I don’t have to tell you the significant impact that the pandemic has had on STEM education. The disruption to our community’s education system has now extended into a third academic year and the effects will be felt into the future. Beyond impacting schools, the pandemic has resulted in children being cut off from the key out-of-classroom experiences which research has shown to be critical to their relationship with and success in STEM. This paints a disturbing picture both for the development of the next cohort of scientists and engineers and our society’s relationship to science.
At the same time that the pandemic was creating challenges for STEM education, it was also driving a unique opportunity. Data from multiple studies over the last two years have documented an increase in expressed interest in STEM and STEM careers. This data is particularly important given the direct link between childhood interest in STEM and future STEM careers.
As San Diego’s only county-wide STEM organization that also runs a science center and IMAX theater, the Fleet Science Center can support our county’s STEM educational recovery and nurture this renewed interest in STEM in ways no other organization can.
- Providing the equivalent of seven elementary schools, the Fleet’s 215,000+ student-hours of STEM instruction each year allows us to reach students from every residential zip code in the county.
- Our Neighborhood STEM Networks—which establish partnerships in communities across the county—connects communities to the customized resources and programming that meet their unique needs.
- Every year the Fleet welcomes more school visits than any other museum in San Diego to its Balboa Park facility. School visits to science centers are a well-established tool for improving and enhancing student classroom outcomes and should be a major part of the STEM educational recovery.
- As the most visited museum in Balboa Park, the Fleet reaches a huge number of San Diego families each year. Family engagement in STEM is tied to participation, retention, career choice and will be essential if we are to capitalize on newfound interest in STEM.
- As San Diego’s science center, our Balboa Park facility plays a unique role in nurturing interest in STEM. A recently completed multi-city study of the effect of different experiences on science interest (books, TV, digital media, etc.) identified science center visitation as the only experience that consistently improved interest in science.
- The Fleet’s unique set of relationships and assets positions us well to help address the educational impact of the pandemic and leverage the increased public presence of STEM to support children’s development of STEM interest and identity.
This past year has seen children isolated, cut off from new experiences and supported only by a more passive form of screen-based engagement. Because of our unique position in the community, the Fleet Science Center has an important role to play in determining the future STEM trajectory of San Diego’s children. By expanding and fully utilizing our community relationships, programming and experiences in our Balboa Park facility, the Fleet can create opportunities for children to explore their natural curiosity, deepen their connections to STEM and provide a space that allows them to pursue and reinforce their burgeoning interest in science.
Given the unique space that we occupy in the education ecosystem, this is a pivotal moment for us to do more both with what we have and what we offer.
