This blog post was written by Laura Boyd Smidt, Regional Specialist Uncharted Learning, NFP, and Jerri Lamirand, Texas Regional Specialist Uncharted Learning, NFP. Their Deep Dive session, Future Innovators: Developing Entrepreneurial STEM Students, will be held at 3:30 p.m. Friday, November 8 at the Professional Conference.
Are you looking to inspire innovation, critical thinking, and real-world problem-solving skills in your STEM students? Join us to learn teaching strategies to help build these entrepreneurial skill sets and prepare students for the future.
Discover the 4 D’s: Discovery, Design, Delivery, and Development
The four pillars of Entrepreneurship Across the Curriculum (EAC) are designed to help educators seamlessly integrate entrepreneurial thinking into their STEM curriculum, fostering a mindset of curiosity, creativity, and continuous improvement in students.
Discovery: Foster curiosity and creativity. Participate in a brainstorming activity where you’ll experience firsthand the power of giving students the freedom to explore and experiment. You’ll leave with this instructional strategy and lesson plan so you can immediately implement it in your own classroom.
Design: Examine the importance of design thinking and empathy in the STEM classroom. Students need to understand the “why” behind their work to create meaningful solutions. We’ll explore how to incorporate design thinking principles—such as empathy, problem definition, and ideation—into your lessons. By helping students grasp the purpose and impact of their projects, you’ll empower them to develop more thoughtful and effective solutions.
Delivery: Emphasize the importance of effective communication. Understanding how to clearly and persuasively communicate their ideas is crucial for students. We will discuss techniques to integrate communication and performance assessment into the STEM Classroom.
Development: Focus on experimentation, tinkering, iterating, and collaboration. We’ll discuss how students can engage in continuous improvement through prototyping and learning from their experiences. Emphasize the difference between dividing tasks and true collaboration, and highlight how effective teamwork and iterative processes lead to better outcomes. Understanding these concepts will help students refine their projects and enhance their problem-solving skills.
Collaborate and Connect
Connecting and collaborating with fellow educators is a rewarding aspect of this session. You will Learn by Doing as you participate in a Creative Brainstorming Lesson.
Join Us
Join our session at the 2024 Professional Conference to discover how EAC can empower you to transform your STEM curriculum. Let’s work together to inspire the next generation of STEM innovators to think entrepreneurially. We look forward to seeing you there and embarking on this journey together!