Alpha science classroom：5 TRENDS IN STEM EDUCATION YOU NEED TO KNOW

Summary: STEM education has changed a lot since it first entered schools. Here are five new trends you can see at your neighborhood school or home.

As a professional China educational toy manufacturer, the educational experts of Alpha Science Toys believe that STEM education has always been important, but maybe now is the time to be more important than ever. Society is moving towards the age of robotics, artificial intelligence, and connected machines making everyday life easier. For all these advances, the industry will need a lot of eager minds ready to create and exploit them.

Teaching children about science, technology, engineering, and math is an important part of their education and potential careers. It helps them learn useful life skills and encourages them to be part of the future. Here are five STEM education trends introduced by Alpha science toys, so that you can understand how today's children can become tomorrow's scientists, engineers, and manufacturers.

1. More interested in robotics competitions

FIRST Robotics was founded in the late 80s and had been teaching students to build robots and solve problems ever since. Teams have done incredible things like rescuing animals, building wheelchairs for community members, and even relieving the stress of the COVID-19 pandemic. FIRST participants helped create ventilators, personal protective equipment, and robots to deliver groceries to seniors.

Right now, the competition is huge—FIRST expects more than 55,000 high school students to participate. The organization even includes younger kids, as students ages 4-6 can have fun with LEGO bricks. The popularity of such programs is teaching robotics, teamwork, and professionalism to more kids, developing a new generation of creators.

2. STEAM not STEM

It has long been assumed that science and art are too different to mix. However, creative subjects such as music and visual arts can help students become more well-rounded and better problem solvers. These qualities are highly valued in major STEM fields, so schools have started advocating for blended curricula starting around 2020.

Currently, Alpha science toys believe that incorporating the arts into STEM education can allow children to excel in number-oriented subjects. They don't seem to help in making drugs or building computers, but English and drama classes teach kids how to think outside the box. It introduces a less objective way of thinking into the classroom, showing them ways to solve problems and create adaptive lessons creatively. For these reasons, more and more schools are implementing STEAM instead of strict STEM.

3. Early STEM Education

When you think of STEM learning, you probably don't think of young children learning to code or build circuits—but that's what some education experts are advocating. Birth to age 5 is one of the most critical periods for brain development. The educational experts of Alpha science toys even pointed out that 85%-90% of the brain is formed in these years.

That's why some people want to start STEM education before the age of 6 to maximize the amount of information a child can accumulate. Introducing more STEM-focused topics early can foster a greater interest in these topics since there are such rare opportunities to learn before age 5. Preschoolers may not be able to perform advanced experiments, but they can investigate why certain building block structures are stronger than others.

4. STEM Toys

In addition to introducing STEM at an early age, some toys can help children learn these concepts unconsciously. These can help children express their curiosity without feeling like their parents are forcing them to do something educational. Adults can encourage familiarity with STEM topics as children gain knowledge and independence.

Educational toys for children may be one of the most important trends in STEM education. The market for these fun learning products could exceed $9 billion by 2025, 1.5 times the size of 2019. Analysts also expect the market to grow 7 percent annually, meaning more parents and teachers will be buying STEM toys to start teaching their kids earlier. This growth could mean more future coders, biologists, or aerospace engineers.

5. Increase digital learning

The COVID-19 pandemic has necessitated remote schooling for many students. Many are transitioning from it, and it may not be the best option for STEM education. Some 59% of Gen Z kids say they prefer to learn on YouTube and 47% like interactive apps and games.

A significant advantage of online learning is that the information is up-to-date, which is crucial for science-based subjects. Also, due to the high price, schools are unlikely to invest in new books very often. For these reasons, STEM teachers may have greater success using more digital forms of education.

Encouraging STEM education for younger generations

Finally, Alpha science toys believes that learning science, technology, engineering and math is essential for today's students. If the world hopes to keep progressing, more scientific minds are needed to develop and build robots, devices and machine learning programs. These five trends in STEM education show how schools and parents can foster a love of these subjects in children's lives.

Therefore, Alpha science toys, as an excellent China educational toy manufacturer, has rich experience and advanced experience in children's education, and has been committed to providing the most professional STEM Toys for children around the world, helping children learn different knowledge more easily, and providing children with We create a scientific dream, and together we make the earth a better place.