Giving Compass' Take:

• Research shows that future workers will need to develop soft skills, despite schools pushing for more technology and computational thinking into curricula. Here are a couple of ways to add humanities concepts to STEM topics. 

• How can educators encourage a range of skills for students to learn alongside technical advances in the classroom?  How is edtech disrupting soft skill instruction? 

• Read more about connecting women, soft skills and STEM careers. 

While it is becoming increasingly critical for students to understand technology, coding, and computational thinking, we cannot let them lose sight of the importance of developing strong “soft skills” too. Future of work research tells us that human workers will need to be strong communicators, collaborators, listeners, analyzers, and problem-solvers. Fellow STEM educators: let’s work with our colleagues to integrate more of the humanities into our STEM classes. Here are some suggestions:

  • Consult with colleagues to strengthen writing and discussion in STEM classes.  The quality of student writing in my STEM classes sometimes falls short of my expectations. Even though I specify that students should use proper grammar, spelling, and punctuation, I wonder if some students hold themselves to different standards when writing in a STEM class.
  • Partner with humanities colleagues on projects of all sizes. Creating a STEM/humanities partnership or project is a great way to model the importance of valuing the diversity that all disciplines bring to the table.
  • Use future of work research to support a STEM/humanities partnership. 

Read the full article about STEM/humanities partnership by Jamie Back at Getting Smart.