Education Commons^™

Including The Literary Arts As The A In Steam, Lindsay E. Cunningham

The STEAM Journal

This article examines the integration of literature into secondary STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) classes in British Columbia, Canada. Data were collected through interviews with nine secondary STEM subject teachers and focus on teachers’ perceptions of the effects of including literature, what/how literature has been included, as well as the barriers, both real and perceived, to doing so.

A review of the literature demonstrates that integrating literature into STEM can be appealing to a broad range of students and teachers and can help to engage students with a variety of interests, perspectives, and backgrounds. The arts, including the literary arts, …

Picking Up Steam: The Role Of Languages And Linguistics, Keith Mason

The STEAM Journal

Languages and linguistics are powerful skills that enhance STEAM curricula and careers. A variety of approaches and methods to language teaching and learning inform educators how to proceed with the enhancement of STEAM programs. Linguistics, the science of language, can help STEAM students, especially within the science and mathematics components, because of its reliance on hypothesis formulation for scientific inquiry and data collection and analysis. Language, an important aspect of the human experience, elevates or picks up the STEAM experience.

Steam Education Afterschool And Summer Learning, Tracey Hunter-Doniger

The STEAM Journal

This article discusses the potential of STEAM education in afterschool and summer learning programs. The author suggests artistic methods and pedagogies that can be implemented in the programs, such as TAB (teaching artistic abilities), art infusion, and Studio Thinking. Challenges are brought forward and essential factors are suggested for STEAM programs. This article outlines STEAM afterschool and summer programs as spaces that invite, encourage and provide a safe learning environment where the students have more freedom to explore and get a deeper understanding of the arts and other disciplines.

Steam Lessons From The Forest: Ingenuity, Instruments And Autonomy, Tracey Hunter-Doniger

The STEAM Journal

This article discusses a case study of an environmental art camp that was modeled after choice-based pedagogies. At this camp the children were able to choose their activities, and taught how to think and work like an artist/scientist using a sketch/field book as a guiding instrument for their inquiry and empowerment. What was found was that three pillars of empowerment formed a foundational structure consisting of three interrelated factors that inspired the campers: 1) ingenuity, 2) a useful instrument, and 3) autonomy. Cultivating the artist/scientist habits gave the students the ingenuity or practical knowledge and understanding of how the roles …

Interdisciplinary Summer Institute Offering Steam Activities For At-Risk Middle School Students, Katherine Zaromatidis, Kara Naidoo

The STEAM Journal

A one-week long summer institute was designed for at-risk middle school students with two goals in mind: increasing interest in scientific inquiry through the use of artistic venues and exposing students to a higher education setting to motivate future goals of post-secondary education. Students were brought to the Iona College campus and were led through STEAM activities by a multi-disciplinary team of educators, who were assisted by a group of motivated undergraduate and graduate students. The summer institute culminated in a dramatic performance prepared and delivered by each of the students.

Creating Steam With Design Thinking: Beyond Stem And Arts Integration, Danah Henriksen

The STEAM Journal

This article suggests the value in a broad view of STEAM beyond arts-integration, as well as the potential of design thinking for STEAM. Despite much interest in STEAM it is often challenging for many teachers to integrate into their teaching of school subject matter. I suggest that as an interdisciplinary crossroads, design thinking provides a natural bridge between the arts, sciences, and other subjects. In this it can offer guiding flexible structure and in-road for teachers to design STEAM-based lessons, and to incorporate as an integrated aspect of students’ STEAM learning. I discuss an example of an elementary Spanish teacher, …

Using Steam To Increase Engagement And Literacy Across Disciplines, Robert L. Long Ii, Stephen S. Davis

The STEAM Journal

This paper explores STEAM as a solution to improving student engagement and helping students improve functional literacy across the curriculum. While STEM is a fairly established approach to curriculum, researchers and practitioners are continuing to develop and understand STEAM and its place in school curriculum. It is important that educators foster this holistic approach to education and strive to participate in active research associated with STEAM. It is also most advantageous for stakeholders to understand the importance of arts integration and its use to support collaboration, innovation, and creativity within students. Key strategies can be used to support arts integration …

A Brief History Of Stem And Steam From An Inadvertent Insider, Lisa G. Catterall

The STEAM Journal

This article traces a history of STEM and STEAM from the perspective of someone involved in arts integration research for the last 35 years, and proposes a vision for the next steps. It also provides an assessment of the risks inherent in current trends of STEAM roll-out in schools, from the lack of resources for professional development to the burgeoning market in STEAM kits and activity books that do not lead to the original learning goals of STEAM.

Infusing The Arts Into Science And The Sciences Into The Arts: An Argument For Interdisciplinary Steam In Higher Education Pathways, Christopher W. Thurley

The STEAM Journal

This article presents an argument for the integration of science into English courses in order to emphasize the usefulness of a Science, Technology, Education, Arts, and Mathematics (STEAM) education. The idea for this approach arose after the implementation of a divisional initiative to create learning communities with a STEM cohort of students called Student Persistence and Retention via Curricula, Cohorts, and Centralization (SPARC³). The author’s involvement in teaching a science-infused English course for this program inspired the argument that follows, which outlines why/how the sciences should learn from the humanities and why/how the humanities should learn from the sciences. The …

Steam In Arabia, Troy Bickham

The STEAM Journal

In late 2014 Texas A&M University at Qatar, which is a small branch campus focusing on engineering, launched its own STEAM initiative. Its goals are to better integrate the liberal arts into the engineering curriculum and to demonstrate the relevance of the arts to STEM-based education and research. What follows is a description of the initiative and the reception it has received.

Encouraging Teachers To W.A.I.T Before Engaging Students In Next Generation Science Standards Steam Activities., Mason Kuhn

The STEAM Journal

Effective art integration in K-12 curricula has clear benefits for classroom teachers (i.e. student achievement on standardized tests, student engagement, improving critical thinking). This paper proposes a framework based off of Claudia Cornett's levels of art integration. Teaching With About and In Through (WAIT) the arts can serve as a model for teachers who want to transform their science lesson to include art integration.

Ecoscience + Art Initiative: Designing A New Paradigm For College Education, Scholarship, And Service, Changwoo Ahn

The STEAM Journal

The paper presents a new initiative, EcoScience + Art, which blooms at George Mason University. The creator explains the background, history, and recent activities of the initiative, and also introduces an on-going special project called “The Rain Project”, a student participatory project to design, construct, and monitor a green infrastructure (i.e., floating wetland) for sustainable stormwater management on campus. The special project is geared to design and present a new paradigm to integrate college education, scholarship, and service. The relevance of the initiative and the special project to STEAM education is discussed.

What’S Wrong With Interpretive Dance? Embracing The Promise Of Integrating The Arts Into Stem Learning, Ruth D. Catchen, Carolyn Decristofano

The STEAM Journal

Curriculum developers Ruth Catchen and Carolyn DeCristofano explore the benefit and protocol to integrate the arts into STEM.

K-12 Students See Steam Everyday, Meghan Reilly Michaud

The STEAM Journal

Today’s students exist in a visual world. A new semiotic language has emerged in the digital age. It consists of an ever-evolving vocabulary of signs and symbols that one can rapidly decipher. Icons represent applications and functions on a plethora of modern devices. Sounds indicate changes and the start and end of activity. The exposure of new audio and visual media are part of everyday communication, now more than ever. The Arts teach our students to better perceive these cues and the information that they deliver.

Full Steam Ahead: Creativity In Excellent Stem Teaching Practices, Danah Henriksen

The STEAM Journal

This article emphasizes the value of creativity and arts-based learning in the sciences (STEAM education), using one example from a recent research study of creative and effective classroom teachers. The future of innovative thinking in STEM disciplines relies on breaking down the distinction between disciplines traditionally seen as “creative” like the arts or music, and STEM disciplines traditionally seen as more rigid or logical-mathematical (Catterall, 2002). The most exceptional thinkers in fields like science or math are also highly creative individuals who are deeply influenced by an interest in, and knowledge of, music, the arts and similar areas (Caper, 1996; …

Full Steam Ahead – A Collaborative Colloquium, Hilary Dito

The STEAM Journal

On February 2, 2012, Contra Costa County Office of Education organized its 2^nd Annual STEAM Colloquium: Full STEAM Ahead. This forum brought together over 150 educators, business leaders and community members to discuss and share best practices in Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM) education

Steam With A Capital A: Learning Frenzy, David Rufo

The STEAM Journal

A student dipped a brush into a bowl of viscous tempera paint and in a few quick strokes formed thick magenta letters on a large display board. Nearby a handful of students were working together to attach string to paper cups and balloons. Across the room a small group of girls were lying on the floor carefully adding multi-colored text to a poster. Two others created characters out of Popsicle sticks for a puppet show...This is how the integration of Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, & Math (S.T.E.A.M.) happened with the fourth and fifth graders during the first few weeks of …

Reflections ~ How Stem Becomes Steam, Ruth Catchen

The STEAM Journal

Reflections from designing a STEAM class for high-risk students.

Towards A “Cloud Curriculum” In Art And Science?, Roger Malina

The STEAM Journal

Recently an email hit my desk from Paul Thomas in Australia with a proposal to work together on a “Cloud Curriculum for Art and Science”. I immediately agreed to collaborate. I don’t yet have a clue of what a cloud curriculum is, but what I do know is that we are ‘backing into the future’ in educational institutions and we desperately need a ‘cloud curriculum.’ We need to look over the ten year horizon. And in the emerging art-science field I doubt that the usual approach to curriculum development will work.