The 20 Most Innovative STEM College and Universities to Watch 2017

Editorial
‘‘
n the current debate, the role of learning and knowledge is repeatedly
Istressed as a distinguishing feature of the new economic realities.
Knowledge has always been central to production activities, and it
may therefore seem inaccurate to use this term to describe the present state
of affairs in economic development as compared to the “old economy”.
However the distinguishing mark today is that leaders can no longer rely
on a relatively stable set of skills and resources to succeed, but must
constantly review their knowledge to stay, at least, at par with the
competition.
Maybe the human predicament is not about survival or how do we survive,
but it’s that we always survive — we endure anything and everything. It is
out of this noxious stuff that we rebuild the lives we tend to live. Learning
from the experiences of others forces us to contemplate radical thoughts —
the most radical may be the question of our endurance. If we can endure
everything, there is wisdom in that.
STEM as
a Pathway
to be Curious,
Creative,
Thoughtful
& Innovative
The knowledge-based economy of 21st century needs a new kind of
learner to thrive—not someone who can simply toss out answers
monotonously, as has been done in the past, but a student who can think
expansively and solve problems resourcefully. The traditional academic
skills of reading, writing, and arithmetic must be replaced with creativity,
curiosity, along with critical thinking, problem solving, collaborative and
communication skills in order to solve the complex problems of tomorrow.
Today, STEM becomes a pathway to be curious, creative, thoughtful and
innovative. Students need such proficient skills for their future as leaders
of the changing economy. They need to self-identify experiences within
the race of competitive survival, and build successful strategies and
develop ways to integrate survival skills into their lives and social work
practice.
The components of STEM not only build economies, but also help in
building a learner’s mind and provide an ecology that is needed for his/her
emotional and intellectual development. STEM supports growth in areas
like interacting with others and with one’s surroundings, building
concepts, forming connections, engaging in communication, and seeking
discovery. These are developmental stages that develop naïve children into
whole, empathetic, resilient, creative, and happy adults.
It is essential for learners to learn to navigate the course of acquiring
knowledge—essentially, to get to the answers by being curious and
coming up with a lot of questions, a lot of whys. They need to get
accustomed to learning from different directions, playing with concepts,
and figuring out how to ask the whys in order to gain access to knowledge.
Such a learning attitude is even more important than having the knowledge
itself, and hence we must step away from memorization and get back to
figuring things out in a variety of ways. Join on the quest of learning how
to learn. T R
Poonam Yadav