Adding Communication to STEM Education

RAEng_Publications/Pixabay

RAEng_Publications/Pixabay, used with permission

This is the second of a two-part series. Read part one here.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics forecasts an increase in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) careers greater than the growth of future non-STEM occupations. Today, schools are offering STEM and STEAM (STEM + Arts) courses to equip students for this STEM-trending workforce. But when students make valuable STEM discoveries in the future, if they're unable to communicate their findings, they (and society) will suffer for it.

Such communication is no easy feat. It involves understanding what causes people to resist facts, reason, or action. For example, people often deny scientific evidence of climate change due to identity, confirmation bias, detachment, or other issues. Fortunately, sustainability communication instruction content can be integrated into existing K-12 instruction (Rankin, 2022):

• STEM communication can be covered as part of the research dissemination stage of STEM research. For example, speaking and writing skills practice can involve persuasion techniques and other strategies for conveying facts in the face of opposition.
• Lessons on critical thinking can include education on confirmation bias (which makes us overvalue evidence that supports what we already believe), logical fallacies that hamper our thinking, and motivated reasoning (which prevents us from treating all evidence equally).
• Cognitive and behavioral science concepts can be integrated into the social-emotional instruction already taking place in schools. For example, behavioral economics and cognitive dissonance can be integrated into existing lessons on grit and growth mindset, as all of these involve fostering comfort with “being wrong”.

Consider the last of these as an example. A growth mindset involves embracing our own propensity for “being wrong” as a natural, non-stigmatizing component of the learning process (Dweck, 2008). Comfort with “being wrong” also helps us face and understand the cognitive dissonance we feel when we encounter evidence that we are wrong so that when we write narratives in our minds in response to such dissonance, we can better align these narratives with reality (Tavris & Aronson, 2020). Thus, lessons teaching young learners about practicing a growth mindset can naturally address cognitive dissonance, as well. These lessons can even bypass jargon to speak about this phenomenon in terms of how we feel and think when we encounter evidence that we are wrong.

STEM communication instruction content can also be integrated into existing standards and other frameworks to which schools already adhere (Rankin, 2022):

• The Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning Core SEL competency of self-management lends itself well to helping students manage thoughts when biases or cognitive dissonance encourage rejecting fact.
• The Common Core State Standards related to persuasive writing integrate well with writing opinion pieces supporting a point of view audiences might resist.
• The UNESCO Education for Sustainable Development Key Competency naturally involves understanding how norms and values impact one’s acceptance of facts.

Sharing STEM findings is not as simple as merely sharing relevant facts. Psychological factors play a role in the resistance to sustainability content and efforts. Fortunately, teachers can incorporate lessons on understanding the cognitive forces that shape such resistance, as well as lessons on successful strategies for overcoming such resistance. Doing so will better equip students to communicate STEM evidence, goals, and steps in ways that will benefit both students and society.