What Really Matters in STEM Education

This article presents the discussion on challenges, triumphs, and contradictions that were on display at Critical Thinking, Critical Choices: What Really Matters in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). The forum focused on middle school, where students become teenagers and develop many of the interests and attitudes that will guide their life choices. This makes middle school a critical time for STEM educators. Critical Thinking, Critical Choices is part of the ASME Decision Point Dialogues thought leadership program, where leaders debate the complexities underlying an issue by focusing on the decisions people must make in real life. Unlike typical conference sessions, the panellists’ opinions were challenged by other panellists and the moderator, Peabody and Emmy Award-winning journalist John Hockenberry. The conversation ranged from how to serve disadvantaged communities and the role of testing versus project-based learning to the contentious Common Core and Next-Generation Science Standards.