STEM Integration with informatics

The current generation of students operates in a mode of constant stimulation. Immediate relevance is the overriding determinant of their interest in a particular topic. As such, teaching fundamentals to this generation solely for the sake of a better future understanding of advanced concepts becomes an uphill battle. Whether it be ABCs, multiplication tables, or laws of science, standalone foundational knowledge carries with it no immediate benefit and is therefore of little interest to this generation. Informatics, however, is by its very nature an interdisciplinary and domain-relevant field. Informatics makes it possible to teach foundational concepts in context, most notably in a context relevant to high school students. We introduce the concept of teenformatics and describe how we can leverage informatics to build interest in the STEM disciplines and to show students the relevance of STEM in their lives.