Jim Correll, director Fab Lab ICC at Independence Community College, Independence Kansas 

STEM; science, technology, engineering and math, now considered one of the ultimate goals of education in the United States, since we realized several years ago that our young people were not interested in working in related fields, ultimately the fields that will solve the huge challenges we face while moving into the future. 

But, how to interest the new generations coming up through school in the STEM subjects, most with challenging and even difficult concepts to master. For a few years we just talked about it, verbally encouraging youth to pursue STEM. Now, we’re learning different, more effective ways of stimulating STEM, some coming by accident. 

I’ve always liked science, math and other technical subjects. I guess I was what we now call a geek. My mother used to set up science “experiments” with me before I started school. I had Tinker Toys (they used to be made of wood) Then, I had model rockets, a chemistry set and erector set. Just growing up on the farm exposes one to quite a bit of science. This is contrary to what a failed presidential candidate said earlier this year when he proclaimed, “With farming, you just have to poke the seed in the ground, and it grows.” Not exactly. 

Not Everyone is a Science Geek 

Not everyone my age shared my love of science and for all those years since until recently interest in STEM waned. For example, not very many young people are interest in computer programming, now referred to as coding, just for the sake of coding. The secret seems to be to challenge them to solve a problem that is of interest to them and they will learn whatever they need to learn to solve the problem. This can include coding, not for the sake of coding, but as a means to a solution. 

In traditional education we’ve tended to cram a plethora of knowledge down the throats of our young students, telling them “Believe us. You’ll need to know all of this someday.” We should be inspiring them to solve a problem of interest to them and learn what they need to learn to solve it. Then, take on the next problem and the next. Our Verizon STEM camp for middle school girls uses a combination of learning some basic skills, but the heavy emphasis is on using those skills to develop solutions.  

My colleague, Tim Haynes (Lab manager) discovered this same technique works on community college athletes in a Fab Lab class we call “Lasers, Stickers and Sawdust.” The original objective was to give students an introduction into several technologies available at the Lab. Guess what we found? Some of the students aren’t interested in the technology for the sake of technology, but in the next couple of paragraphs, written by Tim, he summarizes a breakthrough discovery for us. 

Technology- One Machine at a Time 

“The semester began as expected, with a classroom full of excited students looking forward to a fun experience learning about new technology and digital fabrication. I don’t usually have to work hard to keep them entertained, but in recent semesters interest has waned in Lasers, Stickers, and Sawdust, my survey of Fab Lab technology course. The plan is usually to teach one technology module at a time to all my students simultaneously, and march through the Fab Lab one machine at a time, until the students are proficient – more or less – on each of the major machines or processes. However, this semester presented an additional challenge. All college courses will be entirely virtual after the Thanksgiving holiday break. Nevertheless, I have accelerated the course content to accommodate the shortened in-person time frame. Eventually, some of my students were ahead of schedule, and some had fallen behind. Both groups were playing on their phones out of boredom. My class is an elective. None of them need it to graduate, so how could I get them interested and engaged again? 

I needed a new strategy. 

“One day, after 15 painfully silent minutes at the beginning of class, I had an epiphany. I didn’t really know them, or what they cared about. Moreover, I probably had misjudged their level of interest in Fab Lab technology. Instead of getting angry that they were playing on their phones, I simply said, “Let’s have a conversation.” I politely asked them to put their phones away and answer a few simple questions. “What do you care about? What problems in the world do you want to solve? What makes you angry? What do you want to do?” At first, they stared blankly, but one by one they told me about many frustrations in their lives, some they’ve harbored since childhood. Eventually, as they began talking amongst themselves, they revealed something they had in common: homelessness. They had all been personally affected by homelessness in some way, and they all wanted to do something about it. Now, my students are engaged, they aren’t on their phones, and we will apply Design Thinking and Fab Lab technology to develop solutions to help homeless people. This is the way I will teach the Fab Lab class from now on, because it will actually make a difference in the world. The students will be motivated to learn the course content, because they’ll understand what they can accomplish. It has me wondering, what if all classes were taught that way? 

Conclusion 

There are lots of problems in the world; some very large and extremely challenging and some small and personal. Part of educating our young people should be to challenge them to solve problems large and small, learning what they need to learn along the way. Check out the documentary film “Most Likely to Succeed” to see an alternative high school for which the entire curriculum is based on problem-solving project-based learning. 

Jim Correll is the director of Fab Lab ICC at the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship on the campus of Independence Community College. He can be reached at (620) 252-5349, by email at jcorrell@indycc.edu or Twitter @jimcorrellks. Archive columns and podcast at jimcorrell.com.