Extra assignment. Disadvantages of STEM education.

That “Engineers must join with scientists, educators, and others to encourage and promote improved science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education” is the key for engineers to “acquire the knowledge and tools required to meet society’s needs” (National Academy of Engineering, 2008). However, “a coin always has two faces”, more focus on STEM education most likely means less time for education in language arts and lots of corresponding disadvantages can be foreseen. The first thing that is pointed out is the weakness of communication skills, especially vocal skills. Majoring in STEM, engineers pay most attention to the formulas, equations, structures of the materials in which the dry literal language is most likely used. So it is evident that an engineer who is good at solving mathematical problems and drawing the system’s structure doesn’t mean he will verbalize the representations of those things well. Moreover, the lack of exposure to more normal and social issues makes it hard for engineers to begin a small talk with strangers and easily make the conversation boring. Secondly, once engineers mainly focus on STEM, they may lose their creativity. Most of inventions and innovations have arisen at the beginning of thinking of non-existent and “pretty crazy” things. But the lack of language art education is in harmony with the lack of abstraction in the mind of engineers and leads to the shortage of romance and imagination that are strongly required for creating brand new things for the world. Last but not least, the deficient preparedness for a workplace might be considered as the most disadvantage of the lack of attention to language arts. Engineers have been certainly well trained to be capable of operating systems and machines. Are engineers, however, taught how to behave well and deal with real-life problems among colleagues in the offices that may happen frequently? That is the really big obstacle when the engineers experience themselves in the real working environment. So, as arguments considered above, though STEM is indispensable for engineers, the language arts education is surely necessary for excellent would-be engineers.

References

National Academy of Engineering. (2008, February). Introduction to the

grand challenges of engineering. Retrieved June 3, 2008, from

http://www.engineeringchallenges.org/cms/8996/9221.aspx