Steam education to break the barriers between disciplines

STEAM Education has been sought after in recent years , It emphasizes science 、 technology 、 Social Sciences and other related humanities and social sciences . This word is widely recognized in China , It is inseparable from the success of some enterprise minimalism aesthetics and technical aesthetics , The product designed by apple is a good example , It promotes the public to pay attention to the combination of science and technology and art .STEAM The original intention of our school is interdisciplinary integration . at present , Some schools are doing so-called STEAM project , Finally, vocational education , Organize students to play car racing 、 Play with high-tech equipment , It has become a channel to cultivate students' interest in operating skills , Or become another form of preparatory education , The knowledge that primary and secondary school students should not master , A swarm of bees were crammed into primary and secondary school classrooms .

The way to do it , Forget the original intention of interdisciplinary integration , STEMA Our initial intention is to integrate across disciplines , Let students have curiosity and interest in the knowledge they should master in their age group through interesting activities , Deep processing and application of knowledge , On this basis, create 、 innovation .STEMA It is not a question of adding one discipline or several disciplines , Nor is it a patchwork of several fields , Its essence is to promote the integration of disciplinary knowledge in different fields , Promote the breaking of barriers between disciplines , Promote the integration of subject areas 、 Interdisciplinary integration . Its teaching is to transform the multi-disciplinary fragmentary knowledge and mechanical process learned by students into exploring the interrelationship of the world , Look at the complex things in the world from multiple perspectives , Turn it into a process of exploring the different aspects of the world that are interconnected . We can base this process on the scientific situation , Combine technical and engineering activities , It can also be based on actual industrial situations , Integrating scientific problems with engineering technology , It can also be based on life situations , Skillfully combine science 、 Technical and engineering issues .STEMA Its core feature is interdisciplinary integration , There have been a lot of related research in the field of curriculum and teaching , For example, Professor Hirsch Bach of the University of Maryland in the United States put forward the model of integrating two courses , One is related courses , The other is wide area courses . Related courses are to keep each subject as a separate subject , However, the arrangement of teaching contents of each subject pays attention to the relationship between each other . The emphasis of the Ministry of education on building virtue and cultivating people , Emphasize history 、 Moral character 、 Chinese language and literature 、 The courses of English and other subjects should be connected with each other , So as to shape a person's all-round development , In my opinion, this kind of thinking also belongs to the thinking of relevant courses .

Wide area courses eliminate the boundaries between disciplines , Integrate all subject content into new learning areas .STEMA Education is actually more emphasis on the wide area curriculum model , It no longer emphasizes physics 、 Chemistry and even science exist as independent disciplines , But science 、 technology 、 Integration of engineering and mathematics , Form a structured course structure . In the process of integration , The basic approach is to form a coherent through activities 、 An organized curriculum structure , Through activities, science 、 technology 、 engineering 、 mathematics 、 art 、 read 、 History and other disciplines , Achieve interdisciplinary integration .

Real maker education or STEMA Education should support sustainable development . At present, maker education is very popular , however STEMA= Makers ? In my submission , STEMA The biggest difference with makers is that they have something in common , Emphasize students' creation 、 Share 、 innovation 、 The design of the work , however STEMA More emphasis on the accumulation of knowledge 、 The study of knowledge , Emphasize the knowledge behind it . Can one continue to innovate , The root is whether the students are solid 、 A rich foundation of knowledge , If there is no knowledge as the foundation , Innovation on this basis , That is unsustainable innovation . It's like we face the children , The views expressed by the children are very innovative , The angle is also completely different from ours , Show great creativity , But in fact, this kind of creation can not solve any problems . Creation is a good carrier , But pay attention to the knowledge behind it , Only continuous knowledge accumulation , To solve the problem . such as , The contrast between a needle and an axe : The needle is sharp , It may hurt to stab someone , But it can't cut down big trees ; A big axe looks dull , But an axe can cut down big trees . Without the foundation of knowledge , Creation is not sustainable , Innovation is also unsustainable , Real innovation is based on a wealth of knowledge . Also under the apple tree , Hit Newton's apple on another man , If the person is not knowledgeable 、 There is no long-term relevant research , This apple will only hurt him , It's unlikely to wake him up .

Although there are differences between the two , But also to see , Maker yes STEMA A good carrier , maker 、 The achievements brought about by sharing and the internal driving force are STEMA Power source , STEMA The combination training with makers should be based on scientific laws 、 The creation of mathematical accuracy , Can't cultivate creative ideas . at present , With the popularity of maker education in China , There is a worrying phenomenon in maker education . Do not follow the law of education , A swarm of students learn open source circuit boards 、3D Print 、 Robots, etc , Focusing too much on the cool of Technology , Lack of scientific educational design , Lack of integration and injection of basic discipline knowledge , This makes maker education become a school show to some extent , There are signs of foam . If you just let students play with electronic building blocks , Just do a bunch of so-called high-tech things to show off , After a long time , This upsurge is bound to continue . After this upsurge goes down , It is a loss for both industry and education . Real maker education or STEMA Education is to integrate the subject knowledge behind with our daily teaching , Only in this way can we achieve sustainable development .

The core of maker education is to cultivate innovative talents ,“ Innovative talents ” It means having an innovative consciousness 、 Talents with innovative thinking and innovative ability . Innovation consciousness refers to the lofty ideal of making contributions to human civilization and progress , Be able to be innovative 、 strive for changes 、 The desire and consciousness to be different . Innovative thinking refers to the formation of innovative ideas 、 A high-level complex cognitive ability of theoretical method or product design , If this kind of advanced and complex cognitive ability is not supported by rigorous knowledge , You can't do it at all . Put the above innovative ideas 、 Theoretical methods 、 Product design turns into valuable 、 Unprecedented practical ability of spiritual products or material products , What is needed is solid knowledge accumulation .

in summary ,STEMA And the significance of maker education to our education lies in , It can make up for the knowledge in our traditional education process 、 mechanical 、 A dull question , Knowledge can be transferred to situational use , Can activate knowledge , Cultivate students' ability , And then let students have the possibility of unlimited development . Students will go to the society in the future , With the basics , At the same time, it has the ability to situate knowledge 、 The ability to socialize , He has the ability to go into all walks of life , Become innovative talents in various fields . We should have basic knowledge , We should also have the ability to make innovative use of knowledge .STEM And maker education can play a good role in the innovative application of knowledge , It can activate knowledge , To create a growing environment for primary and middle school students STEM stem cells .