Increasing K-5 students' non-cognitive skills through STEM-Integrated education

Students living with economic hardship are at risk of developing low self-efficacy which in turn might lead to them dropping out of school or giving up when faced with academic and personal obstacles (Schunk and Meece, 2005). In order to promote opportunities for these diverse students to access and succeed in college, K-5 students must be provided opportunities for the acquisition of necessary non-cognitive skills such as self-efficacy, persistence, and optimism. These attributes that are most commonly associated with academic achievement, continued school retention and college or career success in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) related fields, must be developed through meaningful student engagement by effective teachers. By implementing STEM-integrated education including the engineering design process, elementary school educators can ensure that at-risk students will be regularly engaged with real-world projects that motivate them to pursue STEM achievement and thereby persist until the curricular objectives are completed. Integrated-STEM education not only provides at-risk students with consistent opportunities to develop these non-cognitive skills but will also secure their continuing interest in STEM education.