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Full-Text Articles in Education
Interdisciplinary Summer Institute Offering Steam Activities For At-Risk Middle School Students, Katherine Zaromatidis, Kara Naidoo
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
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
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
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.
Teaching Kindergarten Students About The Water Cycle Through Arts And Invention, Latisha L. Smith, Deepanee Samarakoon
Teaching Kindergarten Students About The Water Cycle Through Arts And Invention, Latisha L. Smith, Deepanee Samarakoon
Journal of STEM Arts, Crafts, and Constructions
Research evidence for the benefits of arts integration is mounting. The purpose of this study was to determine if integration of the arts was an effective strategy for teaching the water cycle to kindergarten students. The study included lessons that supported both a science and an engineering standard of the Next Generation Science Standards and national arts standards. The phenomenological study examined the lived experiences of children as they learned and demonstrated understanding through drawings, watercolor paintings, dramatization of a water cycle poem, and the invention and testing of a waterproof boot. Participants were 12 kindergarten students (7 male, 5 …
Students Explore Fossil Creatures Of The Cambrian Period Burgess Shale Through Model-Making, Andrea Anderson, Ksenia Zhbanova, Phyllis Gray, Jolene K. Teske, Audrey C. Rule
Students Explore Fossil Creatures Of The Cambrian Period Burgess Shale Through Model-Making, Andrea Anderson, Ksenia Zhbanova, Phyllis Gray, Jolene K. Teske, Audrey C. Rule
Journal of STEM Arts, Crafts, and Constructions
This practical article features an arts-integrated science unit on fossils of the Burgess Shale for fourteen elementary/ middle school students at a weeklong summer day camp. The day camp had a theme of recycling, reduction and reuse; all of the fossil models had substantial recycled components to support this theme. Next Generation Science Standards were supported by the course activities in which students examined fossil specimens, images, and comparative modern relatives to determine the anatomy and lifestyles of Burgess Shale Cambrian Period fossil animals (e.g., Olenoides trilobites, Anomalocaris, Canadaspis, Opabinia, Wiwaxia, Hallucigenia) through making scientific …
Ecosystem Food Web Lift-The-Flap Pages, Dana L. Atwood-Blaine, Audrey C. Rule, Hannah Morgan
Ecosystem Food Web Lift-The-Flap Pages, Dana L. Atwood-Blaine, Audrey C. Rule, Hannah Morgan
Journal of STEM Arts, Crafts, and Constructions
In the lesson on which this practical article is based, third grade students constructed a “lift-the-flap” page to explore food webs on the prairie. The moveable papercraft focused student attention on prairie animals’ external structures and how the inferred functions of those structures could support further inferences about the animals’ diets. In general, most students made simple causal connections between an animal’s observable characteristics and the food it would probably eat. Some students were also able to make multi-agent connections to develop a more complex mental model of a food web. Ultimately, the lift-the flap project was engaging to students …
Flipping About The Sun And Its Pattern Of Apparent Motion, Crystal Betts, Allison Pattee
Flipping About The Sun And Its Pattern Of Apparent Motion, Crystal Betts, Allison Pattee
Journal of STEM Arts, Crafts, and Constructions
Arts integration has shown to enhance student comprehension, retention, and engagement, while connecting to rich science content. The integration of the Next Generation Science Standards and the National Arts Standards into a first grade lesson illustrated how the arts enhanced the students’ understandings of the sun’s apparent motion during the day, an idea that is difficult for many young children to grasp. In this project students explored the sun outdoors throughout the school day to document changes by tracing their shadows in chalk and by making a shadow clock. Students also applied the information they learned to the creation of …
Editorial: The Journal Of Stem Arts, Crafts, And Constructions As An Ideal Venue For Showcasing Application Of The Next Generation Science Standards, Dana L. Atwood-Blaine
Editorial: The Journal Of Stem Arts, Crafts, And Constructions As An Ideal Venue For Showcasing Application Of The Next Generation Science Standards, Dana L. Atwood-Blaine
Journal of STEM Arts, Crafts, and Constructions
The Journal of STEM Arts, Crafts, and Constructions is an ideal venue for disseminating new ideas, lessons, and research developed in response to the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). This editorial explains how arts integration is well-suited to addressing the Science and Engineering Practices and the Cross-cutting Concepts. The research articles in this issue provide evidence that arts integration is also effective at improving student retention of disciplinary content over time. Using specific examples from the articles in this issue, this editorial elaborates on the three-dimensional nature of NGSS and how the integration of arts, crafts, and constructions into science …