What's the Point of STEM as a Math Elective?

An interesting question was brought up to me by a parent at Open House.

What's the point of STEM?

I felt as though it was pretty obvious, but the parent meant more as a course, not what it stands for.

Being a math elective, I try to promote the absolute most important Habits of Mind into teaching it. In my opinion, those are the following:

• Persisting: if you can persist in math, you can persist in anything
• Managing impulsivity: taking your time and thinking through a problem rather than being distracted
• Too many times I see people almost proud that they have ADD. What other disorder are people usually sharing with other people?
• I try to pride myself on be hyper-focused and fixated on the task at hand.
• Thinking flexibly: looking at a problem in another way
• Striving for accuracy: check your work! :)
• Questioning and problem posing: questioning why certain math processes are done a certain way
• Applying past knowledge to new situations: constructivist approach in math is huge!
• Thinking and communicating with clarity and precision: be clear in showing work and thoughts
• Thinking interdependently: working together to solve problems

But what else? As stated in my previous post...

I focus on showing the interdisciplinary nature of STEM as a subject. The root of STEM is based on mathematics as shown on this STEM triangle diagram. This diagram is based on the fact that mathematics is the most "pure" based on thought process. Math does not need S, T, or E to be completed. However, science needs the "quantification" of mathematics to be able to show data properly. Yes, I am sure there are exceptions to this, but none worth noting (in my opinion). Engineering can only be completed with sound knowledge or science and math as it is based on certain principles, measurements, etc. Technology, of course, is the ultimate goal of STEM and our society as a whole. Sure it is great to count stuff and discover stuff and design stuff, but that does not mean anything tangible unless it is built and, most importantly used. This is where technology comes into play with the whole idea of STEM.

I find that students understand the subject more when looking at it in a linear fashion like this. Many have suggested changing the word STEM to something that shows this process. MSET perhaps? The only issue is... it just doesn't sound cool. Sad to say, sometimes we humans prefer aesthetics over logic.

Of course it is not always linear. The tech that is designed can aid in the development of math, science, and engineering and produce a loop of more and more advanced tech which leads to more and more advanced sci, math, and engineering. What a wonderful cycle!

If my students understand all of what I just described and were able to complete the challenge set forth, then I will find this class a success!