yuli8795
commented
5 years ago Important Considerations:
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STEM is viewed in early childhood education as a means of achieving the outcomes presented in the Early Years Learning Framework (brief outline given below). It should clearly be demonstrated which areas are addressed through the activity. This will also help educators align this to their own knowledge and experience and understand how these STEM activities facilitate children's development. Outcome 1: Children have a strong sense of identity Outcome 2: Children are connected with and contribute to their world Outcome 3: Children have a strong sense of wellbeing Outcome 4: Children are confident and involved learners Outcome 5: Children are effective communicators
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STEM is an integrated discipline and should be treated as such when designing the activity. Instead of classifying the activity as "science", "maths" etc. consider looking into Early Childhood STEM Habits of Mind Framework (Simonici and Lasen, 2018). Preliminary search seems to yield only one article addressing this theory. Might be a good idea to see if primary author can be contacted for more information.
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Budget is always a concern. Key misconception that STEM requires expensive resources should be addressed. Activity should be developed to use cheap or recyclable materials, or equipment that childcare centres likely already possess.
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Rather than having an activity that focuses on one topic, consider many different topics activity could relate to. Common practice is to use the child-lead teacher-follow method of teaching. Activity should be designed to be flexible, so that educators can follow children's interest and explain concepts as children discover different things. Activity could have prompting questions which educators can use to direct children's learning in particular areas (which would then lead to a simple explanation of concepts/content). Could also include suggestions for related activities that can extend children's interests/understanding.
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Might be a good idea to see if other media can be used to facilitate running the activity. For example, developing an app or an interactive site/presentation could make navigation easier.
This is a collection of ideas and thoughts for the development of a STEM activity that early childhood educators will be able to implement in their daily practice.
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