Allergic or Not? Middle School Students Design an App that Tells You

Jessica Jones

IL

Schwartz, K. (2013, April 9). Allergic or not? middle school students design an app that tells you. MindShift. Retrieved from http://blogs.kqed.org/mindshift/2013/04/allergic-or-not-middle-school-students-design-app-that-tells-you/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+kqed%2FnHAK+%28MindShift%29

STEM education is a trending topic in education, resulting in many schools embracing science, technology, engineering, and math programs and projects. In her article, Schwartz discusses STEM integration in at the Hampstead Academy. The eighth graders at this school created an app that allows people to scan a food’s barcode or search for it to see if they are allergic to it. They worked with advisors and the MIT Media Lab’s App Inventor Training Corps, mainly relying on the students designing and coding their app. Through her interviews with students and teachers, Schwartz shows that students are more engaged with what they are learning when they can see it turn into a real product in the marketplace. By examining an implementation of STEM in the Hampstead Academy, Schwartz shows the positive responses of students and practical applications to STEM in schools.