Academic Baccalaureate enhances STEM and 21st Century Skills

Academic Baccalaureate meets students where they are with flexible curricular topics designed to develop holistic skills, innovative thinking, and create pathways for the future. The Academic Baccalaureate program enhances the development of highly sought-after skills and prepares students to change the world today, and tomorrow. With designed curricula using evidencebased practices for STEM and 21st century learning, the Academic Baccalaureate program provides educators with flexible, highquality STEM learning experiences for their students in the classroom or structured after-school programs. STEM stands for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, and it covers any subject that falls into these categories.

Educators face an urgent, uphill battle to engage and enthuse students with the real-world applications of STEM subjects. Promoting interest in STEM is top of the agenda for Academic Baccalaureate experts. Using information technology for teaching is becoming increasingly common and it is something that Academic Baccalaureate seeks to incorporate into the curriculum. STEM fields and topics change and evolve so quickly. For this reason, Academic Baccalaureate supports teachers on what to teach and research to make sure what is being taught is going to be relevant and useful in the future.

The Academic Baccalaureate program supports teachers that tackle fundamental problems with students lacking a desire to learn STEM subjects. For example, some students have mathematics anxiety, which girls are more likely to suffer from than boys. We need to focus on how to move students away from a fixed mindset, where they believe they are inherently good at certain subjects, to a growth mindset, where they believe they can become better through hard work. Studies have shown that the gender gap for STEM subjects almost disappears when students have a growth mindset.