27 C’s for STEM Education

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Why stop at four or six C’s? This is a growing collection, starting with four that have long been associated with STEM…

    1. Communication
    2. Collaboration
    3. Critical Thinking
    4. Creativity

Source

These first four are widely known as the “Skills for Today” or sometimes as “21st Century Skills.”

  1. Challenge
  2. Control
  3. Choice
  4. Construct Meaning
  5. Consequence

#5-9, along with Collaboration, are listed by Stephanie Jerrick as The 6 C’s of Motivation.

  1. Character Education
  2. Citizenship

Credit: Michael Fullan and Sylvia Duckworth

Add #10-11 to #1-4 and you have the 6 C’s that are used in Michael Fullan’s New Pedagogies for Deep Learning. The day I discovered these 6 C’s was the day I started making this collective list. Visit Fullan’s YouTube page to hear his thoughts on these 6 C’s.

  1. Computers

To the 6 C’s of Deep Learning, we add Computers (and Digital Technologies) to get the 7 Competencies for Learning and Leading.

I feel like this needs to be a Venn diagram. Doesn’t it? Future project.

  1. Connectedness
  2. Confidence

TEDx speaker Andrew Nolan starts with the 4 C’s at the top and adds #13-14 to make his 6 C’s to replace the 3 R’s. He adds Computing, too, and makes an unappreciated joke in his talk about the Seven Seas. Don’t blink, or you’ll miss it.

  1. Consistency
  2. Care
  3. Content
  4. Curriculum
  5. Community
  6. Context

#15-20 are, in my mind, basics that every educator learns about in their first job. Consistency with teaching style and classroom management. Show the students that you care about them and that they are in a safe environment. Content and Curriculum are in our job description, of course. (How much input do you have on your curriculum?) Community can refer to the learning community within the classroom, or involving students in the community around their school (either through service learning or using place-based education to meet your content goals.) Finally, establishing context for whatever you’re teaching is important every day.

  1. Curiosity
  2. Culture
  3. Celebrate

#21-23 became part of my teaching especially when I moved into a middle school classroom. Curiosity is written in the margins of all of my notes on all of these C’s. Encouraging curiosity at every level makes science education much more fun for everyone, and much more memorable! You know you have a culture of learning when the kid who might not participate or finish a project looks around and notices that everyone else is taking care of business, so he does too. And those middle schoolers love to celebrate the end of a project or big task. Sometimes we celebrate with a snack or game, but the best celebrations involve recognition and sharing of the students’ work.

  1. Courage

This is for the kid who asks a question, proposes an idea, explains her thinking, or geeks out over what you’re studying in class.

  1. Crosscutting Concepts

See NGSS@NSTA.

  1. Chemistry Cat

Don’t teach physical science without him! (Link goes to my TPT shop.)

  1. Checklist

What did I miss? What are the other C’s that influence your teaching? Add your ideas in the comments!

 

Make Science Fun with Steve Spangler Science

2 Comments

  1. Betty Stevens

    Caution: don’t accept everything you read or hear on face value. Be CAREFUL of incomplete or half truths, and be careful of sources that have something to sell you.
    Check: other reliable sources to see if they agree with what one source says.
    Cogitate: use your own head to see if it makes sense. Think before you speak or act too quickly.

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