STEM

Career and technical education (CTE) teachers need to not only teach the technical and academic skills needed for their content area, they also need to teach students 21st century skills that will make them successful working in a global marketplace. Therefore, a substantive understanding of how local issues relate to global challenges is the foundation of global competence and is required in all career pathways.

Specifically, globally competent students are able to:

• Investigate the World. Students ask and explore questions that are globally significant.
• Weigh Perspectives. Students recognize they have a unique perspective and that others may not share it, but they are able to respect all perspectives and create a new point of view.
• Communicate Ideas. Students can effectively communicate, verbally and non-verbally, with diverse groups.
• Take Action. Student can weigh options for action based on evidence and insight, see the potential consequences, then act and reflect on their actions.

While it is important to examine the four capacities above individually, global competence is best seen as an integrated outlook on the world—not a collection of independent skills.

These skills are required and highly desirable when considering the STEM pathway and there are a wide range of applications within it. We are reminded that the contributions to the field of STEM improve individual lives, as well as make connections between lives and across the globe possible. This reality requires a deep understanding of the global nature of this field for those who choose specialize in it.

Sample Projects

These globally focused projects, written by CTE educators and aligned to the Common Core by ELA, math and science educators, can be used as stand alone projects in one CTE classroom or can be combined by multiple CTE educators in a building. These projects are based around themes and contain the lesson plans, assessment information, and auxiliary materials an educator needs for implementation. Listed below are themes and the projects relevant to the STEM pathway.

Clean Energy: Solar or Wind

• Business/Finance
• Law/Government
• Manufacturing 
• Building Trades/Architecture
  • Project Rubric Example
  • Floor Plan Checklist
  • Legal Descriptions
  • Electrical Plans
  • Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning
  • Roof Plan Components
• Engineering/Energy

Additional projects and ideas

Links to other global projects:

• Center for Innovation in Science and Engineering Education has global projects for K-12 and they include global classroom connections.

Project Planning Template

Use this blank project planning template to plan your own global CTE project! (Can be used on your own, or in conjunction with Module 2 of the Global CTE PD Course).

Standards, Crosswalks, and Rubrics

The Common Career Technical Core is a common set of CTE standards created for each of Advance CTE’s 16 Career Cluster areas. This document crosswalks the STEM cluster with the four domains of global competence, demonstrating the clear alignment between global education and careers in this field. This crosswalk is also filled with ideas of global projects that can support the standards taught in each of the career pathways.

STEM Standards Crosswalked to Global Competence

Career Profile and Classroom Videos

These short video interviews showcase the global aspects of today’s jobs.

Energy and Engineering Pathway (STEM) and Finance

• Energy Specialist, Portland General Electric

STEM

• Mechanical Engineer, The Boeing Company

Global CTSO Activities

This section contains links to Career and Technical Student Organizations (CTSO) with global activity options. Remember, many activities allow some freedom for students to choose their focus - encourage them to choose a global issue.

1. SkillsUSA

Additional Resources

Resources coming soon!