Sometimes nothing can kill children’s curiosity in science and technology more effectively than schools.

But that’s what many have done in California, first by starving the curriculum, then by dumbing it down with memorization.

That was the consensus of panelists at a forum last month on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) education, sponsored by the Silicon  Valley Education Foundation and Citizens Schools.

“We have killed the joy of discovery,” said Mohammad Qayoumi, president of California State University, East Bay, by making what goes on the classroom “boring and disengaging.”

Stephanie Couch, program director for the California STEM Innovation Network, observed the truism that schools teach to what they measure. Students are given statewide STAR tests in science only in fifth grade. It’s no coincidence then that a Bay Area study found that K-5 teachers spend less than an hour per week teaching science.

And, noted Julie Dunkle, Intel’s U.S. education program manager, especially in underserved areaa,  many teachers don’t have enough knowledge and materials to teach STEM effectively.

Kids must have the time and the tools to experiment and develop a passion for science and engineering. In the near term, that will probably have to take place in after-school programs. Citizen Schools, which operates in 37 sites in seven states, including four Bay Area communities, brings in volunteer engineers, scientists and engineers to engage middle schoolers in hands-on learning.

Couch pointed to the collaboration between teachers and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. During the summer, teachers work beside lab researchers. During the year, their students conduct experiments while teleconferencing with the scientists.

Couch is leading  a statewide STEM initiative that will point to successful STEM projects in and outside of schools, with a goal of taking them to scale. Click here to hear her talk more about it.

By John Fensterwald on January 4th, 2010