In today’s increasingly tech driven and globalized world, the skills needed for a wide range of careers include science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Higher education and business communities have indicated that they are looking for students and a workforce that possess communication, collaboration, inquiry, problem solving and flexible thinking skills that will enable them to adapt and thrive in a rapidly and continually changing environment.
Below are quotes from the higher education and business communities about the importance of the Next Generation Sciences Standards in preparing our children for college and career in the 21st century.
Engineering
“The former science curricula taught science as it was 20-30 years ago but we know, today, that science has changed dramatically. Those changes are how UCI is educating our science and engineering students. We want high school students who are coming into this system to have an educational framework that is in alignment with how universities are teaching. All in all, NGSS is just a better preparation.”
The Henry Samueli School of Engineering, University of California, Irvine
Ph.D., North Carolina State University, Mechanical Engineering
M.S., North Carolina State University, Mechanical Engineering
B.S., North Carolina State University, Mechanical Engineering
Science
“The single most important thing I’m looking for in new students is the ability to learn new ideas quickly – to ask questions and show curiosity.
“At the next level, when students become more advanced, I’m looking for independent thinking. I really want someone who takes an idea and runs with it and who can work and operate completely independent of me – someone who is generating their own independent ideas.
“The Next Generation Science Standards can help us address these skills by expanding knowledge away from simple facts to more of an integrated concept of ideas, coming from multiple fields. I believe this will better prepare students to work in the laboratory.”
School of Physical Sciences, University of California, Irvine
Ph.D., Harvard University
B.S., University of California, Berkeley
Tech Industry
“On the technical side, we look for candidates who are not only excellent at coding, but also good at collaborating, comfortable with ambiguity and passionate about their work. We’re not looking for an isolated skill set, but need people with a variety of strengths and passions. To find these people, we look more closely at how you think than how your transcript reads. We want people who won’t get stuck trying to find the right answer, but instead, will puzzle out multiple possible answers and then synthesize one, elegant solution.
“We are looking for bright, intelligent people who want to make a difference. We want to see that you've had impact in previous experiences. Whether you built a team at your previous job or started a club at school — we want to know about it. We’re looking for our future leaders and want to see how you’ve mobilized teams, mentored co-workers and taken the lead when needed. ”