Why your child’s future career depends on STEAM education

If your child isn’t already talking about his or her projects in class through a STEAM approach, it may be time to re-think their education. STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics) learning is at the forefront of educators’ minds today. Successful graduates of tomorrow are going to depend on their abilities to innovate, create, communicate and collaborate, reaching across disciplines with multiple careers in a single lifetime.

Mother, Baby and Child caught up with Bill Delbrugge, Director at Dunecrest American School in Dubai, to learn more about STEAM and why it’s important for the future.

What is STEAM?

STEAM is an integrated approach to learning that uses science, technology, engineering, the arts, and mathematics to guide student inquiry, collaboration, and critical thinking. Our curriculum provides activities that foster true innovation, combining scientific inquiry with creative thinking, allowing our students to acquire the key skills from the IB learner profile.

What are the benefits of STEAM?

Through STEAM, students develop ownership and responsibility for their education as they face many time management and decision making challenges. Students will become very effective at teamwork, flexible thinking, creative problem solving and learn the importance of collaboration. Research shows that teams innovate faster, see mistakes more quickly, and find better solutions to problems.

Why is it important for future careers?

With a shift to a knowledge-based economy and the rapid pace of scientific and technological innovation that pervades every part of our world, STEAM education helps students gain fluency in the skills of the future. Bringing these core subjects alive with real world applications helps keeps children engaged in their learning outcomes. A STEAM education approach will foster a students’ desire to pursue their highest academic potential, and through a wide variety of learning opportunities, strive to empower them with the means to achieve it. STEAM education allows students to take a question that’s really compelling in the world or in their lives and have many tools to help them answer it.

What does a STEAM lesson look like?

At Dunecrest, our teachers are always collaborating to create cross-curricular projects where various subjects link into each other. We incorporate STEAM projects that are relevant and allow students to attempt to solve real world problems. From robotics, coding and drones to sustainability principles and growing food, our students are learning about finding solutions to world issues.

Using an inquiry approach, teachers begin a lesson by discovering what students already know about a given topic. Students then are placed in teams and presented with a problem that may require a design solution, construction of a model, or fabrication of a final product. For example, in first grade, students are able to provide evidence that vibrating materials can make sound waves and these waves can cause effects on the materials. To accomplish this objective, students participate in activities that show sound waves effects on various materials. Students then use their observations to create instruments.

What are the lessons based on?

STEAM lessons, at Dunecrest, are built upon the Next Generation Science Standards which are designed to prepare students to succeed in a global economy. With the incorporation of the science and engineering practices, our STEAM program guides the students through the Design Thinking Process (Ask, Imagine, Plan, Create, and Improve) to encourage innovation and creativity. Standards for Earth and Space Science, Life Science, Physical Science, and Engineering and Technology are incorporated throughout the program across all grade levels. As scientists, engineers, innovators, and designers, our students learn how to ask critical questions, research the problem, develop possible solutions, build prototypes, test and evaluate their designs, and then redesign as needed.

Details: To learn more about STEAM education, join the Dunecrest team on Tuesday May 14, 2019 for their next Open House, discover their cutting-edge learning program and world-class campus. To RSVP, visit www.dunecrest.ae/openday