Innovation has shaped human progress throughout history and it is a vital component of STEM disciplines. As teachers aim to inspire and empower the next generation of innovators, the National Science Week theme, "Innovation: Powering Future Industries” is a reminder of the importance of this concept.
Jennifer Mansfield, Monash University science education lecturer, explores the concept of innovation in STEM and outlines some key ideas on how to nurture a culture of innovation in the classroom.
For decades, innovators have been powering our future. Consider the remarkable examples of David Unaipon (pictured on our $50 note) who, in 1909, invented a hand shearing device to revolutionise Australian sheep shearing. Similarly, in 1879, Thomas Edison unveiled the light bulb, forever changing how the world is illuminated, and as far back as 1843, Nancy Johnson invented the ice cream machine. These significant inventions impacted society, yet the journeys to their creation were far from easy.
Why is innovation significant but also challenging in STEM?
Innovation involves generating ideas that either lead to creating something new or improving existing concepts. For STEM disciplines, innovative thinking is essential as it drives progress and adaptation.
However, innovation can be challenging for teachers and students because it requires them to explore the unknown with uncertain outcomes. This is not part of traditional school-based learning. School science often focuses on students learning accepted scientific knowledge, so outcomes are predictable rather than uncertain.
STEM teachers can overcome this fundamental obstacle to developing STEM literacy in students by nurturing the drivers of innovation: critical thinking, creativity and imagination; failure; collaboration and diversity; ethics and the human element.
1. Critical thinking, creativity and imagination drive innovation
The combination of critical thinking, creativity and imagination can steer students away from rote learning to the more dynamic exploration of real-life problems.
Example: David Unaipon, the inventor of the sheep shearing device, was curious about perpetual motion. He used creativity to imagine possible features of his design and then used critical thinking to assess whether these aspects would work or not.
In the classroom
Educators can encourage critical and creative thinking in STEM inquiry in the classroom by:
- Identifying areas of need and justifying innovative inquiry
- Creating new ways of tackling old and new problems
- Developing questions for investigation
- Designing modes of inquiry to gather data
- Overcoming or explaining unexpected results
- Embracing diverse perspectives
- Looking for patterns in data and imagining possibilities
- Creating new theories and models or suggesting ways of rethinking existing theories and models
- Assessing whether a designed solution is fit for purpose.
Use this class-friendly resource of lesson plans from the OECD for inspiration.
2. Embracing Failure: A Stepping Stone to Innovation
Failure, risk-taking and resilience fuels innovation. They help us identify the boundaries of knowledge and assist learning and growth, particularly in STEM fields.
However, the stigma surrounding failure can hinder progress, leading to risk aversion. Therefore, as teachers, the more we can embrace failure, and teach students to view it as a stepping stone to success, the better the outcomes in terms of adaptability and resilience.
In the classroom
- Share stories of failure in the classroom. In science, accounts of failure tend to be hidden as authors are pressured to publish the end products of research, rather than the journey of learning.
For example, in the STEM talks series, Associate Beth McGraw talks about failure during her malaria research. - Talking about failure in positive ways, such as creating safe spaces for failing forward or productive failure, can paint failure in a positive light.
- Acknowledge risk taking through assessment, valuing insights gained from mistakes.
3. Collaboration and diversity are integral to innovation
Collaboration, spanning diverse backgrounds, promotes innovation. Peer review and subjecting theories to scrutiny is integral to STEM disciplines.
In the classroom
- Create safe spaces for sharing by allowing respectful critique and discussion of ideas.
- Cultivate an understanding of emotional management during debates, negotiating how people can discuss ideas respectfully can nurture robust discussion.
- Encourage active engagement rather than just completing assigned roles, fostering true collaboration.
4. Ethical considerations and impact on society
Innovations stem from addressing real-world issues, which are shaped by society’s values and there are ethical and moral implications to be considered.
In the classroom
- Create safe classroom spaces to enable productive discussions about moral and ethical issues and weigh up the pros and cons of an issue.
- Conduct research so that opinions are informed with sufficient knowledge. This requires the gathering of data which builds student understanding of the issue and various stakeholder perspectives.
- Have students argue the perspectives of different stakeholders (ideally perspectives that are different from their own) and have them explain the benefits and limitations of possible solutions.
5. Humanising STEM
If we want students to see themselves as future innovators, we need to bring the human aspect of STEM into the classroom. Create conditions for learning which encourage their curiosity and wonderment.
- Urge questioning and identifying knowledge limits and embracing failure as a learning tool.
- Encourage listening and considering diverse viewpoints
- Draw on real-life examples of human endeavour to help students appreciate how knowledge is developed
Preparing future innovators
Innovation is the cornerstone of progress in STEM disciplines, shaping societies and industries. Educators can help prepare the next generation of innovators by creating environments that foster critical thinking, embrace failure as a stepping stone, nurture collaboration, diversity and consider ethical implications, and present the human stories behind STEM advancements. Problem-based learning is a teaching and learning approach which incorporates all of these factors.
By appreciating the nature of knowledge and how technologies come about students may be more open to pursuing careers in STEM.
The ARC funded research project, Exploring problem-based learning in school-based STEM education, aims to generate research-informed principles of practice for a PBL model of school-based STEM education.
