The Middle Years Programme (MYP) is designed to facilitate interdisciplinary teaching and learning. As such, the structure of the programme offers a variety of opportunities for students to make connections between subjects, including the STEM subjects.
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STEM Education in the MYP
What is STEM?
What is STEM?
STEM stands for science, technology, engineering and mathematics and this terminology has been growing in the educational landscape for many years. STEM is an interdisciplinary approach to teaching.
How does STEM education fit within the MYP?
Components of the MYP framework such as the global contexts and the key concepts support interdisciplinary learning by helping teachers and students to make connections between disciplines. Furthermore, the interdisciplinary unit planner provides a structure for a sustained interdisciplinary inquiry, which could include any or all of the STEM subjects.
What resources are available?
STEM statement: This document introduces the rest of the materials and should therefore be read first. It describes how STEM has been interpreted broadly by the education community and articulates how STEM can be delivered within the MYP framework.
90 STEM investigations aligned with MYP sciences, mathematics and design assessment criteria: This document aims to help teachers develop projects that will work across mathematics, sciences and design subjects. The suggested topics are provided to encourage thinking about how STEM might work in your context. The right-hand side of the spreadsheet shows career relations through general industries for that inevitable question “why does this matter?” (within each topic description you will see that there is further information provided for linking the topics to specific professions within these general industries). The spreadsheet allows you to filter by criteria linked to MYP sciences, mathematics and design, as well as by industry type—this allows you to refine the topics to fit your requirements. Please note that these topics are examples only and can be extended or refined to suit your teaching needs.
Computational thinking: Computational thinking is a broad approach to tackling problems. While it is mathematical in its nature, it has applications across subject areas. Consequently, the MYP framework includes many opportunities for developing and applying computational thinking.
Middle Years Programme STEM case study: Makerspaces: Makerspaces are becoming increasingly popular in schools, community centres and libraries. Centred around one school's experience of developing a makerspace, this case study invites teachers to consider how makerspace facilities can contribute to the teaching and learning of STEM.
MYP mathematics and sciences content linked to related concepts: The key and related concepts that are common to MYP subject groups are one entry-point for planning interdisciplinary teaching and learning, including STEM units. These tables provide some suggestions for developing interdisciplinary units that are based on the mathematics and sciences related concepts. There are also partially completed tables that can be used to develop new ideas and a clean template that can be used for planning.
Click on the links below to view STEM resources.
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