Engineering.com – Shawn Wasserman
“Over 4000 high school students were engaged and excited by the presentations at this year’s Extreme STEM (X-STEM) Symposium. It was a stark reminder of how dry STEM classrooms can be. Are classrooms pushing people away from STEM? The Washington, DC, based X-STEM symposium is designed to introduce middle and high school students to leaders in the STEM community. The goal is to inspire these students to become the next generation of STEM leaders. X-STEM presenters know that when educators talk about STEM, they should make it fun, engaging, understandable and awe-inspiring. However, this isn’t normally the case. I’m sure you’ve experienced this: you’re at a dinner party and a bright eyed child asks a STEM professional “Tell me what you do?” Soon after a monotone soliloquy the room is asleep and that child is no longer interested in the topic. An opportunity is lost. Sadly this doesn’t end at the dinner party; it’s on our news, in our classrooms, and in our popular culture.”(more)