STEM: Meeting the skills demand of the 21st century
It is predicted that up to 80% of new jobs will require skills in mathematics and science so learning STEM is now an essential requirement for those entering the 21st century workforce. In this lunchtime briefing Texas Instruments will discuss initiatives that are set to meet these requirements.
TI has developed a series of activities, using their flexible handheld device and software platform, TI-Nspire. These stimulating activities link aspects of STEM and encourage the use of technology by experiencing its power to support scientific and mathematical investigation. TI-Nspire provides a learning platform which dynamically links a variety of ICT applications including data logging, graphs, spreadsheets, documents, geometry, statistics, and a calculator. This dynamic linking assists students in making connections by interpreting the data from different perspectives across the STEM subjects.
There is now a wealth of data available on the Internet in a variety of forms which can be copied directly into TI-Nspire. Data can also be captured by linking to a variety of data logging devices such as motion sensors or by recording manually or using video analysis. The range of sensors covers a broad spectrum of physical, chemical and biological attributes. It is then possible to manipulate, display and analyse this data in a variety of ways or to try to model the data using a variety of data handling and function plotting tools.
Many of the activities are suitable for a range of ages and aptitudes with more challenging ideas being suggested as extension activities. Further information and TI-Nspire files for the activities can be found at www.nspiringlearning.org.uk.
See Texas Instruments in the Experience Lounge