STEM Parking Lot Speech

As I finish up with my course on issues in STEM education, I'd like to reevaluate my "parking lot speech" on STEM education. If I were given a few short minutes to describe why STEM education is important, I would say something along these lines:

STEM education is pivotal to creating a well-balanced education for any student. First, the content covered in science, technology, education, and math are relevant to all individual in modern society on a nearly constant bases. Especially with the prevalence of technology in our daily lives, it is more important than ever for students to be educated in and interested in learning about how things work in the world around them. 
On top of the content, however, effective STEM education also provides students with an opportunity to build many of the "21st-century skills" that are imperative for them to have as the move into the workplace. Skills like critical thinking and collaboration are highly valued among employers because they increase productivity and efficiency. Skills like creativity and problem solving that are cultivated in problem-based stem courses help to propel new innovations and the invention of new technologies. STEM education is important for living in the world that we are currently in, but it is also vital for creating an even better future. 

At the beginning of this course, I recorded myself giving a similar parking lot speech, which can be found here at this link.

 Over this semester, I have had the experience of looking specifically at many reasonings for why STEM education is important and also the issues that are currently facing STEM education. My parking lot speech has become more succinct and focused around current and future needs for effective STEM education. My newer speech is more focused on the importance of STEM skills in the workplace and general life. I think this is because it has become apparent how access to resources for STEM education often hinge on how well the resources will prepare students for the future. When discussing STEM education with a parent or an administrator, I think it would be important to make it clear that I am looking out for my students' futures.

As I continue to have more experience with STEM education, I am confident that my speech will continue to shift and evolve to become more effective, but I think I will always emphasize how both the content and the skills that are learned through STEM education positively impact students as they grow and enter into their adult lives.