Improving STEM education to create more moon walkers

As the nation mourns the loss of Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, his life’s accomplishments highlight the importance of science, technology, engineering and mathematics, also known as the STEM subjects in education. As we have noted time and again, the U.S. continues to struggle in the area of STEM education and innovation. Students feel unchallenged in these areas, while international testing data shows that the nation’s pupils are failing to compete with their peers in other countries.

In an interesting infographic, the folks at KNewton and Column Five Media have looked at some of the challenges the U.S. faces when it comes to STEM education and offers some ways to improve student learning in the four subjects that have education stakeholders searching for modes to boost student performance in those areas. And they aren’t the only ones looking for solutions to the nation’s STEM education problem. In fact, President Barack Obama has called for the creation of 1,000 additional STEM-focused schools and the recruitment of 100,000 STEM educators over the next decade. Currently, according to the infographic, there are approximately 100 STEM-focused public high schools in the U.S. and the majority of educators teaching chemistry and physics in the nation’s public high schools do not hold a degree or certification in those areas.

The infographic’s creators suggest a few ways to improve STEM education and boost the number of scientific innovators and potential moon walkers like Armstrong and Pete Conrads, the third man to set foot on the celestial body, like changing the way schools do science fairs and increasing the number of hands-on STEM exercises in schools and post-secondary institutions. Take a look at more of the suggestions and data they culled together on STEM education in America:

Created by Knewton and Column Five Media