stem education Definition and 8 Threads

I am advising the mother of a precocious 10-year old who studies on his own and already has some rudimentary algebra skills. I am not tutoring the child, just giving some recommendations. One aspect that seems inadequately represented among resources on the Internet or books that she could...

Hi all. Do you ever find yourself gripped by a sleepless, restless feeling, that there is a dream or ambition you had that was achievable, and if left unresolved will leave a feeling of regret for the rest of your life? For context, I graduated with a B.S. in Physics from Stanford in 2019, and...

Once again we are tinkering with primary and secondary school math education in the US. Recently California passed a controversial math framework for its schools. Of concern is its possible detrimental effect on math-intensive careers and the possible adoption by many other states. At the...

As background, I grew up in a working class neighborhood where few parents went to school. In 1962, John Glenn came back from space. I was told this. I am not sure what the adults believed back them. "Space" was new. It would be 4 years before star trek, and even then,Space was labeled the...

I have a math BA and have been teaching HS for the past few years. Thinking of going back for my MS in MechE with the goal of becoming an engineer. There is a program which will allow me to take around 6-7 undergrad MechE classes (physics 1, CAD, statics, fluid dynamics, thermodynamics...

I plan on going to graduate school for experimental physics, I'll choose a field when I have more experience. Currently, I'm deciding on whether I go to UCSB or Cal Poly for my undergrad. Below is my evaluation of the two universities in terms of physics opportunities: UCSB is one of the top...

I was looking at the AAPT 2023 Physics Bowl questions (and answers) found here https://aapt.org/programs/physicsbowl/currentexam.cfm and multiple choice question 6 caught my eye: Consider one horizontal circular path that a ball makes on the inside surface of a cone. In this situation, the...

At least three times in the last month, I have had colleagues/new-hires express a shocking reliance on google to understand and perform relatively easy calculations. I could understand if the math involved was not in their line. I would not ask my doctor or nurse to do the calculation, but...