Educating for the Future: The Power of Interdisciplinary Spaces | Theresa Lim | TEDxYouth@SHC
Summary
TLDRThe TEDx Youth talk at SHC critiques traditional school schedules, arguing they're impractical for real-world jobs. It highlights the disconnect between employers' expectations and graduates' skills, emphasizing the need for interdisciplinary learning. The speaker shares a personal project on ovarian cancer research, illustrating how blending subjects like biology, statistics, and computer science fosters deep understanding and critical thinking. The talk calls for a shift in educational paradigms, urging colleges to value interdisciplinary learning to better prepare students for future challenges.
Takeaways
- 🏫 The speaker criticizes the rigid and impractical school schedule that doesn't align with real-world work environments.
- 🤔 There is a disconnect between what schools are teaching and the skills employers believe recent graduates lack, particularly in critical thinking.
- 🧠 The speaker emphasizes the importance of STEM education not being compartmentalized but rather integrated and interconnected.
- 🧬 The speaker shares a personal story of conducting interdisciplinary research on ovarian cancer, highlighting the benefits of combining biology, statistics, and computer science.
- 🔬 Interdisciplinary learning allows for a deeper understanding of subjects and the ability to make connections between different fields of study.
- 🤝 The advantages of interdisciplinary spaces include fostering critical thinking skills and the ability to approach problems from multiple angles.
- 🧐 The difference between problem-solving and critical thinking is highlighted, with the latter being more about asking and answering complex questions without a single correct solution.
- 📚 The speaker calls for a change in educational systems, starting with how colleges value and prioritize interdisciplinary learning.
- 🌟 High schools should provide students with the time and space to explore their own ideas and questions, which is crucial for developing independent thinking.
- 🛣️ The ultimate goal of education should be to prepare students with the skills necessary to tackle big problems and succeed in their future careers.
- 🌍 The speaker concludes by urging for a holistic approach to education that can equip students to change the world.
Q & A
What is the main issue the speaker identifies with the current school schedule?
-The speaker identifies that the current school schedule is rigid and impractical, with a structure that would be considered ridiculous in any workplace, yet it is what they experience daily at school.
What phrase is often used to describe the purpose of schools preparing students for the future?
-The phrase 'educating for the future' is often used to describe the idea that schools should equip students with the skills necessary for success in their future jobs.
According to the speaker, what is the disconnect between students' and employers' perceptions of preparedness for jobs?
-The disconnect is that while nearly 90% of recent college graduates believe they are well-prepared for jobs, only 60% of employers agree with them, indicating that many graduates lack critical thinking skills.
How does the speaker describe the traditional view of STEM?
-The speaker describes the traditional view of STEM as disjointed and compartmentalized into separate boxes for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, which does not reflect how these fields actually work in the real world.
What personal health concern does the speaker mention and how did it influence their school project?
-The speaker mentions a predisposition to ovarian cancer due to family history, which influenced their school project to use statistical programming to analyze ovarian cancer data from the NIH's Cancer Genome Atlas Project.
What interdisciplinary approach did the speaker take for their school project on ovarian cancer?
-The speaker took an interdisciplinary approach by combining biology, statistics, and computer science to analyze genomic factors determining the severity of ovarian cancer, which allowed them to make connections between these subjects.
Why does the speaker argue that traditional classrooms do not foster true critical thinking?
-The speaker argues that traditional classrooms only teach problem-solving in the form of question-answering, which is more akin to an algorithmic process rather than fostering true critical thinking skills.
What is the difference between problem-solving and critical thinking as described by the speaker?
-Problem-solving in traditional classrooms is described as recognizing certain types of questions and answering them using a predefined method, whereas critical thinking involves asking and answering one's own questions, which requires deeper analysis and understanding.
How does the speaker suggest that interdisciplinary spaces benefit students in developing critical thinking skills?
-Interdisciplinary spaces benefit students by requiring them to analyze topics deeply, ask their own questions, and find answers, which involves both the formulation and resolution of complex problems, thus developing critical thinking skills.
What is the speaker's view on the importance of interdisciplinary learning for tackling big problems like cancer or climate change?
-The speaker believes that interdisciplinary learning is crucial for tackling big problems because it allows students to approach issues holistically from multiple angles, which can lead to better and faster solutions.
What change does the speaker propose for both high schools and colleges to better prepare students for the future?
-The speaker proposes that both high schools and colleges should prioritize interdisciplinary learning, giving students the time and space to explore their own ideas and questions, and valuing this approach alongside traditional transcripts and test scores.
Outlines
📚 The Disparity Between School Schedules and Real-World Work
The speaker introduces a TEDx event and a hypothetical startup with an impractical schedule, using it as a metaphor for the rigid and unrealistic daily school schedules many students follow. They argue that schools are not effectively preparing students for the future workplace, as evidenced by a study showing a disconnect between employers' and graduates' perceptions of readiness. The speaker also critiques the compartmentalization of STEM subjects in schools, suggesting that the real-world application of these fields is far more integrated than taught.
🔬 The Power of Interdisciplinary Learning in Education
The speaker shares a personal story of conducting independent research on ovarian cancer, highlighting the benefits of interdisciplinary learning. They contrast the traditional classroom approach, which they feel limits the integration of subjects, with their own experience, where they were able to deeply understand and connect biology, statistics, and computer science. The speaker emphasizes the importance of asking and answering one's own questions as a form of critical thinking, which is distinct from the problem-solving taught in traditional classes. They conclude by advocating for a change in educational systems, from high schools to colleges, to prioritize and value interdisciplinary learning, which they believe is essential for students to tackle complex global issues.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡TEDx Youth
💡Startup
💡Employee Workflow
💡Interdisciplinary Learning
💡STEM
💡Ovarian Cancer
💡Critical Thinking
💡Holistic Approach
💡College Admissions
💡Education for the Future
💡Problem-Solving
Highlights
Introduction of a new startup idea that revolutionizes employee workflow.
Daily school schedule described as impractical and unlike any future workplace schedule.
The disconnect between what schools teach and the skills employers seek in graduates.
The flawed approach of teaching STEM subjects in isolation rather than as interconnected fields.
Personal story of predisposition to ovarian cancer and the lack of available screening.
Proposal of an independent research project to analyze ovarian cancer using statistical programming.
Interdisciplinary learning as a method to deeply understand and connect different subjects.
The importance of learning how to import and interpret data in the context of biology and statistics.
The advantage of interdisciplinary spaces in fostering deep understanding and application of subjects.
Difference between problem-solving and critical thinking, and how traditional classes often only teach the former.
The necessity of asking and answering one's own questions in the process of critical thinking.
Interdisciplinary learning as a way to tackle complex problems that do not fit under a single school subject.
The potential of interdisciplinary spaces to equip students with skills to address significant global challenges.
The need for a systemic change in education, starting with how colleges value and prioritize learning.
The call for colleges and high schools to prioritize interdisciplinary learning for better future preparation.
The argument that students need time and space to explore ideas and learn through questioning and discovery.
The conclusion that interdisciplinary learning gives students a head start in holistic problem-solving and success in future jobs.
Transcripts
tell your story change the conversation
organized by students TEDx youth at shc
I want to introduce to you a new startup
which is completely revolutionizing the
employee workflow I want you to listen
to their idea and let me know what you
think your day would start at 7:50 a.m.
and consists of five one-hour meetings
with 5 minutes in between to walk to
your next meeting which is usually in a
different location you would take
mandatory 30 minute breaks at 10 a.m.
and at noon each meeting will consist of
one topic and these topics would rotate
depending on what day of the week it is
I'll let you think for a moment so would
you want to work here if you can't
already tell this is an imaginary
startup don't worry and it's one that
would never make it a schedule like this
would be utterly ridiculous in any
workplace and yet this is what school is
teaching me to do what I describe to you
is exactly what my daily school schedule
looks like and it is far different than
any schedule I will encounter later in
my life one phrase that gets thrown
around a lot is educating for the future
I'm sure you've heard of it it's this
idea that our schools should give
students the skills they need to succeed
in their future jobs this idea isn't
controversial so why are we doing so
badly according to a recent study by pay
scale 60% of employers believe that
recent college graduates lack critical
thinking skills and despite nearly 90%
of these graduates believing they are
well-prepared for jobs
only half of employers agree with them
there must be a reason for this
disconnect but what could it be
stem or science technology engineering
and mathematics is often presented as
very disjointed if you were to ask me a
couple years ago to draw what stem looks
like I
shown you a set of clearly partitioned
boxes one for science one for technology
one for engineering and one for
mathematics just as the acronym implies
but as any scientist engineer or
mathematician will tell you this is not
how it works
stem if I were to illustrate it now
would look less like a grid and more
like a blurred Venn diagram where the
edges between subjects all blend and
flow into one another stem in our real
world doesn't exist in boxes so why
should it in our schools ovarian cancer
runs in my family in other words I'm
predisposed to it and this is a reality
that I live with every day so this past
summer I did some research on preventive
measures that I could take and in the
process learn that there's no easily
available screening for ovarian cancer
too many cases are caught too late
so this year I proposed an independent
research project for course called
independent inquiry at my school Sacred
Heart prep my project aim to use are a
statistical programming language to
analyze ovarian cancer from NIH s Cancer
Genome Atlas Project my goal was to
identify key genomic factors that
determine the severity of ovarian cancer
at the beginning of the year I
identified that my project has three
main subject areas biology statistics
and computer science if I were to take
on this project in a traditional
classroom environment that would mean I
would be taking three different classes
and have no time to make the connections
between the subjects instead this year
one of my periods was devoted to
interdisciplinary learning and I not
only learned more deeply about each of
the subjects individually but also was
able to connect them I learned how to
import biology data into our I learned
how to interpret the results of my code
in terms of statistics and biology I
learned how to find the needed packages
of code to run the statistical models I
wanted - all of these are skills I could
not and would not have learned in a tree
school environment which brings me to an
important advantage of interdisciplinary
spaces they demand that you have or
acquire a very deep understanding of
each of the subjects in order to apply
them to one another take MRNA for
example a topic I learned about an
honors biology my freshman year and one
that played an important role in my
project I learned freshman year that
higher levels of mRNA mean a gene is
being expressed more however for my
project this wasn't enough I had to also
understand how mRNA is measured and the
approximate range of values because I
learned about this topic in an
interdisciplinary space I learned about
it on a far deeper level than I would
have otherwise another advantage of
interdisciplinary spaces is that they
give students critical thinking skills
despite often being used interchangeably
problem-solving and critical thinking
are very different traditional classes
only teach students problem-solving in
the form of what I like to call question
answering students are taught how to
recognize certain types of questions and
answer them using an algorithm kind of
like a computer in comes a question out
goes an answer well this is effective in
a controlled classroom environment it
doesn't teach students true critical
thinking in an interdisciplinary space
I had to analyze a topic cancer and come
up with my own questions I had to ask
myself how will I quantify the
relationship between a gene and
mortality
how will I ensure the results of my
research is statistically significant
asking the questions was really half the
battle and involved deep critical
thinking and of course once I asked
these questions I had to do the second
part of critical thinking which is
answering them and unlike in a classroom
there's no one correct solution for me
it was a statistics and computer science
based approach but for somebody else it
might be in a biology lab both
approaches can yield important results
thus
interdisciplinary spaces give students
the skills and confidence they need to
take on big problems like cancer or
climate change these problems don't fit
neatly under single school subject and
right now as I'm speaking to you teams
of people from all different fields are
working together to tackle these
problems only by looking at a problem
holistically by coming at it from all
possible angles can we hope to get to
better solutions faster and by teaching
students this holistic approach we give
them a head start thinking about and
solving these problems this is the
potential of an interdisciplinary space
so what can we do change has to come
from the root of a problem why do
students go to high school answers will
vary but for most the ultimate goal is
to attend college our high schools have
been designed to cater to the emission
requirements of colleges so if we want
our high schools to change our colleges
have to change too many colleges are
creating interdisciplinary programs for
their students which is great the next
step is colleges and high schools have
to agree to prioritize interdisciplinary
learning for high school students
students need the time and space to
explore their own ideas ask their own
questions and find answers their own way
and they need colleges that value
interdisciplinary learning alongside
their transcripts and test scores this
is how we can educate for the future
students the skills they need to succeed
in their future jobs take on big
problems and ultimately change the world
thank you
you
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