Beyond Science Fiction: Teaching Science Through Fiction (Patty Mechael)
Growing up there was the general view that there are educational swim lanes. Kids who were good at math and science, like me, did not belong in the language arts and history lanes and vice versa. This was carried forward in the early focus to get more girls into Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM). But thank goodness for whoever had the wisdom to expand it to include art and make it STEAM . As someone, growing up in New Jersey in the 1980s, who was both creative and gifted in STEM, I had very little exposure to the merging of art in my educational experience in STEM. And then in college, I took what is still one of my favorite educational experiences to date, a seminar course called African Politics through Fiction . Each week, we would read a novel by a prominent African writer that illustrated the political situation and cultural context a country. At the start of each class, the South African professor would provide an overview of the politics of the country and then l
