Funders Perspective

Reading time — 3 minutes

Behind STEM for Students

STEM for Students turns problem-solving into generalization, helping knowledge carry from one problem to the next and from school to life.

From Classroom to Vision

When David Braun left the classroom after more than a decade of teaching physics and dynamics at universities across the United States, Asia, and Europe, he carried with him a recurring observation: too many students were entering college without solid foundations in mathematics and physics.

“It is like giving students puzzle pieces without ever showing them the picture,” Braun said.

“Formulas by themselves are not enough. Without problem-solving and feedback, the pieces never fully connect.”

Learning Smarter, Not Harder

That realization inspired Braun, recipient of the National Science Foundation’s CAREER Award, to launch STEM for Students, an initiative built on the idea of learning smarter, not harder.

At its core is a method as old as education itself—questions and answers—applied systematically to strengthen understanding.

Problem-solving and Q&A

The program’s first offering, Physics Foundations: Problem-solving and Q&A, is designed to bridge the gap between high school and early college study. It prepares students for AP Physics I, Freshman Physics I, and Sophomore Dynamics 101.

Yet Braun’s vision extends far beyond physics. The next step is Optimization Foundations, focused on the mathematics of decision-making.

“Optimization is the engine behind decision-making and artificial intelligence,” Braun explained.

“It teaches students how to find the best solution in complex situations, a skill at the heart of modern science, engineering, and innovation.”

Teaching Students to Generalize

Underlying these courses is a conviction about how people truly learn.

“Even if students solve the same types of problems again and again,” Braun said, “when they are guided with the right approach, they begin to see patterns. They learn to generalize.

And generalization is the ultimate goal in education—it is what allows knowledge to transfer from the classroom to the real world.”

Human + AI >> AI Alone

AI has fueled the belief that it could replace teachers, a perception rooted in the reality that school instruction can fall short of the average AI standard.

But average is not the benchmark. 

“Our target is the NSF CAREER standard, aiming for the top 99%, not the middle 50%. That is why we pair human expertise with AI tools for something as critical as educating the next generation,“ Braun said.

Building a Hub for STEM Education

Braun envisions STEM for Students as more than a set of classes. His goal is to build a hub for STEM education—a platform that will prepare tomorrow’s workforce, researchers, innovators, and entrepreneurs by strengthening the foundations on which all advanced learning rests.

For Braun, who has taught more than 1,000 learners worldwide, the initiative is less a departure from academia than an extension of it—an effort to take the lessons of the classroom and scale them for broader impact.

“This is about equipping people to solve problems,” he said, “and about giving them the confidence to carry those skills into challenges ahead.“