Welcome to the class. Use this blog to post comments, files, and links relevant to the course, our discussions, and our readings. Be a part of the conversation both in and out of class.
I love how the progress of a supercomputer suddenly makes the author's push for STEM education so apparent, "So it is clear that to benefit our economy and society, our national priority should be on encouraging more students to study STEM."
I would like to see where Adkins came up with the number that 50% of economic expansion comes from science and engineering.
Again, as I mentioned in class, I see a value in STEM, but not to the detriment of the study other liberal arts - especially when people in those fields often play a huge role in bringing the fruits of STEM work to market.
I absolutely agree. I often wonder just how popular Apple technology would be, for instance, without the company's marketing strategies, which have clearly established it's products as desirable and "cool."
I also agree with Anna. The conclusion that 50% of economic expansion comes for science and engineering strikes me as biased and difficult to defend. As someone who graduated from a liberal arts college, academic disciplines are intertwined on many levels, and science and math cannot be conveniently separated from the humanities and social science for the sake of making an economic argument. Each academic discipline - regardless of the content area - informs and enriches the others explicitly and implicitly.
Here are some interesting articles on the problems facing some STEM graduates at finding jobs. The WaPo piece is particularly interesting, since it deals specifically with unemployment among people who have advanced STEM degrees:
I love how the progress of a supercomputer suddenly makes the author's push for STEM education so apparent, "So it is clear that to benefit our economy and society, our national priority should be on encouraging more students to study STEM."
ReplyDeleteI would like to see where Adkins came up with the number that 50% of economic expansion comes from science and engineering.
Again, as I mentioned in class, I see a value in STEM, but not to the detriment of the study other liberal arts - especially when people in those fields often play a huge role in bringing the fruits of STEM work to market.
I absolutely agree. I often wonder just how popular Apple technology would be, for instance, without the company's marketing strategies, which have clearly established it's products as desirable and "cool."
DeleteI also agree with Anna. The conclusion that 50% of economic expansion comes for science and engineering strikes me as biased and difficult to defend. As someone who graduated from a liberal arts college, academic disciplines are intertwined on many levels, and science and math cannot be conveniently separated from the humanities and social science for the sake of making an economic argument. Each academic discipline - regardless of the content area - informs and enriches the others explicitly and implicitly.
DeleteHere are some interesting articles on the problems facing some STEM graduates at finding jobs. The WaPo piece is particularly interesting, since it deals specifically with unemployment among people who have advanced STEM degrees:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/us-pushes-for-more-scientists-but-the-jobs-arent-there/2012/07/07/gJQAZJpQUW_story.html?hpid=z1
http://www.popecenter.org/commentaries/article.html?id=2701