Brent Bushnell “It’s an exciting time to be a curious human.”
community these past few years about the need for more students to be trained in STEM. My challenge with STEM is that for the uninitiated, the hard sciences are intimidating. If a child is not already exhibiting at a science fair or exposed to technology by their friends and family, it’s a fairly impenetrable set of disciplines. So, how best can we expose a young learner to some early successes and avoid dis- couraging them? Add art to create STEAM and different pathways appear! Anyone can make art, and if a student
is involved in making art in STEAM-based projects, they’re exposed to the other four disciplines in a less intimidating fashion. They’re already at the table and around the tools, so there’s less of a threat to test the waters. Art projects that use desktop manufacturing tools are still art, but the user might now have a reason to learn a
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vector art program so they can incorpo- rate products from a laser cutter. While Minecraft is a game, it’s also a powerful authoring environment that enables art and design, as well as programming.
PROJECT-BASED LEARNING The Exploratorium is great at focusing on projects. Each installation is its own real world application of whatever real-life prin- ciple the creator wanted to convey. Better yet, many of the big installations have smaller home versions that guests can even take home to build their own version. I remember the small plastic element that enabled us to marry two-litre soda bottles to create our version of the tornado exhibit. We added food colouring to the liquid and stuffed toys inside. The fact we could see it at the Exploratorium and then make it at home was awesome.
MOVING FORWARD
I’m thrilled that almost two decades on, technology and project-based learning have fi nally taken root and are making huge headways toward reforming education. Technology has overpromised and underdelivered to education for far too long, but the perfect storm is now upon us. Project-based approaches to education are cropping up everywhere. It’s an exciting time to be a curious human. ●
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Brent Bushnell is the chief executive of Two Bit Circus − a think tank and talent magnet which builds products at the crossroads of amusement and education.
http://twobitcircus.com
Attractions Handbook 2014-2015 161
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