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, …

Challenge-Based Learning & Steam Curriculum, Diana Lockwood

The STEAM Journal

STEAM education is being integrated into elementary schools as a way to engage more students in creativity, hands-on learning, and problem-based learning also referred to as Challenge-Based-Learning (CBL). This article focuses on elementary educators’ curriculum design for STEAM and presenting students with open-ended questions phrased as a challenge as a way to raise student interest and achievement (DeJarnette, 2018; Hunter-Doniger, 2018). When students received challenges to solve, they felt more open to sharing their ideas since there was more than one potential right answer (DeJarnette, 2018; Drake, 2012). When implementing CBL, teachers act as facilitators using a constructivist approach as …

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.

A Spider's Approach To Steam, Stefan Haesen

The STEAM Journal

In this paper we present an overview of different approaches towards STEAM education, including the choices in methodology and pedagogy. From these various viewpoints we build up a framework for STEAM education and relate it to a real-world problem, namely, how a small spider can catch a prey.

Steam Education Initiatives In Nepal, Shashidhar Belbase

The STEAM Journal

The purpose of this paper is to highlight the status of STEAM education in Nepal. I conducted a literature review focusing on document analysis for generating themes/categories of STEAM initiatives in Nepal from various sources such as websites, brochures, reports, and government publications. The major themes emerged from the analysis of documents were-- focus on integrated education, STEAM projects, STEAM-challenge, awareness to STEAM education, and academic program in STEAM education. I discussed the challenges of STEAM education followed by the conclusion.

Case Studies On The Transfer Of Knowledge Within The Interdisciplinary Steam Curricula Construct, Laura Rachel Fattal

The STEAM Journal

Sharing anecdotal case study research documents the vibrancy of personal communication to reveal both spontaneous reactions and profound thinking on the transfer of knowledge in the interdisciplinary STEAM curricula construct. With the growing research and attention to arts-integration and STEAM curricula development, a critical assignment in a graduate course in Arts-integration: Interactive Strategies for (STEAM) teaching and learning required the in-service teachers, who were the students in the course, to be teacher/researchers. In a two-to-three page case study, the students documented evidence of one or two K-12 students’ transfer of knowledge between two or more disciplines – science, technology, engineering, …

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, …

Into The Woods - Environmental Problem Solving Through Steam Lesson Planning, Laura Rachel Fattal

The STEAM Journal

Title - Into the Woods – environmental problem solving through STEAM lesson planning

Abstract

The STEAM conversation takes on new urgency in the preservice university classroom due to its potential for synergistic problem solving of real world problems. The visual and performing arts invite creativity to be understood as social practice and aesthetic flexibility and the assessment of the practice through student/student and student/teacher curiosity building. In this article pedagogical praxis is centered on the critical issue of climate change caused by global warming. The praxis addresses:

• University preservice candidates’ arts-integrated teaching and learning focusing on climate change,
• Provocative rewriting …

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 …

Developing Confidence In Steam: Exploring The Challenges That Novice Elementary Teachers Face, Aaron S. Zimmerman

The STEAM Journal

This essay explores the challenges that novice elementary teachers may face as they attempt to enact the practices of STEAM education. Specifically, I will explore research that suggests that novice elementary teachers lack confidence in their ability to lead lessons rooted in either scientific inquiry or arts-integration. This has, I argue, clear implications for the development of STEAM education. Advocates of STEAM education must ensure that novice elementary teachers are provided with the necessary scaffolds and supports that will empower them to engage in authentic and ambitious STEAM practices.

From Stem To Steam: Students’ Beliefs About The Use Of Their Creativity, Ayse Tugba Oner, Sandra Bonorden Nite, Robert M. Capraro, Mary Margaret Capraro

The STEAM Journal

To be successful in a STEM career, not only STEM knowledge and skills but also creativity is required. Therefore, the arts have been integrated into STEM disciplines and subsequently designated as STEAM education (Sousa & Pilecki, 2013). One example of informal learning environments that STEAM education provided is a summer camp. In this study, middle and highs school students’ use of their creativity in the Project-based Learning (PBL) courses was examined to determine students’ belief about the use of the arts in STEM activities. The results showed that students believed that they used their creativity in eight of the nine …

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.

Maker Education: The Steam Playground, Amanda Opperman

The STEAM Journal

Educators who are committed to teaching STEAM in their classes and programs will be inspired and encouraged by the capabilities for multidisciplinary instruction and project based learning offered by an emerging pedagogy known as Maker Education. While making was previously thought of as STEM-focused, it can easily be integrated across all subjects. Maker Ed's Resource Library has a section on Projects and Learning Approaches, which includes many cross-curricular project ideas that expand this model of education from STEM to STEAM and beyond.

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.

Two Bit Circus, Elise Lemle

The STEAM Journal

Two Bit Circus collaborated with the Girl Scouts of the Greater Los Angeles Area to explore the exciting world of wearable electronics. Over the course of the program, the students explored concepts of introductory electronics while designing and creating their own illuminated fashion piece. The program was held in Montrose, CA in Fall 2013. The students were approximately 10 girls ages seven to 14. The program was held over seven sessions with each session lasting 80 minutes.

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; …

The Efficacy Of Mathematics Education, Eric Geimer

The STEAM Journal

Evidence supports the notion that mathematics education in the United States is inadequate. There is also evidence that mathematics education deficiencies extend internationally. The worldwide mathematics education deficit appears large enough that improving student performance in this educational problem area could yield great economic benefit. To improve the efficacy of mathematics education, education’s root problems must first be understood. Often supposed educational root problems are considered and contrasted against potential deficiencies of mathematics methodologies and curricula that are based on mainstream educational philosophies. The educational philosophies utilized to form early-grade mathematics methodologies and related curricula are judged to be the …

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.