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Due to the rapid development of technology, the most popular professionals are programmers, professionals in the field of high technology, so STEAM education is now very relevant. This trend will continue in the future. STEAM is one of the trends in world education, which provides a mixed education environment and shows the young person how to apply science and art together in everyday life. 

The term STEAM is now introduced into the program in order to intensively develop and strengthen the competencies of students in the scientific and technical direction.

In the process of STEM education, which is actively being introduced into practice today, students face a number of difficulties. But they can always get assignment help from the experts of the online company CWassignments. These helpers work quickly and efficiently, so be sure that they will do your homework at the highest level.

Take a close look at the material below to get more information about what STEM training is and why it is significant today.

What is STEM?

STEM – a term that means a modern educational paradigm in solving educational policy and curriculum development based on the integration of natural sciences and technologies, in particular information and communication technologies (ICT).

What Distinguishes STEM Education?

There is currently no generally accepted definition of STEM education. In a broad context, it is a pedagogical technology of formation and development of mental-cognitive and creative qualities of students, the level of which determines the competitiveness of the individual in the modern labor market.

Thus, most of the STEM-areas of activity relate to a wide range of engineering, and the other part – information-mathematical and scientific-natural activities, including aerospace, computer, biomedical, chemical, mechanical engineering, nuclear, energy, environmental, chemical engineering, information technologies, geomatics, mechatronics, programming, agrotechnology, atmospheric and space research, etc.

Key aspects of STEM-approach in teaching:

● Integration into a single paradigm of content and methodology of natural sciences, modern technologies, including information, engineering design, and mathematical tools;
● Designing curricula and programs on an interdisciplinary basis;
● Integrated learning according to certain topics, not individual disciplines;
● Application of cognitive and social technologies, as well as knowledge transfer;
● Training on real technical and technological, economic, and socially significant problems;
● Emphasis on the complex formation of scientific and engineering thinking.

STEM as a process of external influence on the individual has personal (gaining authentic practical experience of innovation) and social (preparation for further training and employment in accordance with the requirements of the XXI century) aspects. The STEM approach to learning also involves the development of the key soft skills of students.

Basic Stages of STEM Education

STEM training should begin at early school age. The structure of STEM education should be determined by the State Standard of General Secondary Education, Extracurricular Education, and Specialized Standards. According to the structure of general secondary education, three stages of the STEM approach can be distinguished:

1. At the primary school level there is stimulation of curiosity, support of interest in learning and knowledge acquisition, motivation for independent research, creation of simple devices, constructions, etc.;
2. At the secondary school level, the task of forming a stable interest in natural and mathematical sciences is solved. Mastering the system of practical skills necessary for further human life in the technosphere, a thorough understanding of ecology and nature in general takes place. At this stage, it is especially important to involve students in research and invention, which will increase the percentage of those who become talented scientists, engineers, innovators;
3. The high school contributes to the conscious choice of further education STEM profile, in-depth training in STEM disciplines (specialized training), development of scientific methodology, awareness of physical, technical-technological, and scientific pictures of the world in the context of understanding the essence, functioning, and development of world economic systems.

Why Is STEM Education So Relevant: What Is Special about the STEM Learning Environment?

STEM education is based on the application of modern tools and equipment related to technical modeling, energy and electrical engineering, computer science, computer technology and multimedia technologies, research in the field of energy-saving technologies, automation, robotics, and intelligent systems, radio engineering, and radio electronics, aviation, astronautics, and aerospace technology, etc. Innovations in the educational environment of STEM education concern all its components – spatial-material, information-technological, as well as social-personal.

Important components of the STEM-education environment are:

● Integrated curricula, elective courses based on the formation of competencies (educators and specialists in certain fields of knowledge, industry, and business should be involved in the creation of creative content);
● Interdisciplinary principles of education, which are aimed at solving real practical problems in a shortage of academic knowledge, as well as practice-oriented learning within STEM disciplines and beyond;
● Emphasis on project, team, and group work of students. Dominant organizational forms are projects, integrated lessons, quests, cases, excursions, thematic days, competitions, scientific exhibitions, festivals of engineering projects, hackathons, etc.;
● Zones of activity in the classroom: zones of research and creativity, development and interaction, presentation zone, etc.;
● Modern teaching aids, including training works-designers (LEGO, LEGO Mindstorms, Cubelets, LittleBits, MakeBlock, etc.), allow in the form of games to get acquainted with the basics of robotics, electronics, mechanics, programming. These aids allow to put forward own ideas, create complex structures with various sensors for navigation and interaction with the environment and implement them in practice, digital measuring systems, microprocessors and programming, network and remote tools for collaboration and project management, which provide equal access to quality education for students of different ages and special needs;
● The attraction of resources and cooperation between school groups and external participants: institutions of higher education, academic research institutions, research laboratories, museums, nature centers, enterprises, business structures, public and other organizations;
● Active interaction with parents;
● Systematic monitoring of results.

In addition to traditional sources of knowledge, global and local information networks with various databases and specialized expert systems are widely used to study and analyze phenomena, scientific experiments, modeling, etc. special learning environments with the use of ICT, ontological classrooms, virtual STEM laboratories, science museums, etc. are created on this basis. All this confirms the importance of STEAM education and the relevance of its development in the modern world.