The way we have structured STEM learning, they develop the courage and confidence to make a pitch for their product, and build public speaking skills, self-advocacy skills and organizational skills.
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For Zachry Warren, teaching a course in STEM – Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics – to students at The Titusville Academy is teaching at its very best.
“I love to see our students, many of whom struggle with academics, taking on the challenges of a complex STEM curriculum and really excel,” said Warren. “I have to remind them that this is college-level work.”
The key to the students’ success is ownership, self-direction, and hands-on learning. Freshmen and sophomore students in Warren’s class have made sensors, simple motors, and robotic arms that pick things up.
Recently, Warren borrowed a strategy from the hit television show “Shark Tank” to launch a unique, hands-on approach to learning. After students engineer their own products, and go through the process of designing, making and testing a proto-type, they must develop ways to get their new product to market, and “pitch” it to potential “investors.” Projects range from an anti-bacterial, heat regulating seat cushion, to a portable solar stove to heat up lunch.
Warren recognizes that he is teaching more than science and math – he is teaching other skills for life. “Many of my students have a hard time expressing themselves, and organizing their ideas. The way we have structured the learning, they develop the courage and confidence to ‘make a pitch’ for their product, and in so doing, build public speaking skills, self-advocacy skills and organizational skills,” said Warren.