Mission Statement for 4-12 Technology Education/STEM:
Providing an authentic and hands-on learning experience that empowers students to develop, refine, and apply technological solutions focused on improving the world around them through collaboration and creativity.
Guiding Principles for 4-12 Technology Education/STEM:
Students will be able to...
- apply the engineering design process to develop hands-on solutions to solve authentic problems.
- understand that engineering through design impacts, and may improve, the quality of life for people and communities.
- work collaboratively to share thoughts and ideas, construct viable arguments, critique the reasoning of others, and provide feedback.
- utilize pre-existing knowledge across content areas to generate original ideas, processes, or products.
- utilize critical thinking to make sense of problems, formulate important questions for inquiry, and persevere in solving them.
- make informed decisions through research and investigation.
- reflect and revise thinking to ensure reasonable solutions.
- select and use appropriate tools strategically and safely.
- deepen understanding of concepts by utilizing and applying technological solutions.
- use the practice of reverse-engineering to examine how an object/device works.
- attend to precision as it pertains to designing solutions to problems.
- communicate technically and document designs.
Best Practices for 4-12 Technology Education/STEM:
Teachers will...
- provide authentic hands-on problems for students to solve.
- provide opportunities for students to engage in learning activities that utilize the engineering design process and use design notebooks.
- allow students opportunities to make connections between learning and the potential societal impacts of technology.
- provide a collaborative environment to promote the sharing of thoughts and ideas.
- facilitate and provide a structure for student critique, feedback, reflection, and revision.
- provide an opportunity for collaboration with other content areas to draw upon prior knowledge from other subjects.
- promote the use of research, investigation, and proven data analysis, to help students make critical and informed decisions.
- provide demonstration, instruction, and on-going support on the appropriate selection and safe use of tools and machinery.
- develop learning activities where students apply technological solutions in a manner that will deepen their understanding of concepts.
- provide students an opportunity to improve and understand a product or system by deconstructing and rebuilding it for a better solution.
- promote and encourage precision and accuracy in student work.
