Ultimate Guide to STEM Education in 2022
It's no news that there has been a lot of conversation around STEM education in recent years.
We know you might be trying to figure out what the hype is about.
Why is everyone suddenly interested in STEM education, or what is it all about? Well, we intend to educate, inform and enlighten you about everything that you need to know about STEM education.
The term 'STEM' is becoming more prominent today, especially in the educational system.
If you do proper research, you will find out that the educational system of different countries has evolved, and it's no longer business as usual.
Hence, the infusion of STEM into the educational system.
However, STEM education in Nigeria is beginning to get the right amount of attention as more platforms such as GetBundi are being created.
This article will give you a proper insight into STEM education, its benefits and its importance. But first, you need to know what STEM education is.
What Is STEM Education?
STEM Education is an educational approach that marries Science, Technology, Engineering and Math education and its application.
As opposed to teaching these subjects individually, ‘STEM’ integrates them into a comprehensive learning pattern with real-life situations.
It explains that students would approach these subjects practically rather than the abstract way of thinking.
STEM education is created to empower students to stand tall in the business/career world.
In this educational system, the focus is on problem-solving learning.
With the evolution of the world becoming a global village, any student that is STEM literate has been proven to be more innovative.
Applying this knowledge and impacting their immediate communities comes easy to them.
Recent studies have proven that secondary school graduates with a STEM education tend to transition into the university seamlessly.
Isn't that amazing?
In an ever-evolving world, STEM education is one of the major things every kid in Nigeria and Africa at large needs to stand out.
Why Is STEM Education Important In 2022?
Attaining a sustainable economy in any nation requires a key focus on innovation. That is what STEM education gives you.
We often say that "children are the leaders of tomorrow". How do these children prepare for the leadership of tomorrow?
STEM education prepares every child for the future and the challenges that come with it.
The careers in STEM-related fields are increasing every day.
How else do you prepare your kids to excel in these fields? By equipping and educating them with the required materials, in this case, STEM.
However, this form of education doesn't just revolve around the classroom or kids. It revolves around everyone (kids and adults).
Adults can also get educated in STEM.
We bet you love the sound of that. Parents can acquire STEM education along with their kids on the GetBundi platform.
Let's get back to the importance of STEM education.
You might be wondering why STEM education is important in 2022?
Below are some of the critical reasons for this method of education and how it impacts our lives generally.
1. It encourages innovation
The recent pandemic opened our eyes to the relevance of technology. People had to embrace the virtual means of communication.
This gave rise to the emergence of several relevant apps and platforms to carry out different activities.
With the sudden rise of the tech industry in the world, it's almost impossible to keep up with the trend these days.
However, this has helped to create more job opportunities.
Countries and companies that invested in technology have been able to improve their economy widely.
This shows that innovation in every industry is a boost for the economy.
Guess what? Innovation is the heart of technology. You can get that through the STEM education system.
When people have access to STEM education, innovation comes easy as they are taught to apply the knowledge to real-life situations.
The higher the STEM literacy, the higher the innovation in a country.
2. Creation of employment opportunities
It is proposed that in the nearest future, professions will require a deep understanding of STEM skills.
This means as modern technology gets embraced, the skills required to function are needed.
That's where STEM education comes into the picture.
When people have the required skills, they are open to more opportunities in the market.
As the tech industry continues to grow, those with STEM skills will continue to get employed, while those without STEM skills might find it hard to stay afloat.
3. Fosters critical thinking
STEM education doesn't just bring job opportunities, it also encourages the mindset of critical thinking when approaching any situation.
With a mindset of critical thinking, a STEM-literate can thrive and excel in any sector of the economy.
The course outline and teaching will help the student to think critically and come up with a suitable solution individually.
4. Increasing the talent pool
For companies to stay on top of their game, they need to employ the best talents. They go for talents that will help them stay relevant in the market.
Hence, several companies are investing in STEM education for their employees to help them stay relevant.
They also employ people with STEM skills. From research and development teams to engineers, web and app developers and designers, companies take out time to get the best.
As long as companies invest in STEM education, their talent pool will keep increasing. They can select their teams from a large pool of talents.
5. Development of relevant skills
Developing relevant skills is the only way to stay relevant in your career in 2022.
The world is now a global village. With everything almost digitalized, the only way to stay relevant in your career is to infuse digital skills into your work.
How can you achieve that without getting a STEM education? What a time to invest in the STEM education system.
Due to the fact this method of education allows detailed research, critical thinking and innovation, educating your kids will be an investment for their future.
Every parent that exposes their children to STEM education is creating a future full of opportunities for them.
Who says developing relevant skills can't start from a very young age? This can only be done by exposing your children to STEM education early.
6. Developing management skills
When it comes to STEM education, students can earn some management skills. Do you know that the courses taken have a lot to do with practical projects?
As they embark on these projects, they learn time management, strategies and implementations.
Whether as an employer, entrepreneur or employee, these skills will help them throughout their lives.
As a team leader or employer, you can expose your employees to STEM education to build their management skills.
7. Creates opportunity for teamwork
Do you know that teamwork is one of the key drivers of success? Every organization requires teamwork to handle any project successfully.
In STEM education, the environment to foster teamwork is created. Whether, they're in the laboratory, solving a problem or building something, the tasks require some level of collaboration to accomplish.
You can bet that the team spirit is built during these tasks.
8. Bridging the gender gap
The gender gap in the tech industry is quite obvious to everyone. Have you wondered why there are more men in the tech industry?
According to Apple, among several other big tech companies, less than 40% of females make up the employees across the world in 2021.
This data seems to be better than in previous years. Most people believe that girls are not exposed to enough opportunities to explore technology.
We believe that exposing the girl-child to STEM education early on will help bridge the gap gradually.
Once both genders are exposed to equal opportunities, the number of women in the tech industries will increase.
You can expose all your children to STEM education through logging on to GetBundi.
STEM education improves creativity and encourages a problem-solving mindset, which helps students approach problems differently.
10 Benefits of STEM Education You Never Knew
The benefits of implementing STEM education into the schooling system are beyond the pages of books.
Many people have benefitted from getting exposed to STEM education.
One thing we can tell you is that every child that gets a STEM education is built to succeed in every field.
Out of numerous benefits, here are ten main benefits of STEM education you probably never knew.
1. It enhances experimentation
Experimentation has birthed a great deal of the brilliant innovations we have today. STEM education is highly recommended because the courses encourage students to experiment.
Such STEM-literate students are not afraid of taking risks, which can potentially become an amazing innovation.
2. STEM students build resilience
Resilience requires some level of tenacity that students get introduced to when exposed to STEM education.
During some of the activities, a safe environment is created where students can make mistakes and learn from them.
This builds their confidence and makes them resilient in bringing their ideas to life in the long run.
Failure is taught to be a process that can eventually lead to success.
3. It improves creativity
Creativity is the centrepiece of STEM education. Students are encouraged to brainstorm and come up with unique ideas.
This is how some of the ground-breaking innovations came into existence.
In STEM education, ideas are never shut down, rather they are encouraged and tried.
Enrol your children in STEM education. Who knows, they might be the next Mark Zuckerberg or Steve Jobs.
4. Encourages the use of technology
Students of STEM education are taught the power of technology and how to use it early on. This helps them to embrace new technologies when they come in contact with them.
As the world is becoming tech-centred, you or your children are not to be left out.
STEM education creates a space where technology is embraced and encouraged widely.
5. Develops communication skills
Some people cannot communicate their ideas and strategies properly because they did not develop the skills in the early years of their lives.
Communication is an important life skill and every job requires good communication skills.
With group activities, students develop communication and other sociable skills like time management, open-mindedness, and teamwork.
6. Improves cognitive skills
Cognitive skills are brain-based skills that involve learning and the acquisition of knowledge.
With STEM education, students can develop and improve their cognitive skills engagement in subjects like coding and engineering.
They can get introduced to these subjects in as early as primary school. With this, we will be breeding geniuses.
This also improves their problem-solving skills, whereby, the students increase their speed in solving any kind of problem.
7. Promotes teamwork
Students with different abilities are put together in the same group to solve a problem, record data and make presentations.
This helps them to learn how to collaborate and work together in a team.
8. Encourages knowledge application
In STEM education, students are taught real-life situations that help them apply the knowledge acquired.
The ability to apply knowledge is lacking in many graduates, especially in Nigeria. This is why STEM education is needed.
People can apply the knowledge they have received and approach problems in a solution-oriented way.
9. Enhances adaptation
The ability to adapt the concepts and principles learnt to several challenges can be attained through being exposed to STEM education.
10. Builds confidence in problem-solving
STEM education goes a long way to help curious students develop the skills to tackle real-life problems by impacting them with practical knowledge.
Their self-confidence is built over time.
They know how to take the initiative to tackle any issue with a positive attitude and a problem mindset.
In STEM education, learning is more fun and practical for students.
This method of education encourages students to develop and improve their social-emotional learning (SEL) skills. SEL skills will help them impact their immediate community positively.
These skills will help them cope with daily academic, social, and professional challenges. The SEL skills include;
- self-awareness,
- self-management,
- social awareness,
- relationship skills, and
- responsible decision-making.
We encourage you to take advantage of the opportunity GetBundi is offering through its direct access to STEM education.
Visit our www.getbundi.com to find out more information.