Our STEM Lab is in the development phase. We hope to open soon.
At The Learning Center, we provide a safe, supportive environment for children to explore, innovate, take risks, and solve problems. Our efforts to improve student's achievements include improving their understanding of STEM. Through STEM education, students learn to become critical thinkers, creators, and collaborators. These are skills that all students will need to be successful in college, careers, and life. Students who have an interest in STEM go on to fill the critical jobs of engineers, scientists, and innovators that are essential to the future of Georgia and the nation. ​
STEM Lab
Encouraging critical thinking, problem-solving, persistence, collaboration, and communication is key to a great STEM program. STEM education means helping students see that science, technology, engineering, and math subjects are all connected and enables them to develop skills for the workforce.
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The Learning Center will expand its existing STEM summer program into a year-round STEM Lab. We will help make sure students in Columbus, regardless of zip code, can be involved in hands-on learning in relevant and meaningful ways and create or nurture an interest in science, math, and writing in elementary through high school students.
Video: courtesy of AfterschoolSTEMhub.org
Mission
The mission of our program is to improve academic performance; expose students to STEM activities; and promote student accountability, responsibility, and dependability.
Vision
The Learning Center expects to increase students’ awareness of and interest in STEM and STEM careers, knowledge of STEM concepts, and program-related skills.
The “STEM Lab” will be a scientist's workshop, a music studio, and a communications hub. Students will complete science experiments and writing assignments, conduct research, and analyze data, work on technology projects introducing circuit boards, coding, and robotics. The students will also work on skills they naturally gravitate towards, like video production, audio engineering, and mass communications. They will learn about music theory and rhythm; compose and mix original music using professional music production applications; create mash-ups and remixes of songs, and learn how to DJ. Visual recording labs will introduce the students to broadcast, movie making, and other video recording and editing skills. The instructors will show the relationships between audio/visual recording and science, technology, engineering, and math. The mass communications and media arts facilitator will teach writing, web, and broadcast skills combined with reporting, research, and ethics. Our goal is to help students learn how to ask questions, gather information, produce news articles and newscasts, interview people, and meet deadlines. In addition to having fun, the students will learn and practice essential thinking skills that are important in many subjects, such as testing hypotheses and thinking critically. Students will learn to become confident learners through STEM education, which may translate into college and career opportunities.
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STEM REPORTS
In April of 2021, The National Science Foundation released an industry report highlighting data about three notably underrepresented groups in STEM education and employment. These groups are Women, Black/Hispanic/Native American or Alaskan Native, and Persons with Disabilities. The federal government’s Committee of STEM Education’s report (2018) said they have “a key role to play in furthering STEM education by working in partnership with stakeholders at all levels and seeking to remove barriers to participation in STEM careers, especially for women and those historically underserved and underrepresented in STEM fields and employment. The full benefits of the Nation’s STEM enterprise will not be realized until this goal is achieved.”
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identity iSSUE
This underrepresentation for Black/Hispanic/Native American or Alaskan Native persons begins with a STEM identity issue. Children see scientists and engineers as “white males” in media and the world around them. According to the report, two thirds of scientists and engineers employed full time are white. There’s a need for STEM programming, but also a need for children of color to be able to see adults who look like them in science and engineering roles. Having role models of color in fields that may be perceived as hard to reach can be significant in children’s lives.
Program Costs
Another barrier to STEM participation in underrepresented groups is the cost of the programs. Data from the Afterschool Alliance states that afterschool programs offering STEM learning are more expensive than programs that do not offer STEM. Parents report a mean cost of $107 per week to attend programs offering STEM learning, compared to $74 per week for programs that do not offer STEM learning.
remove barriers
One of the easiest ways to increase participation in STEM education and occupations is to remove as many barriers to entry as possible. Make STEM learning opportunities unique, engaging, and affordable. Studies show that the earlier you introduce STEM education, the more children become interested in those subjects. (EdTech Magazine, 2018).
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