What+is+STEAM?



STEAM stands for science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics. For a project, class, or program to be truly STEAM, these five content areas must be present and tightly integrated. Technology is anything made from available resources to make a task simpler to perform. In STEAM, students use and create technology. The engineering design process is essential to STEAM. The design process is a series of steps used to develop a solution to a problem or achieve a goal. Integrating art into STEAM facilitates creativity and engagement. Also, art has long been included in the practices of STEM-related scientists, engineers, and mathematicians. STEAM also includes the creative application and/or real-world application of the integrated content being learned. This application facilitates critical thinking and deeper learning, which is a product of the trial-and-error problem solving inherent in art and the design process. The ratio between the amounts of the five content areas can vary, but they must be present and integrated in any STEAM endeavor.

The goal of STEAM is to inspire and prepare students to study and pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). One reason is that future job growth is going to be mostly in STEM-related fields, yet U.S. student interest in these fields lags behind many other nations. A 2011 STEM report by the National Research Council shows that critical thinking and reasoning skills, plus later interest in STEM study and careers is enhanced by early exposure to STEM. Involvement in STEM at the high school level should help prepare students for a STEM-related course of study in college. Getting students interested in career paths related to STEM is key to solving future challenges in the areas of innovation, energy, health, environmental protection, and national security.

Another goal of STEAM is to help prepare students to be career- and innovation-ready. Technological innovations, among others, have developed out of the creative application of science, technology, engineering, and/or math. Involving art while learning STEM will facilitate student creativity and innovation. Involvement in the arts of individuals in STEM-related careers and career paths supports this idea. Research done at Michigan State University in 2013 found a link between patents generated and businesses launched as adults and participation in arts and crafts activities under the age of 14. Also, “Nobel laureates in the sciences are 17 times likelier than the average scientist to be a painter, 12 times as likely to be a poet, and 4 times as likely to be musician.” according to Pomeroy in a August 2012 article in //Scientific American//. The benefits of art also go beyond individuals involved in STEM-related fields. Research done by James Catterall (2009) showed that rich art involvement of at-risk youth was associated with much higher levels of academic and civic achievement. Putting art into STEM to facilitate creativity and innovation makes sense because both of these are involved in practicing an art.

In STEAM lessons, classes, or programs, students are engaged in activities that are similar to what working scientists, engineers, and mathematicians do. This requires cooperative, student-centered, inquiry-based activities. These STEAM activities involve creative and real-world problem solving. The relevancy of these activities to students increases engagement, raises motivation, and deepens student focus. This results in a higher level of critical thinking and deeper learning. The steps and successive approximation of design process - in other words, iteration - gives students the opportunity to learn perseverance, or “grit.” This need for perseverance parallels that of working scientists whose experiments often test their mettle.

A opposed to traditional teacher-centered instruction, the student-centered nature of STEAM instruction requires that the teacher act as a facilitator. The teacher coaches students through the design process as they construct knowledge about their multidisciplinary problem and a solution to it. The role of facilitator is important in maintaining student choice. Finding mentors and experts for students to work with is an asset to any STEAM activity. Connecting students with the world outside the classroom is a goal of STEAM. This role may or may not be new to teachers.

The engineering design process should lead students through STEAM activities. Research and student choice are foundational throughout the solving of an inquiry-based problem. Imagining and developing a design are where the fun picks up angular momentum in the design process. The teacher may have to help students with brainstorming techniques and urge students to find a way to represent their design (possibly with math). Students may find creating and building the most challenging yet rewarding part of the design process. The students may need coaching in hands-on techniques at this point in the process as well as safety. The testing and evaluation of a solution is another big part of the design process. Aiding students in critical thinking, measurement, and math may be needed. Communicating and/or presenting is also part of the design process. Finding interested parties outside the classroom for students to present to is another goal of STEAM. The design process is iterative, so at any point in the process students may have to improve or redo what they are working on. This is not failure, but is seen as progress in STEAM. Facilitating students through the design process is a big shift away from teacher-centered instruction.

Multidisciplinary, cooperative, inquiry-based problem solving with creative, real-world application using the design process is required to make lessons, classes, or programs truly STEAM.

I drew and used the diagram at the top of the page to collect to organize my thoughts on what STEAM is. The drawing is roughly in the shape of a "STEAM Donkey" shown in the picture below. I happened to see one at Port McNeil this summer.