TechIntersect

Summertime is a great time for kids to get outside and experience the world around them. As a youngster, I was very interested in science and experimentation. Around middle school and junior high when the science and related mathematics became more challenging, I sadly gave up on trying to learn in these areas. I can’t point to any specific reasons, but I don’t think my experience is uncommon.

Many people dislike math and science, and it is really starting to show. Fifty years ago when the Soviets launched the Sputnik satellite, cold war fears fueled a boom in math and science education. Government spending poured into efforts promoting this kind of learning, and many young people became scientists and engineers as a result. Twelve years later, the United States landed a man on the moon and we have been benefiting from the resulting space-age technological marvels ever since.

However, the popularity of technology careers has faded, and many people in them are approaching retirement age or have already retired. It is no longer fashionable to become a scientist or engineer. Compare these two lists I found online this week. The first is a list of college majors most in-demand by potential employers and the second is a list of the nation’s most popular majors as chosen by college students. What’s wrong with this picture? In many cases college students are not choosing majors that align with the career paths that will provide them with the best opportunities!

Employer Highest Demand Majors: (National Association of Colleges and Employers)
1. Accounting
2. Electrical engineering
3. Mechanical engineering
4. Business administration/management
5. Economics/finance
6. Computer science
7. Computer engineering
8. Marketing/marketing management
9. Chemical engineering
10. Information sciences and systems

Most Popular Major Choices: (Princeton Review)
1. Business Administration
2. Psychology
3. Nursing
4. Biology/Biological Sciences
5. Education
6. English Language and Literature
7. Economics
8. Communications Studies/Speech Communication and Rhetoric
9. Political Science and Government
10. Computer and Information Sciences

Right now the United States graduates only a fraction of the engineers that India and China do each year, and there is no sign of a change in that trend. But there is no cold war to fuel the interest in these areas like there was fifty years ago.

Technology guru and Internet founding father Vinton Cerf has called for renewing national interest in the sciences as in the days of Sputnik to respond to the current threat of global climate change. However, this threat has not struck the fear into the hearts of average Americans that Sputnik did, simply because it is a slow and creeping change rather than the instant change that Sputnik represented. Likewise, the threat of terrorism has spurred great interest in national defense and technological advancement as the cold war threat did. The terrorist foes we face are not perceived to threaten our way of life, and even our very existence as the Soviets of the cold war did.  It seems that we need a crisis, rather than a dull but persistent need to encourage change.

I mentioned earlier that I lost interest in Math and Science when those subjects became difficult, yet those two subjects are precisely the areas needed for careers in all of the engineering fields that are so much in demand. I think this pattern is pretty common, with initial interest in the early grades only to lose interest as the subjects become more challenging. What can be done to keep the interest alive in our children? Just watch some young kids for a while and you can easily see that problem-solving, experimentation and wonder is innate in human beings. So where is the disconnect? What happens that so few people wind up in technical careers that directly depend upon human curiosity? Something happens between early childhood and adulthood.

I think that part of the problem might be a general fear of Math and Science among primary grade educators. Of course, this is a generalization and not true for everyone, but if teachers in the lower grades are not enthusiastic about these subjects, it’s unlikely their pupils will be. I also think that upper level Math teachers can compound the problem. Students often move from teachers who dislike or fear Math in the lower grades to upper level teachers having such a love of Mathematics it is difficult for them to relate to people for whom Math does not come easily. Moving from Math fear to Math zeal is not an easy transition.

Personally, I didn’t find a Math teacher I could relate to until I attended community college. I’m sure much of it had to do with a more mature attitude, but some of it was definitely the teacher’s style of teaching. I believe it would be helpful if we had more Math teachers who struggled and still chose to teach the subject!

Parental support is critical. Teachers cannot do it all alone. There simply is not enough time in a school day to meet the needs of each child at the level of his or her needs. I believe parents can help, even if they are not strong in these areas. This summer, my daughter and I made a video about the summer solstice. My daughter made observations, collected data, and thought about why she saw what she saw; she did the basics of scientific inquiry. Not bad for a kid just out of kindergarten. It was nothing that was terribly difficult. All it took was some time and effort.

On August 9th, we are planning a Science Day camp for kids in grades K-4 in our city park. We are planning to do some physics experiments with the playground equipment, as well as the famous Diet Coke & Mentos geysers and other related science fun. We hope to get the kids thinking about experimentation and the scientific method of discovery. I will plan to share some photos and information about how the day went with you when it becomes available.

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