A new 2025 second edition, STEM by Design: Tools and Strategies to Help Students in Grades 4-8 Solve Real World Problems, is built around a central complaint about schooling: students learn math and science in class, but often aren’t trained to combine them in
A middle-school teacher flips open another resource—this one with a promise that sounds simple. but lands like a challenge: it argues that schools can produce students who perform well in math and science classrooms. yet still fail to prepare them to blend those subjects into real engineering problem-solving.
In the first chapter of STEM by Design: Tools and Strategies to Help Students in Grades 4-8 Solve Real World Problems. 2nd Edition. author Anne Jolly confronts that gap directly. She writes that “Our schools are turning out graduates who can do math and science in the classroom. but we are not producing graduates who know how to integrate these subjects to engineer solutions for problems” (Jolly. 2025. p.3). The line is positioned as a reason to read the book—and a reason to rethink how STEM shows up in K-12.
The book is explicitly aimed at grades 4 through 8, and it is organized around more than a feel-good definition. Jolly lays out what STEM education is. what should be included in a STEM lesson and a STEM program. and how educators can select STEM challenges that actually fit the goal. Readers are also guided through chapters that address practical and student-facing pieces of STEM instruction. including how to involve diverse students. how to use the Engineering Design Process. how to build in life skills. how to integrate technology. and what types of assessment to use.
One feature that stands out is the book’s built-in rhythm for educators: “Think About” boxes that prompt reflection as readers move through chapters. Some of those prompts even point toward collaboration—one example on page 60 urges. “Take time to mull these over and recognize some characteristics of STEM lessons. Then engage some of your colleagues in a discussion about STEM lessons.” The reviewer notes that those moments of pause can make the text feel like it belongs partly in professional development: something that works best when it’s discussed with others. At the same time. the reviewer also ties that format to the subject itself. noting that STEM is collaborative and that the book’s style matches what it advocates.
Jolly also presses a point that many teachers struggle with in practice: STEM should not be treated as “just” a science or math lesson. The reviewer says Jolly’s emphasis is frank and consistent. and that she recalls hearing comments from teachers who say they are incorporating STEM—only to see lessons that end up looking like science instruction. In Jolly’s framing. there’s more to STEM than content covered; it is described as “a way of thinking. ” shaped by the components she lays out throughout the book.
A more hands-on element appears in Chapter 5. where Jolly uses a checklist to evaluate whether lessons are fully STEM or not. She goes further by sharing three examples that let the reader apply the checklist to decide whether the lessons being evaluated would count as true STEM. The reviewer highlights the interactive value: it helps educators visualize what a strong STEM lesson should actually look like.
The book also leans into usable supports. Throughout the text are links to documents and QR codes that direct readers to resources. There is also a dedicated website filled with resources from the book. The reviewer says the links were up to date. which matters when worksheets. references. or digital materials are part of what educators expect to use right away.
Still. the physical format has a drawback: the reviewer describes moments when the printed pages felt overwhelming because a device wasn’t always nearby to check the linked items instantly. The publisher offers an e-text option to address that friction. and the review points out that the book’s access to online resources is part of its overall structure.
Michelle Schwartze. an Associate Teaching Professor at the Missouri University of Science & Technology who works with elementary and middle level preservice teachers. frames her takeaway with a clear expectation-setting. As she reads it, she doesn’t see it as a book that will deliver ready-made example lessons. Instead. she describes it as a set of tools and resources meant to help educators either find quality STEM lessons or begin writing their own.
Schwartze says her background makes that use-case feel direct. She teaches and advises preservice teachers. and her work includes STEM methods as well as leading STEM lessons at the local middle school. She is also a Project Lead the Way Launch teacher trainer and has presented at numerous conferences on educational and STEM-related topics. In the review. she adds that she plans to use resources from the book to guide her students through learning what STEM is and how to teach it in middle school.
For middle school teachers. the book’s pitch is ultimately practical: the reviewer calls it “very informative” and “easy-to-read. ” with enough structure to support a book club for educators working through chapters together. For preservice teachers. the emphasis is on definitions. lessons that follow a fuller STEM design. and assessments that fit the work. And for anyone who believes STEM in classrooms too often looks like separate math and science units rather than integrated problem-solving. the central question remains the same as Jolly’s opening argument—whether students are being trained to engineer solutions. not just perform in subject-specific lessons.
STEM education Engineering Design Process grades 4-8 curriculum assessment teacher resources middle school Project Lead the Way