Why this one STEM course has four different teachers

A STEM rotation model engages students in multifaceted projects with real-world implications

What does it mean to truly apply classroom knowledge? Years ago, application meant a comprehensive exam or essay. In today’s educational environment, students are encouraged to apply what they’ve learned, not just on tests, but during multifaceted, multimedia projects that bring relevance to lessons and help students realize how their learning is used every day in the real world.

Walking into one of our four STEM classrooms at Huntingdon Area Middle School, you won’t see students working quietly on worksheets. They’ll be huddled up in small groups, collaborating, brainstorming, critically thinking about how to solve the world’s problems. The expertise of four diverse teachers from different disciplines created a project-based, rotation model that has given middle school students a new realization that skills they learn in a classroom can be found in real-life situations, not just on a test.

In the summer of 2015, the district asked a technology teacher, a library media specialist, a math teacher, and a science teacher to create a STEM course that would be part of the students’ daily class schedule. The teachers decided to split their 100 students among the four of them and rotate every three days. Over the course of a nine-week project, students would use knowledge from all four teachers to finish their multifaceted, cross-curricular projects.…Read More