Here is my baseline thoughts on the importance of STEM education created with a colleague.
How has your "parking lot speech" changed? How has it been reinforced
through your research and conversations? Are you ready to deliver it?
I think my parking lot has changed to incorporate new to me facets of STEM. One thing I would add is focusing on minorities and women in STEM. Perhaps this is personal to me being a former female STEM career member but it is also personal because of the students I interact with on a daily basis. I want them to have brighter futures with unlimited possibilities knowing that they can do things they thought were impossible. STEM allows that to happen! I have a number of female chemistry students that came in with the idea that chemistry is hard and that they would not do well. These thoughts were reinforced by their parents. These students now come to my class excited to learn because they have had a positive interaction with chemistry. Everyday, I tell my students that they are learning important skills that can be used outside the chemistry classroom and teach them how to use these skills in their daily interactions with the world. One area that I am looking forward to researching more is STEAM. I think STEAM has great potential to close the gender gap in STEM career fields. As I learn and research more areas of STEM, I believe my parking lot speech will continue to shift and change. In fact, I do not think I will have a completely final speech but in the interim I will continue to share my beliefs and idea with others.
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