STEM in Out-of-School Time

The second training completed by the Museum of Science at the EEC, a small group of out-of-school workers from Greater Boston looked ahead to leading interesting engineering projects using the museum's original curriculum. This is an example of what some may call a new "collaboration" in learning and not just linking school to out-of-school by way of traditional classroom academics, but using out-of-school time for different ways to access learning. STEM as it was taught, was but another way of looking at project-based learning, a framework that has been around in different manifestations since the start of progressive education and has often been refined to fit the needs of out-of-school programs.

With project-based learning, programs can sequence activities in a way that they retain the "teachable moments" but are not tied to consistent attendance or the resource infrastructure (both human and program materials) to make out-of-school appear like school. The more the out-of-school attempts this duplication the more the question is raised as to whether larger dose of the same product will improve results (it may) or whether diverse experiences are beneficial (people usually say "diversity" but then work very hard to create seamless days - even if they have to stretch the meaning of "seamless" to fit the many disconnects and inconsistencies that exist between environments).

STEM participating programs will move ahead with the curriculum on an adventure and challenge. In the coming months BOSTnet will visit these programs and collect information and observations to examine ways that STEM concepts can be taught not only in participating programs but among a wider out-of-school audience. With so many calls to create an "evolution and revolution in schools" the work of out-of-school educators may be changing and the age of "Youth Development" may be indeed ushered out as more non-profits working with children are asked by government and private funders to "rethink how you do business" and by extension what services children get and how learning is done outside of the traditional school day.