{"id":414,"date":"2016-10-09T21:17:13","date_gmt":"2016-10-10T02:17:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.learningtostem.com\/?p=414"},"modified":"2016-10-20T11:13:54","modified_gmt":"2016-10-20T16:13:54","slug":"what-are-stem-clubs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.learningtostem.com\/what-are-stem-clubs\/","title":{"rendered":"What are STEM Clubs"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><strong>What are STEM Clubs?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>STEM is an acronym, standing for <strong>Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics.<\/strong>\u00a0STEM clubs can be formal or informal gatherings of\u00a0people who want to work\u00a0with and learn\u00a0from other people who are interested in STEM disciplines. In school settings, participants would normally be students, but STEM clubs can\u00a0be community-driven and headquartered in libraries\u00a0or other gathering places.<\/p>\n<p>Depending on the specific group, STEM clubs can have different goals and emphases, but the most common elements include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>building<\/strong> STEM knowledge<\/li>\n<li><strong>increasing<\/strong>\u00a0interest among members in\u00a0pursuing STEM careers and<\/li>\n<li><strong>allowing<\/strong> students to work on inquiry- or problem-based activities related to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics<\/li>\n<li><strong>connecting<\/strong>\u00a0participants with local STEM employers and industry leaders<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<figure id=\"attachment_415\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-415\" style=\"width: 306px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-415 \" src=\"https:\/\/www.learningtostem.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Robotics-Club-300x191.jpg\" alt=\"Robotics STEM clubs\" width=\"306\" height=\"195\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.learningtostem.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Robotics-Club-300x191.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.learningtostem.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Robotics-Club-678x435.jpg 678w, https:\/\/www.learningtostem.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Robotics-Club.jpg 683w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 306px) 100vw, 306px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-415\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo Credit: Wikipedia<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>In addition to the above goals,\u00a0STEM clubs\u00a0provide students hands-on learning that <strong>builds practical and leadership skills<\/strong>. In addition, many projects are completed while working with others. By <strong>fostering collaboration<\/strong>, STEM activities also prepare students for working in teams as they progress through school and eventually enter the workforce.<\/p>\n<p>They also provide informal learning that can stimulate STEM interest in participants who may not thrive with traditional approaches.<\/p>\n<h3>Club Format<\/h3>\n<p>The club&#8217;s actual format\u00a0will depend on the participants&#8217; and the sponsoring organizations&#8217; goals. No matter the format, the learning opportunities revolve around activities and programs designed to engage participants in some aspect of STEM. The specific focus of these activities will depend on the aims of the club (e.g., some focus on STEM broadly while others emphasize a specific discipline or activity like coding).<\/p>\n<h3>STEM Activities<\/h3>\n<p>STEM activities typically\u00a0fall into one of three categories: <strong>single occurrence<\/strong> (e.g., guest speaker or demonstration), <strong>short-term projects<\/strong> (e.g., 2-4 sessions) and <strong>long-term projects<\/strong> (&gt;4 sessions). Each category often has different, but compatible, goals.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>One-off activities<\/strong> are generally used to\u00a0engage new or prospective members.\n<ul>\n<li>Guests speakers (e.g., city engineer or college faculty researcher)<\/li>\n<li>Field trips (e.g., local zoo or manufacturing plant)<\/li>\n<li>Discussion of recent STEM event (e.g., new technology announcement or discovery)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Short-term projects<\/strong> will appeal to members who cannot participate consistently but still allows them to work collaboratively and focus on a prolonged project.\n<ul>\n<li>External presentations (e.g., school-wide program or STEM night for parents)<\/li>\n<li>Electronics projects (e.g., Raspberry Pi-based proejcts)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Long-term projects<\/strong> are great for building camaraderie and encouraging members to work together on a distant, but attainable, goal.\n<ul>\n<li>Team competitions (e.g., <a href=\"https:\/\/robotics.nasa.gov\/events\/competitions.php\">robotics<\/a>\u00a0or catapults)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What are STEM Clubs? STEM is an acronym, standing for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics.\u00a0STEM clubs can be formal or informal gatherings of\u00a0people who want to work\u00a0with and learn\u00a0from other people who are interested in STEM disciplines. In school settings, participants would normally be students, but STEM clubs can\u00a0be community-driven and headquartered in libraries\u00a0or other [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":430,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"wppr_data":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>What are STEM Clubs<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"STEM clubs are valuable out-of-classroom 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