STEM impact program: Helping overcome maths anxiety and encourage growth

What is the current status of STEM in secondary schools?

Studying science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) subjects is so important for students’ development.

As a combined head of Science and Maths, I see first-hand the benefits of integrating and making links between these subjects,helping students to develop their problem solving, critical thinking and analytical skills, just to name a few.

A well-rounded education in STEM best prepares the next generation of young adults to solve the real-life challenges the world faces today. With the UK government recognising a nationwide shortage of STEM skills, the onus is on schools to help build students’ enthusiasm and enhance their knowledge. 

Despite this apparent demand, one of the biggest hurdles teachers face is ensuring students see the value of STEM subjects. All too often, students view these subjects as something they ‘have’ to study, not topics they want to engage with.

To change this, we need to break down misconceptions, tackle the issues students face head on, and ultimately help them see that the knowledge and skills they’ll gain will prove invaluable now, and in the future - beyond the walls of the classroom.

In your opinion, why do you think that schools struggle to engage pupils with STEM subjects?

One of the reasons students might resist engaging with STEM subjects is the sheer volume of content they need to cover, especially as this material can be quite complex.

To progress in STEM subjects, students need to grasp key concepts, gaining an understanding of foundational principles, to then build upon their knowledge throughout their school years.

This can be achieved through implementing familiar and easy to use resources, which break down complex topics into easily digestible pieces of information, from the very start of a students’ secondary school journey.

With GCSEPod, if a student is struggling with a specific topic, they can go away and recap it through targeted videos, or test their knowledge on the ‘check and challenge’ assessment feature.

We also encourage our students to engage with wider content which shows the importance of STEM in real life, such as Hannah Fry’s documentaries, alongside incorporating examples into our lesson plans. Students always love seeing the power of Maths in magic tricks!

Are there any other key challenges you see students face?

Dyscalculia is a learning difficulty which can affect students’ progression in STEM subjects, defined by the British Dyslexia Association as a specific and persistent difficulty in understanding numbers.

It doesn’t discriminate across age, ability, or IQ, meaning it can often be both misunderstood and underrepresented - despite being prevalent in classrooms across the UK.

In many cases, students who struggle with dyscalculia or wider issues such as Maths anxiety face a fight or flight response when confronted with a Maths problem they find challenging.

Some choose to react with poor or disruptive behaviour, while others opt to steer clear of situations involving Maths. This might result in skipping lessons or tests, and actively avoiding career paths which require numerical skills.

Regardless of the approach taken, getting to the root of the problem is what matters. Acknowledging dyscalculia as an issue which can seriously impact students’ ability to engage in STEM subjects is the first step towards progress.

As part of this, it's important to create an open environment, where taking a little longer to get to grips with Maths is normalised, so that students feel comfortable sharing when they need extra, tailored support.

We’ve made sure to implement this approach in our school, where we educate staff to recognise the signs of Dyscalculia and Maths anxiety, even those who teach in subjects outside of STEM, such as Geography, where Maths and number skills are required in some capacity.

This has been invaluable to raising awareness and empowering our students - with some staff members resonating with the feelings themselves.

What do you hope to achieve with the STEM impact program?

Our school has recently signed up to Access Education’s STEM impact program, after seeing fantastic results from using GCSEPod.

We hope to see students engaging with the material to build their resilience and independent thinking skills - not to mention helping them to reach their full potential in exam season!

It’s so important that Maths is taught in a way which is accessible, so having reliable resources we can direct students to is extremely useful and we’re looking forward to seeing the impact in coming months.