CSRWire: Cognizant’s Associate Director of Educational Affairs Outlines a New Approach to STEM Education

“We believe that investing in the power of learning is not only a business imperative—it’s also the right thing to do. And, we view education, and particularly STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) education, as the fundamental sustainability issue of our time; finding and implementing solutions to poverty, health issues and climate change will require a highly educated, STEM-literate population,” writes Kathryn Nash. Excerpts:

“Investing in traditional education alone won’t meet the demands of future jobs or prepare the next generation for success.  Pace of change quickens daily as new technologies transform how people think, work, and play. We no longer live in an Industrial Economy—we are firmly implanted in the Knowledge Economy, or what some call the Era of Digital Business. No one can predict with certainty what the future holds for the millennial workers of this “digital generation,” but we do know that the skills learned today will not be relevant forever. There will be demand for new competencies, just as this era of emerging social, mobile, analytics and cloud technologies has changed demands on today’s workforce.

How can we invest in education to ensure future generations of life-long learners? Cognizant’s Making the Future education initiative, launched in 2011, is making great strides in accomplishing that goal. Inspired by the Maker Movement, the initiative emphasizes the “doing” of projects, encouraging collaboration, interdisciplinary problem-solving, and risk-taking by grade school through high school age learners across socio-economic backgrounds. 

There are strong arguments for incorporating Making into every teacher’s toolbox.  Making as a pedagogy has several attributes, among them:

- Hands-on, project- and design-based learning approaches are more consistent with the cognitive processes and learning styles we attribute to the millennial generation and younger.

- These approaches spark creativity, critical thinking, collaboration and other 21^st century learning skills.  They “pull” kids into STEM disciplines by generating interest and confidence, rather than pushing them to “do better in math and science.”

- Making, with its emphasis on “do it yourself” and “do it with others” projects, provides a strong community and supporting philosophy that inspires creative learning and can appeal to both girls and boys across socio-economic backgrounds.

We must all keep challenging to ensure innovative approaches—like Making—can help spark transformative shifts in education and better equip future generations with the knowledge, skill and intellectual curiosity to succeed. Today’s inspiration is tomorrow’s innovation.”

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