This week in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math,) STEM many now officially become STEAM, the ACT highlights a discouraging trend that happens for STEM-interested high school students, and the Congress seeks student-created apps. 

The Congressional Endeavor to Change STEM to STEAM

A congressional endeavor led by Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici is helping to add arts into the focus on STEM by pushing to change the acronym to STEAM.

Through the Congressional Caucus on STEAM, Bonamici has helped to raise awareness for arts as necessary component of education despite recent focus being strictly on STEM studies.

The Caucus’ efforts culminated in successfully adding STEAM into education’s most important legislation.

“[L]ast week, the caucus--through Congresswoman Bonamici--successfully added an amendment to the rewrite of the nation's Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) legislation that will integrate the arts into STEM education,” the Huffington Post said.

Read more here. 

ACT Study Indicates Most Students Unprepared for Tough STEM College Courses

Despite students expressing interest in STEM in high school, a recent study from researchers working for the ACT has found that most students are unprepared for the challenging first-year STEM courses in college.

Though many high school students are interested in learning STEM, many are not ready to take on the challenging work, the study found.

It also found that despite this interest in STEM, the number of students who want to teach STEM skills to others is extremely small.

"While many high schools students want to major in STEM subjects, the number who said they would like to eventually teach math and science is shockingly low. Less than 1 percent of 2015 high school graduates who took the ACT test said they would like to become math or science teachers,” said CBSNews.com.

Read more here.

Second Annual Congressional STEM Academic Competition: The App Challenge

Congress is challenging high school students nationwide to get creative and use STEM education to create an app.

The submitted apps will be judged on idea, design, coding and programming skills, says WSLS.com.

App design may be done individually or in teams of up to four, and students can submit entires up until Jan. 15. 2016.

Find out more here. 

The New Girl Scouts STEM Badge

As one of young girls’ most influential groups, the Girl Scouts is seeking to help push more women into male-dominated careers with the creation of the new STEM badge, says The Orange County Register.

"The STEM badge is designed to show girls how math and science learning relates to their everyday interests – from creating music playlists to building sandcastles. The program also points out that STEM education is necessary for jobs that require specialized training,” the article said.

So far, the badge is unique to the Orange County chapters and specifically designed for girls ages 11 to 14.

The badge is made possible through a partnership with several STEM businesses in the area, and likely will set a precedent for chapters nationwide.

Read more here.

Article by Nicole Gorman, Education World Contributor

11/24/2015