By Katherine M. Brown
NDG Contributing Writer
According to the Labor Bureau of Statistics, careers in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) are steadily increasing. In 2023, there were 10,712.4 STEM occupations. By 2033, it’s estimated that there will be 11,822.8 STEM occupations.
Dallas ISD is doing much to prepare students for jobs in the STEM industry.
Dr. Roberto Gonzalez is the Executive Director of Science Curriculum for Dallas ISD. He supervises the science curriculum for grades K-12. Gonzalez ensures that the curriculum lines up with Texas standards. He says that he creates the experience that students have in the classroom.
“First, we need to understand that we are bound by the Texas standards,” said Gonzalez. “The board has adopted materials that specifically target all these standards. For K-8, we use HMH and then for high school we use McGraw Hill. What is really neat about Dallas ISD is that we are implementing the new Texas standards. These standards are calling for something called Phenomenon-based learning, so it comes with a lot of hands-on experience for the kids.”
Students can take classes such as chemistry, biology, physics, aquatic science, astronomy, and environmental systems.
Gonzalez emphasizes his commitment to provide equity to all students in the classroom, saying the district seeks to close the knowledge gap for all the students.
“We now know that the difference between student A and student B is the exposure to different topics to different experiences,” Gonzalez said. “So, we’re trying to offer those experiences to every student. In the classroom, we are leveling the playing field where equity is being addressed. So, we are all about equity and access for all.”
For Gonzalez personally, science holds a very special allure.
“I’m originally a medical doctor, so I love science, and I love to instill science on everybody I can,” says Gonzalez. “Why do I enjoy this? Because I believe we are in a society right now that is operating based on everybody’s opinions, because they are out there and everybody can make their opinion known to the World Wide Web.”
Mr. Omar Cortez is a robotics and drone teacher in Dallas ISD. He has taught robotics for five years. Cortez utilizes the VEX educational robotics brand for his students. The brand has different robotic levels.
“It starts off with VEX GO at the introductory level which we do for a special rotation. And then, as the kids move on to middle school and 6th grade, they’ll do VEX IQ,” Cortez explains. “Once they hit middle school, we have three different levels. It’s VEX IQ, VEX EXP, and then VEX V5. It’s all under one umbrella, but they’re four different ecosystems that fall through the same pipeline. The other thing I also teach is drones class. With the drones class, they give me what’s called a CoDrone Edu which is provided by the Robolink brand and that’s just a programmable drone.”
Along with the robotics, Cortez emphasizes competition and collaboration in his classroom.
“I really like to do like a competition-based in the classroom. For the most part, we’ll start off real simple, and it could be something that’s as fun as like a little dance-off where the kids are programming autonomous movements,” says Cortez. “We’re really fostering collaboration here at my campus, so it’s always some kind of team-engaging activity and it can even go up to robot soccer and robot freeze tag. It’s always like at a competitive level where the kids do a lot of collaboration together.”
Cortez explains how the robotics curriculum looks.
“It starts off with fundamentals. The kids are learning about what the pieces are and how to use the pieces and structures. They’re learning about the simple machines. Then eventually, it evolves into understanding subsystems such as drive trains and programming them and competing with them,” says Cortez. “We do a whole Olympics usually by the end of the year in the different grade levels. It can be something as simple as a race and something as complex as learning to build an intermittent catapult. It’s essentially in essence the same class, but they’re kind of scaffolded each year to increase the rigor for the kiddos.”
Cortez says that the students not only learn a lot about robotics, but about other life skills as well. In the process of learning engineering, students gain knowledge in areas such as programming and computer science.
However, the competitive nature of the field involves much more than technical skills. While activities like building and programming robots, as well as using tools like screwdrivers and wrenches, are commonly emphasized, there is also significant development in soft skills that often go unnoticed. These interpersonal and communication skills are an important part of the learning experience.
“They learn about teamwork and collaboration,” Cortez said. “When they go compete there, it’s an alliance-based competition and so they have to strategize. They have to be able to use their voice and find their voice. While they’re there, they also end up doing interviews with judges and the judges will ask them questions about their robots.
“So, they have to be able to understand procedural conversation, explain how they got to a certain place, and their pros and cons, along with their analysis of their challenges, and how they were able to complete those challenges. A lot more than we would think with building robots and just programming them. They’re learning how to speak to adults, shaking an adults’ hand, look them in the eye, be able to respond, think on the fly, and communicate effectively as well as collaboration.”
Local colleges in the Dallas area are also preparing their students for careers in the STEM industry.
At Dallas College, STEM courses are offered in the School of ETMS (Engineering, Technology, Mathematics, and Science). Students can take a myriad of different subjects. Courses include geology, chemistry, biology, agriculture, physics, environmental, computer science, gaming, and information technology (IT). There are separate areas for IT, which include cloud computing, cybersecurity, networking, PC help desk, and programming.
Dallas College offers 2-year STEM programs. After students complete it, they can finish their degree at a 4-year university.
Dr. Raghunath Kanakala, Dallas College’s vice provost of the School of ETMS, explains the school’s STEM curriculum.
“Are the students going to be able to work immediately after going to Dallas College? Not all courses are work-ready immediately because we are only a community college,” explains Kanakala. “If a student is looking to go for work in a physics area they need to go to a four-year university and complete their two years, so the transfer component is always there.”
Kanakala says that Dallas College offers two options.
“We do have two different types of offerings which we call transfer and workforce. The workforce courses are all geared towards immediate employment, whereas the transfer is as it sounds,” explains Kanakala. “We expect the students to transfer to a four-year school and complete their bachelor’s from them.”
The STEM courses utilize technology to teach students.
“For example, if you’re looking at teaching a biology course, the technology part that you need is models for how to show the student how the anatomy works or anything else. We have the tables where this is like a 3D system where you can see how muscles are built,” says Kanakala. “In biology, there are a lot of apps that the faculty uses to let the students know how the anatomy and physiology is built in a human or in an animal, so they have active labs. We have active labs on all seven campuses and extension centers.”
A typical day in the STEM program looks different, depending on what subject the students are learning.
“If you are looking at a biology course, the students might probably be doing a dissection to see how the different models have different organs,” says Kanakala. Different species are used on different campuses, so students may dissect an animal such as a frog, pig heart, or chicken legs.
Kanakala explains how the college is assisting students in preparing for the STEM field.
The college serves two main areas: transfer and workforce development. In the workforce sector, particularly for IT students, they facilitate internal job recruitment specific to the IT field. They ensure students are aware of the various job opportunities available to them based on the credentials they are earning. One challenge that students face when pursuing an IT credential is the complexity of job postings, as many IT positions use similar language and terminology, making it difficult to discern the specific skills or disciplines required. The organization helps students navigate these job descriptions, clarifying the focus of different roles and providing guidance on how to interpret job requirements effectively.
Kanakala enjoys the hands-on part of learning.
“In STEM, the hands-on part – that is the most exciting thing for me. When you are doing a project based or hands-on activity students learn more and they retain information well,” explains Kanakala. “That’s my perspective. If you have them work hands-on or they’re doing a project, they learn faster, and the information they learn actually remains with the student for a much longer time and they are able to connect information from one area to another.”
Tiffany Kirksey, vice provost of Dallas College’s educational partnerships, also explains how they are helping high school students.
“Dallas College partners with school districts, charter and private school systems to offer dual credit learning opportunities,” says Kirksey. “There was a 17% increase in dual credit headcount from 2018-2019 to 2023-2024 (from 25,558 to 30,032 unduplicated students enrolled). Dallas College offers 62 College and Career Readiness School Model programs approved by the Texas Education Agency, including 20 Dallas College Early College High Schools (ECHS) and 42 Pathways in Technology Early College High School (P-TECH) programs that provide pathways to certificates and degrees for students.
“Through these programs, students are exposed to rich academic curriculum. We also offer programs in STEM fields for dual credits students in partnerships with independent school districts.”
Programs offered to dual credit students include Interactive Simulation Game Technology, Network Administrator and Support, Software Development, Personal Computer Support, C# and Java Developer Certificates, Web Development Certificates, and STEM programs that prepare students for medical and engineering careers.
At the University of Texas at Dallas, students are also immersed in STEM.
There, Dr. Mary Urquhart teaches science courses such as astronomy, planetary science, and astrobiology. She uses a wide variety of resources to train her students.
“I’m a big proponent of both hands-on and minds-on learning. We’ll do a lot of activities in my classes that involve laboratory equipment or manipulatives that help people understand the particular concepts that we’re looking at. For example, for some of my courses that deal with astronomy, I’m doing scale model solar systems,” explains Urquhart.
“We’re building and walking our scale model solar systems, and then using that as a basis to compare to other planetary systems to look at the different sizes of stars beyond our own planetary system. And then also looking at why size and distance matter in terms of the properties of the planets in our own solar system including our own earth. That’s just one example of many things we do.”
Urquhart says that these scale model systems are foundational to the students’ learning.
A typical day in Urquhart’s science classroom involves discussion and interaction.
“My students are active. They’re talking to each other, as well as discussing with me. We look at data. We read papers from the literature,” says Urquhart. “I also have a broad background for students in my courses, so we’re having those discussions, not relying on things like jargon. It’s very much making sure that that my students come away with a conceptual understanding of the material, and how to apply it in ways that matter to them, and matter to their future careers as well, or their current careers if they’re the master’s student.”
The university is doing much to prepare students for the STEM industry.
Different departments are aligning their coursework with industry expectations specific to their fields. For instance, the approach in chemistry or biochemistry may differ from that in emerging areas like nanotechnology or bioengineering. To ensure students are prepared for the job market, departments must align their curricula with the standards set by accreditation agencies, helping students succeed in accreditation exams.
Additionally, industry experts play a key role in shaping the curriculum. Advisory councils, such as those in the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, provide valuable insights to ensure students are equipped with the skills needed for today’s workforce. Departments like Sustainable Earth Science also collaborate with industries, such as energy, to refine coursework and ensure students gain the necessary skills for success in the job market.
Science students can go into a myriad of different careers upon graduation.
“Many students may think that it’s just pre-med or engineering or computer science. But there are a plethora of jobs with any of our majors in our school of natural sciences and mathematics,” explains Urquhart. “We had a special series of presentations that we were giving to one of the schools in the Dallas Independent School district. It’s the science and engineering magnet school. We were talking about, for example, all the things that you can do with physics degrees. You can work for a lot of the systems in the area. You could work for TI. You could work for Raytheon. There are many, many, many things that you can do with physics degrees. It has to do with a way of thinking – the ability to really apply logic in a variety of situations.”
Urquhart says that she has a personal drive to understand the world around her.
“What I love about teaching is really sharing that joy and that journey with others,” she says. “Helping them better understand the world around them, and giving them the tools that they can learn more, explore more on their own and help their own students – if they’re teachers – to be able to do the same.”
Urquhart also has plenty of advice for incoming college freshmen who are interested in a science career.
“One is – this is particularly true for freshmen – that it can be a difficult transition for some students. College is very different from high school in that people aren’t making you attend classes,” says Urquhart. “People aren’t making you do homework, so sometimes students will take advantage of that freedom, but that often leads to them struggling later. And that’s really unfortunate.
“We have students who they’re paying tuition or their parents or their scholarship is paying tuition, but they’re not coming to class. They’re not doing the work. The work that you’re doing in college, just like the work that they were doing in K-12 – whether they realized it or not – isn’t about the work itself. It’s about preparing you to do the next thing. It’s about the learning. And all too often, students who are young don’t focus on that aspect of what’s happening in college – that they’re really there to learn. It’s not about the grade. It’s about the learning. That’s the really important piece. You have to actually put in the effort. You have to put in the work.”
(Editor’s Note: This is the first of a two-part series on STEM education. See Part 2 at https://northdallasgazette.com/2025/01/08/stem-solution-focusing-on-the-fields-of-the-future-part-2-math-and-engineering/.)
