Experiential Alternative STEM School Opens in Austin
by: Brad McLain
STEM Integration While the term at first referred only to the integration of science with technology, engineering and mathematics, in the most innovative models it has now evolved to mean the integration of STEM across all subject areas. Schools like LTDS are pioneering a cross-curricular approach where STEM is included in reading, social studies, music, and more, and are putting up dramatic results in student engagement and performance. Parental Involvement
In response to a growing national movement for innovations in STEM education, Austin is now home to a unique school specializing in experiential science learning – the Lake Travis Day School. LTDS is now enrolling K-8 students under an alternative conceptual model that combines three key elements: experiential learning theory, STEM integration, and a high degree of parent involvement. Experiential Learning By definition, experiential learning places the focus of the process directly within learners and casts the teacher into the role of facilitator – a guide on the side rather than a sage on the stage. Educators and students co-engage in direct experience and focused reflection to construct knowledge, develop skills, and contextualize the meaning of experiences.
14
FALL 2012
School Choice
The third component is parental involvement. LTDS has designed a flexible model with three days per week of highly structured classroom time coupled with two days per week for semi-structured enrichment and exploration that encourages parental involvement both on-site and at home. Problem Based Learning One of the most effective methods for implementing such learning experiences in the classroom – and what the LTDS model incorporates – is problem based learning, or PBL. PBL utilizes the popular notions of classroom inquiry (wonder and curiosity) with “hands-on” content approaches but it does so by applying these methods to real-world problems that students care about and can contribute solutions toward. Examples from schools applying PBL are many. One school in Colorado has second graders exploring the science of wildfires and new strategies for putting them out. In the process they explore the chemistry and causes of fire, the ecology of grasslands and forests, and the human impacts when fires get out of control.