Adding an extra E to STEM

Angela Guiao
MSMU Class of 2021

(12/2019) In the early 2000’s, it had become apparent that students in the United States were underperforming in science and mathematics. It was concluded that if the U.S. did not improve its education programs in these areas, they would produce a workforce wholly unprepared and inadequate, diminishing the U.S. into a country incapable of competitively participating in the global economy.

As a result, the STEM curriculum was introduced. STEM is an acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. And throughout the past few years, STEM programs have increased in popularity, and are responsible for providing students with the opportunity to explore and develop their skills in these subjects. The STEM curriculum, as a whole, has been a beneficial addition to the American education system. It has served as a platform that reignited national interest in science and math related courses.

Recently, the writers for Four Year at the Mount attended a science fair at Mother Seton Elementary School. While I was fascinated and surprised by the genius projects and experiments the students performed, there was one thing that distracted from the intriguing projects: the little attention, in some projects, given to grammar, spelling, and English. Now, I know that plainly, spelling errors and such may not seem like a big deal., especially since the students are in the seventh grade and below, and that I was attending a science fair. But I believe that the failure to correct grammar, spelling, or even handwriting represents the bigger problem that is the diminishing role of proper English in the United States.

Is the importance of improving in Science and Math reason enough to sacrifice attention in English? If science opens the door to discovering cures, developing molecules, innovating modern technology and much more, doesn’t English allow us to communicate our discoveries? Would it be possible to become the next Einstein, Edison, or Tesla, if people are unable to discern what is being explained in our research papers? Can there be science without English? The answer is yes, but we would have no inkling of what is going on. Why? Because everything we know about science we learn from scholarly journals, articles, textbooks, research papers, lab notebooks and much more, all written in some form of language we can understand.

But what if our scientists don’t know how to spell? What if their journals are so jumbled with misspellings, grammatical errors, and chicken scratch, that we are unable to read it? What happens if the greatest mathematical and scientific minds are unable to communicate their ideas properly because they were not taught to write in or give importance to proper English? There is no Science without English. There is no Mathematics without English. There is nothing without English. Because without a way to communicate our ideas, to express our findings, to detail our procedures, without a way of basically immortalizing information, the existence of any idea will be subject to the inconsistencies of oral passage. We need English to have science, to have math, to have innovation.

Personally, I have experienced the advantage of having a science and technology program available. In middle school, I attended a school that had a magnet program focused in science and technology. This allowed me to take classes focused on developing skills that would eventually enhance my opportunity to pursue a science related career. We could take classes like robotics, where we would build different machines, or classes that focused on web design, which is what I personally took. As a result, I can attribute a lot of success in my subsequent high school classes, and even some college courses, to the knowledge I gained in middle school.

However, I was also very interested in English. I enjoyed writing poems and short stories. I also found writing in journals a good way to decompress and express myself. Having been exposed to both the worlds of English and Science, I understand the undeniable need to be able to communicate properly. My Biology labs consisted of writing in journals to explain what steps were taken, materials used, and results identified. Even in my current Accounting classes, there are situations where notes must be disclosed in financial statements to make sense of the numbers.

To make sense of the numbers. I think that’s a perfect way to describe the importance of English. We need English to make sense of things. It is the way we describe, explain, learn, teach. It is the means to making sense of the ideas we have, the things we want to do. Maybe, STEM should not be STEM. Maybe it should be STEEM: Science, Engineering, English, and Mathematics. We should prioritize learning how to spell, the proper use of conjunctions, when to use a comma and when to use a semicolon just as much as we prioritize the ability to do basic algebra, memorize equations, and learn how to find x.

English is intertwined with almost everything that we do. Focusing on science and math because we had become weak in the subjects is not a bad thing. But lessening the focus on English in order to compensate for the time given to Science and Math will only prove to be detrimental to us in the end. There should be a balance, a perfect combination between the genius of innovation and the confidence of communication. The basic foundation on which science, technology, and mathematics resides is language. If our country slips in its capability to communicate, we will not only find ourselves behind in STEM, but in English and reading as well.

So please, let us not forget the importance of English. Let us double check our children’s homework for misspellings or grammar mistakes. Let us make sure they understand the importance of our national language and see the benefit of being able to communicate ideas properly. Science and Mathematics allows students the opportunity to create, to innovate, to experiment and discover. Let us make sure they are well versed enough in writing so that one day they may share their ideas with the world.

Read other articles by Angela Tongohan