For many science teachers, the night before a lesson is often filled with anxiety as they look for ways to make the next day’s class more engaging. But the tools that teachers have access to are not all the same. Some have maker spaces fitted with 3D printers; some do not. Some teachers have a strong science background, while others do not. Some schools have supply rooms stocked with Erlenmeyer flasks and high-powered microscopes, but many more do not.
All students need to become critical thinkers, and good STEM instruction can help. But the development of critical thinking doesn’t hinge solely on a fancy maker space, a prestigious science degree, or an abundance of resources. One less obvious way to encourage it is to add a bit of history.
STEM was born from the desire to merge science, technology, engineering, and math — disciplines that in the real world often work together seamlessly. But if we want to prepare children to be future scientists, we need to inform them about the past. According to the argument, doing so demystifies scientific advancements by revealing their messy historical reality, shows students how science is actually conducted, and spotlights scientists who have been written out of history — inviting more students into the field.
Why science stories stick
One of the best ways to share science from a historical point of view is to tell great stories. Research shows that humans are hardwired for stories, and that scaffolding information — bundling scientific discoveries with a compelling narrative — helps the brain incorporate new concepts. Stories act like conveyor belts, making lessons more exciting and carrying key information along with them.
But good stories can serve another purpose. By seeing how an invention of the past impacts life in the present, students learn to think holistically. For example, if they are shown how clocks accelerated life, or how computers changed how humans think, they can see how technology shapes culture or even alters our sense of time. The field then expands beyond its typical limits and becomes interconnected in students’ minds — not just to other technologies, but to all disciplines and fields of inquiry.
Uncovering the unintended consequences of inventions
One writer spent over a decade looking for a book that provided both the historical and societal context of inventions. Finding none, he wrote The Alchemy of Us, which covers these creations and how they changed life and society. In it, the lives of a diverse cast of little-known inventors — from pastor Hannibal Goodwin to housewife Bessie Littleton — are unfolded, and the many ways those everyday inventions changed life are highlighted.
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Sometimes the outcomes were intended, and in many more cases they were not. The telegraph used electricity to shuttle messages over long distances quickly. But it had a shortcoming: it could not handle many messages at a time. Customers at the telegraph office were encouraged to keep their messages brief. Soon, newspapers used telegraphs in their newsrooms, and editors told reporters to write succinctly. The use of short declarative sentences became a newspaper style that was adopted by a reporter who went on to write many famous books — Ernest Hemingway.
Here, then, is a case of how a technology altered language and led to one of the world’s most celebrated literary styles. That lesson of cascading and unpredictable outcomes can be extended to how Twitter and text messages are altering language now. When history is included in the field, students learn the discipline, but they also learn about its much broader impact.
An exercise in thinking about technology
One way to build critical thinking skills is to put technology under the microscope. Have students think about inventions like cell phones, Instagram, or the internet, and consider how they make an impact on life more broadly. They can create lists of all the changes — not just to the material world, but to less tangible ideas like human psychology and belief systems — and break into small groups to discuss and share their findings.
Alternatively, pose a counterfactual: ask students to create a timeline of the invention’s history, along with a second timeline as if it never happened. They consider what would happen if the cell phone was never invented.
There are no right or wrong answers.
But the tasks require them to observe the world with more wonder — and more skepticism — and condition their minds to think about causes and effects.
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Take the internet. It has certainly changed life significantly. People can listen to music, watch videos, access information, and contact each other easily. Students can discuss life before and after it in groups, then create a drawing or write a short essay. Questions might include how people got their news, how they heard from each other, how they listened to music, and where information about different topics was stored before it.
The next step could be to look at the pros and cons of social media.
They consider whether being more connected helps or hurts them.
They consider whether it brings people together or divides them.
They consider whether it makes it easier or harder to find the truth.
Once students are warmed up, they might try on the role of futurists.
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They consider if social media is based on “likes” and “follows,” what kind of society will result.
Students think about whether people will listen to popular celebrities with millions of followers or experts with fewer followers, and whether it will be easier to spread false information.
STEM as a path to engaged citizens
Then they can draw a picture, write an essay, or create a video reflecting on the societal impact of the internet and what life could be like in the future with or without their proposed solutions. STEM skills are increasingly important in a technology-rich world. But the field is also a pathway to engage students as critical thinkers and even as future citizens.
By placing the discipline in the broader context of history and culture, students can see how scientific inventions play a role in evolving cultural and moral belief systems.
Giving learners the space to critique these creations gives them the skills to shape the future.
The key first step, according to the argument, is to give learners good stories about the discipline. Once students are more engaged with how the field is part of a larger fabric, they will have the skills to see the world more clearly and the lens to start posing tough questions. The approach aligns with William Shakespeare, who said centuries ago, “What’s past is prologue.” He was right, because if we’re attentive observers, the old stories provide a good map to what lies ahead.
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