As Singapore battles an ageing population, Covid-19, and the rise of phishing attacks, the government has put in investment to further clinical research and innovation and create a trusted digital environment focused on safety, transparency and accountability. With all these, comes the need for STEM professionals to keep up with the ever-changing economy.
Why STEM Education?
More than science and mathematics concepts in class, STEM curriculum focuses on hands-on learning with real-world applications that can help students to develop a variety of transferable skills such as critical thinking, digital and technology literacy, social skills, communication skills and leadership skills. In fact, some of the top skills of tomorrow includes analytical thinking, technology use and problem solving. But most important of them all is the ability to mould future innovators.
Armed with the ability to think critically and creatively during STEM-related tasks like coding and working with robotics, students will be able to create their own unique solutions to real-world problems and thus preparing them to adapt and innovate in the future workforce.
Benefits of STEM Education at PSB Academy
Builds Resilience
In a STEM curriculum, students can trial and error in a safe and contained environment, where they will be constantly encouraged and challenged to try again. With opportunities to experiments and learn from mistakes, students can learn the right things before joining the workforce.
For example, in programming, a single extra space, wrong symbol or letter in a code sequence can cause the entire bulk of code to stop functioning, or function differently. The amount of troubleshooting and trial and error required in programming can be tedious. It takes a great amount of patience and resilience to become a successful programmer.
Another example would be during practical lab sessions. Science experiments can be long, tedious and require meticulous steps to ensure the findings are accurate. With repeated lab lessons, students can build resilience to constantly try again and get the right findings eventually.
Encourages Knowledge Application
Oftentimes, students learn many concepts in classes but do not have the right avenue to apply their newly acquired knowledge. With STEM education, students will be able to utilise skills that they have learnt immediately through hands-on problem-solving activities.
For students taking life science courses, students will learn how to administer and read Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) tests that are now widely used to screen individuals for Covid-19, and sports science students get to analyse the speed and body movements of athletes by capturing data with technology.
Our engineering students have the opportunity to try their hands on the 3D printers or electro-magnetic trainers at our engineering lab, while our IT and Cybersecurity students will be taught to programme a game (Pong or Snake) using Python, a high-level general-purpose programming language essential for every budding programmer.
Develops Problem-Solving Skills
In a digital economy, the workforce is heavily reliant on technology and artificial intelligence, more menial tasks will be phased out in time to come. Employees will in turn be expected to manage and work with technology in their jobs. With STEM education, students will be taught to apply knowledge and concepts to a wide range of scenarios. This means that STEM students will be able to adapt to the rapid advancement of technology while constantly learning new ways to solve problems. Cybersecurity students have the opportunity to apply newly-learnt concepts in a virtual sandbox environment where they will attempt to complete hacking challenges.
Kickstart Your STEM Education at PSB Academy
Keen to build a future career in STEM? Equip yourself with the necessary skills by choosing from our wide range of industry-relevant courses and enjoy studying in our City Campus: STEM Wing, which houses high-tech and industry approved laboratories and facilities.
Learn more about our Life Science, Cyber Security, Sports Science, IT and Computer Science courses today.
TOP