One of the many benefits of STEM education is the integration and application of cross curricular content. This allows students to understand the relationship of the subjects they study. To be effective a STEM program needs to be fully integrated. The easiest and best way demonstrated so far is with a comprehensive project based curriculum. This helps students answer the questions “Why do I need to know this” and “Where will I ever use this”. Project based curriculum allows for deep exploration of a problem. The project should be designed to allow different student groups to develop several and distinct solutions to the same problem. The problem presents the student with an opportunity to plan, organize and conduct research. Enabling activities can provide students with needed skills and knowledge “just in time”. Students utilize their research in the design, prototyping, testing, evaluation, and redesign of a solution. The term engineering implies a mathematical evaluation of a design. This analysis allows students to create mathematical models that can inform decisions and increase the speed at which a solution can be put forth. Once the initial analysis is done a prototype can be created and evaluated. The data is gathered and organized. Flaws are further analyzed and the design improved.
