to better their position and achieve success.
When asked how the education community can build interest in STEM disciplines, Robert Sun, creator of First In Math, is very clear. “Start early. The moment children enter elementary school, capture their interest and ignite their imagination in STEM subject areas—especially math.”
Math broadens and expands our view of the universe from the subatomic to the galactic level. Math enables a child to develop into a critical thinker in all intellectual pursuits.
Math has the advantage of being a language that describes relationships. It helps young people understand how objects are interconnected – an insight that is essential to innovation and exploration.
How do we encourage more children to develop an interest in math? Interest is a function of proficiency—and proficiency requires practice. Often, students avoid practice when they lack effective techniques that inspire them to improve.
In sports, when we swing a bat and miss the ball, the feedback we receive through our senses is immediate. No equivalent feedback loop exists when solving math problems. With no opportunity for “active learning” to take place, math can seem meaningless and boring. Introduce a system that provides immediate and engaging feedback, however, and math practice suddenly transforms itself.
Through Deep Practice techniques, students become engaged and skills that might take months of conventional practice can be mastered in a matter of weeks, or even days. Deep Practice consists of tackling a complex subject in manageable chunks, stopping when an error occurs, practicing that one skill until it is perfected, then continuing. Students learn by repeating, reassessing, and fixing their skills in the process of learning them, through immediate feedback and error correction.
Once a solid math foundation is built, it becomes critical to stoke long-term passions for STEM related fields, according to Sun. “Local STEM Inspiration Centers can be created that will allow children to explore STEM concepts using materials easily available from their neighborhoods. Inspiration for these projects will come from local individuals who are already thriving in STEM careers. These centers can offer children an opportunity to learn, explore, construct and deconstruct things. They can also learn to function as a group and experience the value of teamwork in problem solving. Centers could also provide live, video and social-media presentations—the now-famous TED talks are a great example of engaging messages about what is possible in the world today”
For more than a century, the most distinctive trait of American innovators has been their ability to see deep interconnections that others miss. They’ve demonstrated the ability to bring elements from far-flung fields together in new ways, to address a need or solve a pressing problem. By creating a new generation of thinkers, our nation will continue to lead in future technologies that we cannot even imagine today.
__________________________
To learn more about STEM and the topics raised in this article, read Robert Sun’s piece published in USA Today Magazine (click here to download PDF).