STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. It is a popular curriculum that is quickly taking over High Schools and Colleges. The point of STEM is to encourage students to get involved in fields that will help push economic growth in the future and help encourage innovation in the respective fields. A federal survey conducted in 2009 found that there are nearly 8 million jobs relating to STEM in the United States. This number is expected to rise in the future. As such, many schools and teachers have begun to seriously think about STEM education.

This, of course, begs the question “how do we implement STEM education into our school?” One of the ways many schools have begun to tackle this challenge is by incorporating Autodesk software into many classes at their schools. Some products that utilize the fundamentals of STEM are Autodesk Inventor, Autodesk Revit, and Autodesk 3DS Max, to name a few. All three of these products can be used in a classroom setting to teach students how to utilize industry-standard software to overcome real-world problems in a quick and efficient way. This is the software that professionals in the industry use. By utilizing this kind of technology in a classroom setting, you will be able to better prepare your students for good, high quality jobs.

This kind of software also gets students interested and paying attention. One of the big problems facing many high schools right now is a large number of students who drop out before graduating. By engaging students in curriculum that is not only interesting, but is real-world applicable and can pay-off, then a lot of these students who would otherwise drop out may find a new desire to stay in school and learn the material.

Another big problem facing schools today is the wide achievement gap between low-income and minority students and their peers. Autodesk has a great article written about a teacher in Milwaukee who worked in one of the poorest school districts in one of the poorest cities of the United States who implemented Inventor into her school and the surprising results she had. Check it out here.

STEM is one of the fastest-growing job markets in the United States. Not only is it a huge job market, but it’s a cutting edge industry. STEM helps push scientific innovation, technological progress, medical advancements, and new inventions. If more and more people are thinking outside the box and are helping to push along some of the most crucial areas of the human condition, then not only will the economy improve, but life in general will improve. It’s time to start teaching students about STEM.

Author: Mark Phillip