Picking Up STEAM
(Science, Technology, Engineering,
The Arts,
Mathematics)
Dr. Jay Dugan
Presented
February 27, 2014
For the Learning Forward NJ 2014 Annual
Conference
Welcome!
Helping People Help Kids
Picking Up STEAM
Real Educational Reform…
Helping People Help Kids
Picking Up STEAM
Real Educational Reform…
It is no longer about preparing
students for the 21st Century
Helping People Help Kids
Picking Up STEAM
We are no longer preparing students for the
21st century.
This
IS
the 21st Century.
Helping People Help Kids
Picking Up STEAM
Real Educational Reform…
It is probably not even about
current school-aged students.
Helping People Help Kids
Picking Up STEAM
Real Educational Reform…
It is probably not even about
current school-aged students.
The wheels of educational change are too
slow to impact them.
Helping People Help Kids
Picking Up STEAM
Real Educational Reform…
It is probably not even about
current school-aged students.
The wheels of educational change are too
slow to impact them.
Districts have been forced to narrow their programs of studies, cut
personnel, and focus too much on test preparation–all of which negatively
impact instructional time.
- http://teacherbiz.wordpress.com January 14, 2014
Helping People Help Kids
Picking Up STEAM
Real Educational Reform…
It is probably not even about
current school-aged students.
The wheels of educational change are too
slow to impact them.
Helping People Help Kids
Picking Up STEAM
Real Educational Reform…
Teachers:
It is no longer about you, either.
Helping People Help Kids
Picking Up STEAM
It is about the grandkids now.
Helping People Help Kids
Picking Up STEAM
Ava ~
Class of 2028
Retirement Party:
November 15, 2075
It is about the grandkids now.
Helping People Help Kids
Picking Up STEAM
Isabella ~
Class of 2029
Retirement Party:
January 20, 2077
It is about the grandkids now.
Helping People Help Kids
Picking Up STEAM
Lily ~
Class of 2030
Retirement Party:
September 15, 2077
It is about the grandkids now.
Helping People Help Kids
Picking Up STEAM
James ~
Class of 2032
Retirement Party:
February 22, 2079
It is about the grandkids now.
Helping People Help Kids
Picking Up STEAM
James ~
Class of 2032
Retirement Party:
February 22, 2079
Enters the 22nd
Century at age 85.
It is about the grandkids now.
Helping People Help Kids
Picking Up STEAM
The role of teachers, from a
grandparent’s eyes:
We honestly don’t care if your school is…
Helping People Help Kids
Picking Up STEAM
The role of teachers, from a
grandparent’s eyes:
We honestly don’t care if your school is…
magnet, charter, blue ribbon, an historic
landmark, Leeds certified, focus, priority,
vocational, college prep, impoverished,
affluent, homogenous, or diverse.
Helping People Help Kids
Picking Up STEAM
The role of teachers, from a
grandparent’s eyes:
We honestly don’t care about…
Helping People Help Kids
Picking Up STEAM
The role of teachers, from a
grandparent’s eyes:
We honestly don’t care about…
lesson plans, how to flip classrooms,
differentiated instruction, the model
curriculum, common core standards, PARCC,
teacher evaluations, or any of the other hottopic buzzwords.
Helping People Help Kids
Picking Up STEAM
The role of teachers, from a
grandparent’s eyes:
We honestly don’t care about…
lesson plans, how to flip classrooms,
differentiated instruction, the model
curriculum, common core standards, PARCC,
teacher evaluations, or any of the other hottopic buzzwords.
What we really care about is that you...
Helping People Help Kids
Picking Up STEAM
2077
2079
2075
2077
…make these Retirement Parties happen.
Helping People Help Kids
Picking Up STEAM
STEM
Federal Government Spending: $3.4 billion
80 percent of all the federal spending comes from
three agencies:
 the National Science Foundation ~ $1.2 billion
 the Department of Education ~ $1 billion
 Department of Health and Human Services ~
$577 million.
Helping People Help Kids
Picking Up STEAM
STEM
Federal Government Spending: $3.4 billion
About 60 percent of all federal spending targets K12 education, with the rest directed at the
postsecondary level.
Helping People Help Kids
Picking Up STEAM
STEM
Federal Government Spending: $3.4 billion
 $1 billion is spent on agencies, such as the
National Institutes of Health, Department of
Transportation, and broader STEM education
matters
 $1.1 billion targets African-Americans,
Hispanics, and females
 $312 million have the primary goal of improving
teacher effectiveness
Helping People Help Kids
Picking Up STEAM
STEM
Federal Government Spending: $3.4 billion
Why?
Helping People Help Kids
Picking Up STEAM
STEM
Federal Government Spending: $3.4 billion
America is worried about its future.
Four generations ago:
Work hard, be loyal to your company, and seniority will reward you.
Three generations ago:
Study hard, go to college, and you will get a good job.
Our generation:
Study harder than I did, go to college, and you might get a good job.
Helping People Help Kids
Picking Up STEAM
STEM
Federal Government Spending: $3.4 billion
America is worried about its future.
This generation (Buddy):
I will work hard and be loyal to my company.
They will pay for my college studies, and I will get a better job.
Helping People Help Kids
Picking Up STEAM
STEM
Federal Government Spending: $3.4 billion
America is worried about its future.
“They’re closing down the textile mill,
across the railroad tracks.
The foreman says these jobs are going, boys,
and they ain’t coming back.”
- Bruce Springsteen
My Hometown
1984
Helping People Help Kids
Picking Up STEAM
STEM
Federal Government Spending: $3.4 billion
America is worried about its future.
“For the first time in the history of America ,
you can not have low skills and get a high
paying job.”
- Willa Spicer
New Jersey Assistant
Commissioner
2008
Helping People Help Kids
Picking Up STEAM
STEM
Federal Government Spending: $3.4 billion
America is worried about its future.
Myth: Unemployment in NJ is high because there
are no jobs available.
Helping People Help Kids
Picking Up STEAM
STEM
Myth: Unemployment in NJ is high because there are no jobs available.
The 10 Hardest Jobs to fill:
Source: Forbes
Engineers
Nurses
Skilled Trades
Teachers
Sales Representatives
Technicians
(Truck) Drivers
IT Staff
Laborers
Machinists/Machine
Operators
Helping People Help Kids
Source: Independent Street
Engineers
Machinists/Machine Operators
Skilled Manual Trades
Technicians
Sales Representatives
Accounting & Finance Staff
Mechanics
Laborers
IT Staff
Production Operators
Source: Monster.com
White Collar
Engineers
Technicians
Sales Representatives
Accountants
IT Staff
Bue Collar
Machinists/
Machine Operators
Skilled Tradespeople
Mechanics
Laborers
Production operators.
Picking Up STEAM
STEM
Myth: Unemployment in NJ is high because there are no jobs available.
The 10 Hardest Jobs to fill:
Source: Forbes
Engineers
Nurses
Skilled Trades
Teachers
Sales Representatives
Technicians
(Truck) Drivers
IT Staff
Laborers
Machinist/Machine
Operators
Helping People Help Kids
Source: Independent Street
Engineers
Machinists/Machine Operators
Skilled Manual Trades
Technicians
Sales Representatives
Accounting & Finance Staff
Mechanics
Laborers
IT Staff
Production Operators
Source: Monster.com
White Collar
Engineers
Technicians
Sales Representatives
Accountants
IT Staff
Bue Collar
Machinists/
Machine Operators
Skilled Tradespeople
Mechanics
Laborers
Production operators.
Picking Up STEAM
STEM
Myth: Unemployment in NJ is high because there are no jobs available.
The 10 Hardest Jobs to fill:
Source: Forbes
Engineers
Nurses
Skilled Trades
Teachers
Sales Representatives
Technicians
(Truck) Drivers
IT Staff
Laborers
Machinists/Machine
Operators
Helping People Help Kids
Source: Independent Street
Engineers
Machinists/Machine Operators
Skilled Manual Trades
Technicians
Sales Representatives
Accounting & Finance Staff
Mechanics
Laborers
IT Staff
Production Operators
Source: Monster.com
White Collar
Engineers
Technicians
Sales Representatives
Accountants
IT Staff
Bue Collar
Machinists/
Machine Operators
Skilled Tradespeople
Mechanics
Laborers
Production operators.
Picking Up STEAM
STEM
 40% of Lockheed Martin (Mt. Laurel, NJ)
employees are from other countries.
Helping People Help Kids
Picking Up STEAM
STEM
 40% of Lockheed Martin (Mt. Laurel, NJ)
employees are from other countries.
 Lockheed’s biggest contractor is the US Military
Helping People Help Kids
Picking Up STEAM
STEM
 40% of Lockheed Martin (Mt. Laurel, NJ)
employees are from other countries.
 Lockheed’s biggest contractor is the US Military
 1800 NASA employees (50 – 60%) are at
retirement age
Helping People Help Kids
Picking Up STEAM
STEM
 40% of Lockheed Martin (Mt. Laurel, NJ)
employees are from other countries.
 Lockheed’s biggest contractor is the US Military
 1800 NASA employees (50 – 60%) are at
retirement age
 India has more honors students than
America has students
Helping People Help Kids
Picking Up STEAM
STEM
When I was growing up, my parents used to say to me, …
“finish your dinner – people in China and India are starving.
My advice to you today is…finish your homework – people in
China and India are starving for your jobs.”
Thomas Friedman
The World Is Flat
2005
Picking Up STEAM
STEM
However, STEM will account for less than ten
percent of our grandchildren’s careers…
Helping People Help Kids
Picking Up STEAM
STEM
However, STEM will account for less than ten
percent of our grandchildren’s careers…
quite frankly, we don’t know what the other 90%
will be doing.
Grandpa…do you
remember when there
were school teachers?
Helping People Help Kids
Picking Up STEAM
STEM
In fact, we don’t know what jobs will look like in the
year 2020.
Grandpa…what was a
Blockbuster store?
Helping People Help Kids
Picking Up STEAM
Are we prepared to train students for jobs that
don’t exist yet, solving problems we don’t know are
problems yet?
Helping People Help Kids
Picking Up STEAM
Are we prepared to train students for jobs that
don’t exist yet, solving problems we don’t know are
problems yet?
STEM is not enough.
Helping People Help Kids
Picking Up STEAM
“The Italian Renaissance did not
come about because the Medicis had
a math strategy buttressed by
some standardized tests.”
- Sir Kenneth Robinson
Helping People Help Kids
Picking Up STEAM
Because they were geniuses in their fields….
or because they were creative, divergent thinkers?
Helping People Help Kids
Picking Up STEAM
Reserved
For
James
Reserved
For
James
Reserved
For
James
…and can we please do something for Ava, Isabella, and Lily about this ratio?
Helping People Help Kids
Picking Up STEAM
Middle School is the prime age for
maintaining an interest in STEM (Science,
Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) for
girls:
A recent study of fourth graders showed that 66
percent of girls and 68 percent of boys reported
liking science…
Helping People Help Kids
Picking Up STEAM
Middle School is the prime age for
maintaining an interest in STEM (Science,
Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) for
girls:
A recent study of fourth graders showed that 66
percent of girls and 68 percent of boys reported
liking science…
by eighth grade, boys are twice as interested in
STEM (science, technology, engineering, math)
careers as girls.
Helping People Help Kids
Picking Up STEAM
U.S. Girls Perform Evenly With Boys in
Math and Science, PISA Data Show
EDUCATION WEEK
January 7, 2014
Same aptitude, different interest level.
Helping People Help Kids
Picking Up STEAM
STEAM will be a tough sell.
It is revolutionary:
 It defies departmentalized learning.
 It is formative in nature; therefore, it defies measurement
by multiple choice, summative evaluations.
 There is no common core when searching for the
uncommon.
 There is nothing standardized about the creative process.
Helping People Help Kids
Picking Up STEAM
STEAM will be a tough sell…
but it is already selling at the postsecondary level:
Rhode Island School of Design
University of San Diego (masters degree)
Claremont Graduate University (STEAM Journal)
Helping People Help Kids
Picking Up STEAM
“I believe that art and design are poised to
transform our economy in the 21st century like
Science and technology did in the last century, and
the STEAM movement is an opportunity for
America to sustain its role as innovator of the
world. “
John Maeda,
President of the
Rhode Island School of Design
Helping People Help Kids
Picking Up STEAM
Current research is proving
what most of us already know:
- Sandra Ruppert, Director of the Arts Education Partnership
Students with high arts involvement performed better on standardized
achievement tests than students with low arts involvement
An study of seventh grade boys in special education revealed use of the
visual arts helped them become more sophisticated, less reluctant readers
What students learn in the arts may help them to master other subjects
Helping People Help Kids
Picking Up STEAM
Current research is proving
what most of us already know:
Students at risk of not successfully completing their high school educations
cite their participation in the arts as reasons for staying in school. Factors
related to the arts that positively affected the motivation of these students
included a supportive environment that promotes constructive acceptance of
criticism and one where it is safe to take risks.
Students from the Chicago Arts Partnership in Education (CAPE) schools
performed better on standardized tests than the students who attended
schools that did not integrate the arts with academics
Drama in the form of dramatic enactment connects to story comprehension,
character understanding, and writing proficiency, and is shown to be a better
way for students to process a story than teacher-led discussion.
Helping People Help Kids
Picking Up STEAM
Current research is proving
what most of us already know:
 - Nick Rabkin, Executive Director, Chicago Center for Arts Policy at
Columbia College Chicago,
 Drawing supports writing skills
 In music, researchers found strong connections to spatial reasoning and
math, and between instrument instruction and SAT scores.
 Dance instruction connects to fluency in creative thinking and to reading
skills.
 Multi-arts programs, as you might expect, had multiple connections to
reading, verbal, and math skills, and to creative thinking.
Helping People Help Kids
Picking Up STEAM
Current research is proving
what most of us already know:
Arts Course-taking Patterns and SAT Scores, 2005
VERBAL
MATH
4+ years arts
534
540
4 years
543
541
3 years
514
516
2 years
508
517
1 year
501
515
½ year or less
485
502
Average for All SAT Test Takers
508
520
Source: 2005 College-Bound Seniors
Helping People Help Kids
Picking Up STEAM
The Divergent Thinker
In order for students to have the creative abilities
needed to be successful in the 21st Century, they
need to be divergent thinkers.
Helping People Help Kids
Picking Up STEAM
The Divergent Thinker
In order for students to have the creative abilities
needed to be successful in the 21st Century, they
need to be divergent thinkers.
It is estimated that 5% of all students think
divergently (out of the box).
Helping People Help Kids
Picking Up STEAM
The Divergent Thinker
In order for students to have the creative abilities
needed to be successful in the 21st Century, they
need to be divergent thinkers.
It is estimated that 5% of all students think
divergently (out of the box).
On average that is one per classroom.
Helping People Help Kids
Picking Up STEAM
The Divergent Thinker
In order for students to have the creative abilities
needed to be successful in the 21st Century, they
need to be divergent thinkers.
It is estimated that 5% of all students think
divergently (out of the box).
On average that is one per classroom.
We need many more.
(At least seven percent of all future jobs will be
STEM-related.)
Helping People Help Kids
Picking Up STEAM
The Divergent Thinker
Like Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Albert Einstein, Thomas
Edison, Leonardo DaVinci, and so many other
divergent thinkers before them…
Helping People Help Kids
Picking Up STEAM
The Divergent Thinker
Like Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Albert Einstein, Thomas
Edison, Leonardo DaVinci, and so many other
divergent thinkers before them…
…some learners will see things differently…
Helping People Help Kids
Picking Up STEAM
The Divergent Thinker
Like Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Albert Einstein, Thomas
Edison, Leonardo DaVinci, and so many other
divergent thinkers before them…
…some learners will see things differently…
…in ways that will transform the world.
Helping People Help Kids
Picking Up STEAM
The Divergent Thinker
How To Identify Divergent Students
 Pass out 6 straws to each student.
Helping People Help Kids
Picking Up STEAM
The Divergent Thinker
How To Identify Divergent Students
 Pass out 6 straws to each student.
 Have the students create 4 triangles of the same size
(equilateral) without bending the straws.
Helping People Help Kids
Picking Up STEAM
The Divergent Thinker
How To Identify Divergent Students
 Pass out 6 straws to each student.
 Have the students create 4 triangles of the same size
(equilateral) without bending the straws.
Most students will attempt to solve this problem
two-dimensionally.
Helping People Help Kids
Picking Up STEAM
The Divergent Thinker
How To Identify Divergent Students
 Pass out 6 straws to each student.
 Have the students create 4 triangles of the same size
(equilateral) without bending the straws.
Most students will attempt to solve this problem
two-dimensionally.
Divergent thinkers will make a three-dimensional pyramid.
Helping People Help Kids
Picking Up STEAM
The Divergent Thinker
How To Identify Divergent Students
 Change the Roman Numeral from a 9 to a 6, by adding
only one line.
IX
Helping People Help Kids
Picking Up STEAM
The Divergent Thinker
How To Identify Divergent Students
 Change the Roman Numeral from a 9 to a 6, by adding
only one line.
IX
Most of us do not see the obvious because we are trying to
think outside the box when, in fact, we have created the box
ourselves:
Helping People Help Kids
Picking Up STEAM
The Divergent Thinker
How To Identify Divergent Students
 Change the Roman Numeral from a 9 to a 6, by adding
only one line.
IX
Most of us do not see the obvious because we are trying to
think outside the box when, in fact, we have created the box
ourselves:
Does it have to be a Roman Numeral?
Helping People Help Kids
Picking Up STEAM
The Divergent Thinker
How To Identify Divergent Students
 Change the Roman Numeral from a 9 to a 6, by adding
only one line.
IX
Most of us do not see the obvious because we are trying to
think outside the box when, in fact, we have created the box
ourselves:
Does it have to be a Roman Numeral?
Do we, therefore, have to use straight lines?
Helping People Help Kids
Picking Up STEAM
The Divergent Thinker
How To Identify Divergent Students
 Change the Roman Numeral from a 9 to a 6, by adding
only one line.
SIX
Most of us do not see the obvious because we are trying to
think outside the box when, in fact, we have created the box
ourselves:
Does it have to be a Roman Numeral?
Do we, therefore, have to use straight lines?
Helping People Help Kids
A Case for STEAM
Since We Became “A Nation at Risk…”
Helping People Help Kids
A Case for STEAM
Apple IIe Computers
CD Players DVDs
EZ Pass PC computers
Mapping the Genome
Hubble Telescope Debit Cards Microsoft Windows Macintosh Computers Prozac
Cell Phones Since We Became “A Nation at Risk…” MS-DOS
Laptop computers Disposable Cameras Hepatitis-B Vaccine 3-D Video Games
Disposable Contact Lenses MP3s
Doppler Radar Hi-Def TVs
Cloning Pentium Processor
Digital Answering Machine
HIV Inhibitors Java Web TV
Fuel Cell Batteries iPod
Artificial Livers Hybrid Cars
You Tube Virtual Keyboard
MySpace Google Facebook Wii
Segway Robotics Smart TVs
Nanotechnology GPS The Cloud
Artificial Intelligence Ebay
Retinal Implants Hulu Netflix
Bionic Hands Mars Rover
Google Amazon iPad Plasma TV
Video Gaming Nook E-mail
Digital Camcorders eTextbooks
Stem Cells Higgs Boson
Photonic Molecules Flat Screens
Extrasolar Planets iTunes
High Temperature Superconductors Supercomputers Robotic Surgery 3D Printers
Mobile Videoconferencing YouTube Blu-Ray Players DNA Testing Android
Residential Solar Panels Skin Tissue Regenerators Test-Tube Babies Apps
Braille Gloves Teleportation Of Laser Beams Water Found On Mars Camera Pills
Cervical Cancer Vaccine Element #114 Smart TV Pandora Craigslist
On-line Banking LinkedIn Twitter Smartboards World Wide Web
Helping People Help Kids
A Case for STEAM
Innovations still to come:













Wii Tactile Glove
Drone Amazon Deliveries
Smart Toothbrushes w/ Cameras
GPS Clothing
3D Printed Food
Free, Accredited On-Line Colleges
Pop-Up Businesses
Self-Driving Cars
Artificial Eyes
Self-Repairing Paint
Paper Phones
Atmospheric Water Reservoirs
Cable-less TV
Helping People Help Kids
Picking Up STEAM
Real Educational Reform…
Helping People Help Kids
Picking Up STEAM
(Science, Technology, Engineering,
The Arts,
Mathematics)
Dr. Jay Dugan
Presented
February 27, 2014
For the Learning Forward NJ 2014 Annual
Conference
Thank you for attending!
Helping People Help Kids