Introduction to STEM Pathways

Introduction to STEM Pathways is a course developed for the Louisiana Department of Education in partnership with the Cain Center at LSU. This course was created to replace the current course Journey to Careers and will be offered to middle school students for high school credit. IT IS VERY DIFFERENT THAN QUEST FOR SUCCESS!

This portion of the course explores three main pathways of STEM education and possible careers in the fields. The second portion will explore careers in detail as well as the computing portion of the class.

Course Objectives

By the end of this course, the successful student will be able to:

1. Understand how computational thinking applies to both humans and computers.

2. Know and explain how to use the four stages of computational thinking.

3. Accurately explain the Engineering Design Process.

4. Identify career opportunities in various STEM fields.

5. Understand the role of visual communication and its cultural implications in society.

6. Know and identify the steps in solving a crime.

7. Identify and know how to measure various testing parameters.

Overarching Concepts 

• To expand students’ awareness of various careers and occupational pathways related to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics).

• To stimulate students’ understanding and utilization of metacognition processes such as the engineering design process, the scientific method, and computational thinking.

• To understand Foundation Knowledge and Skills and how they apply to each cluster as well as to educational and career success.

• To increase interest in 3 core areas of STEM related to this class. 

Contact

Nicole Foster      nfoster1@lsu.edu  225-578-8520

Jessica Vicknair    jvicknair@ebrschools.org          318-792-3119