Foundations of STEM Teaching

This unit introduces foundational definitions, core concepts, and historical context of STEM education and how the four disciplines interact in classroom practice. Learners investigate how students learn STEM, examine standards and assessment priorities, and practice selecting resources and designing inquiry-led, equitable learning experiences to prepare for deeper lesson planning and implementation in subsequent units.

Learning Objectives

• Analyze and compare competing definitions and core concepts of STEM education, including historical trends and interdisciplinary connections across science, technology, engineering, and mathematics
• Evaluate major principles of STEM instruction and relevant national standards to identify clear, standards-aligned learning goals and assessment targets for an introductory STEM lesson
• Design an inquiry-based, standards-aligned mini-lesson or learning sequence that integrates at least two STEM domains, includes personalized supports and equity strategies, and specifies the student skills to be taught
• Apply resource-evaluation criteria to select and justify classroom tools (e.g., hands-on build activities and online simulations) and propose formative assessments to measure student understanding