STEAM Education Curriculum (Part 2)

How to Develop a STEAM Education Curriculum

Author: Manuel R. CortezRodas

Beginning and Ending

Determine where the curriculum will begin, and where it will end.  Setting these two boundaries establishes a set limit for the curriculum.  These two boundaries can be from Kindergarten to 12th grade, from age 6 to age 18, even from Pre-Kindergarten to Post Secondary School.  Determining the beginning and the ending for you curriculum sets a point of origin from where the curriculum pathway will start, until the curriculum is successfully finished by the student.

Objectives

What do you want the student to achieve?  will they all be college ready?  will they be workplace ready? will they be able to achieve success in both college and the workplace after they have completed the required list of courses, classes, and subject material in the STEAM Curriculum?  These are some of the objectives that must be discussed and stated clearly.  It must also be planned where along the path of the curriculum these objectives must be met.

 

Pathways

Although the overall pathway of the STEAM Education Curriculum should be from beginning to ending, it must be taken into consideration that having only one path may cause delays and gridlock if it cannot accommodate all students.  Therefore it is recommended that the curriculum be composed of many different pathways (as many as needed by the students) to allow for the free flow of growth and development.  It should also be taken into consideration that there can be students who may join the STEAM curriculum at later times and at different stages in the development, as well as students who may need to be withdrawn when the need arises.

Success

Will success be measured by the number of students who complete the whole curriculum from beginning to end, or will it be measured by the number of students who reach only the ending stage of the process?  Perhaps the overall measure of success should be by the solutions that students reach to our present problems and the ones they will face.  If this last is to be the measure of success, the we must take into account that it will take time (in some cases many years) before any measure of success is obtained.

Copyright 2013.  MRCR Educational Consulting Firm.  All Rights Reserved.

STEAM Education Curriculum

STEAM Curriculum

Author: Manuel R. CortezRodas

A good curriculum must maintain balance throughout all of the parts that it is composed of.  A good curriculum has a defined beginning and end, and it allows for others to be able to join in throughout the different stages that take place between the beginning and the end.  The STEAM Education Curriculum is a good and useful tool which we can design for students to take on their journey from childhood to educated person.

Definition

The STEAM Education Curriculum is a pathway for students to take so they may become STEAM educated.  It has a beginning, an end, and when it is completed, it should start all over again.  The STEAM Education Curriculum should be like a cycle which flows constantly and efficiently for it to last and succeed.

The Five Strands

The STEAM Curriculum is founded on the five strands which are: Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics.  These five strands are the foundation of the STEAM curriculum.  By ensuring that the five strands are interconnected, balanced, and secured, we create a solid foundation upon which we can create a lasting STEAM curriculum.

Requirements

The STEAM Education Curriculum must require that the students: demonstrate their knowledge of the five strands, demonstrate how they can apply their knowledge to solve challenges, and demonstrate that they can argument their knowledge at a global level.  By demonstrating these three requirements the student earns the right to be certified as having been educated in Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics.

Educators are entrusted to educate students, as they journey from childhood, and into our schools, where they become educated people.  Students who become educated in STEAM and have access to a pathway that is based on a good STEAM Education Curriculum, will be able to develop the required skills that we will need to face the many challenges which the future may hold for us as a people.

Copyright 2013.  MRCR Educational Consulting Firm.  All Rights Reserved.