Good Article re: the importance of STEM Education

Herman Trend Alert: The Importance of US Action  November 10, 2010

We have watched as the US has fallen farther and farther behind its peer developed nations. According to The World Economic Forum's "Global Competitiveness Report 2009-2010", the US now ranks 48th in the quality of its mathematics and science education.

Following on the heels of our October 27th Herman Trend Alert, according to the ACT College Readiness report, 78 percent of high school graduates did not meet the readiness benchmark levels for one or more entry-level college courses in mathematics, science, reading, and English.

This report is a follow-up to the US Council on Competitiveness' previous study "Rising Above the Gathering Storm Revisited: Rapidly Approaching Category 5". (Its predecessor resulted in the "2007 America COMPETES Act".)

Though only four percent of the country’s workforce is made up of scientists and engineers, this group disproportionately creates jobs for the other 96 percent. Moreover, the pace of creation of new knowledge appears to be accelerating.

In point of fact, the US is only sixth in global innovation-based competitiveness, but 40th in rate of change over the last decade. It is 11th among industrialized nations in the fraction of 25- to 34-year-olds who have graduated from high school and 16th in college completion rate. The US is 22nd in the world in broadband Internet access and 24th in life expectancy at birth; and 27th among developed nations in the proportion of college students receiving degrees in science or engineering. Finally and not surprisingly, the US is 29th in the number of mobile phones per 100 people.

According to Charles Vest, former Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T), president, who worked on the study "In spite of the efforts of both those in government and the private sector, the outlook for America to compete for quality jobs has further deteriorated over the past five years".

Other countries like Brazil that have paid attention to these issues have reaped the rewards. If the US is to compete successfully on the global stage, we MUST put the education of our young people first. In addition, we must look for innovative ways to encourage our youth to take rigorous courses of study, especially guiding them into the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) professions.

Special thanks to New York Times' columnist Thomas Friedman for calling our attention to this important issue.

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RSA Animate - Changing Education Paradigms

Ken Robinson says schools kill creativity

Here is a link to a TED Talk by Ken Robinson on how we need to rethink educating our children  http://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html

S.T.E.P. by step

What remains of my life here on earth will be devoted to my personal mission statement embodied in the acronym S.T.E.P....Seek Truth Enlighten People TM.  I can think of no higher goal to devote my life to.  The first part of this involves openness to new ideas and the second requires me to be courageous enough to share those ideas in the ordinary course of my day.  Both of these activities are demanding, but also exciting!

Sad but True!

“A new poll found that only 5% of Americans think the public school system is working well. While the other 95% think ‘it could be working gooder.’” -- Jimmy Fallon

Lessons from Home

I just spent the hour helping my 3rd grader with math.  He needed a fair amount of help with a couple of "counting change" problems.  I tried to explain, unsuccessfully, that he got a couple of the problems wrong.  His first reaction was one of shame, which quickly turned to anger and then sobbing.  What seemed like a simple solution was dumbfounding at best and totally made no sense to him.  His frustration was matched by mine and on and on it went, ending in me raising my voice and him crying profusely.

So why is learning something new so frustrating?  Is admitting failure or ignorance hard for us to do? 

He is so good at so many things, but always seems to focus on his mistakes!  He reacts the same way whether he is trying to understand math, learning how to pitch a baseball, or ride a bike. 

His attitude improved and thus learning took place when my wife reassured him that everyone in his class is learning new things and that many of them cry over their homework.  She also explained it to him differently with real life experiences. 

I guess the best we can do as parents and educators is provide an environment for accepting failure and try different approaches to our lessons.  A lesson that I forgot from a former employer, Intel..."Fall, Forward, Fast!".

Online For Profit School in OKC

Take a look at this recent article in the Oklahoman regarding Advanced Academics:

http://newsok.com/is-an-oklahoma-city-company-creating-for-profit-public-schools/article/3492005

Is this innovation or does it compromise the quality of educating our kids?  Let me know what you think.

Key to Finland's Education Success

Here is a video regarding Finland's success.  They have figured out how to do the simple things extremely well!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/world_news_america/8605791.stm

Something to Think About

If you want 1 year of prosperity, grow grain.
If you want 10 years of prosperity, grow trees.
If you want 100 years of prosperity, grow people.

~ Chinese Proverb

OSU students getting free iPads as part of pilot project

It is very refreshing to hear that OSU is looking at how the new generation of students learn and organize their lifes.  See the full article here:

http://www.newsok.com/osu-students-getting-free-ipads-as-part-of-pilot-project/article/3486012?custom_click=lead_story_title

Something to Think About

You give but little when you give your possessions, it is when you give of yourself that you truely give. - K.Gibran

Origins of the word "Educate"

Educate literally means `lead out.' The word comes from the past participle of Latin educare `bring up, rear,' and `educate.' It was related to Latin educere `lead out' (source of English educe), a compound verb formed from the prefix ex- `out' and ducere `lead' (source of English duct, duke, and a whole host of derivatives such as deduce and seduce).

Getting Ready for the School Year @ OSU

Just finished setting up the Personal Finance Class online.  I am looking forward to another great year!