There is growing enthusiasm for STEAM education in preparing students for an increasingly complex world. However, implementing STEAM in the classroom can be challenging for educators, as it may require collaboration across disciplines, increased workload, and understanding the nature of STEAM integration. This paper details a mixed-methods evaluation of a year-long STEAM teacher training program, in which a STEM teacher and an arts teacher collaborated to design and implement integrated STEAM lessons at each of the nine participating schools (n = 17). The training program consisted of a 5-week summer professional development experience, followed by ongoing financial, material, and pedagogical support during the school year, made possible by the partnership of the schools, a university, and community organizations. Findings from surveys, focus groups, and written reflections suggest that, despite certain challenges, aspects of the training program supported teacher implementation of STEAM. Participation in the program impacted teachers’ collaboration, pedagogy, self-efficacy, and arts integration practices. The findings offer insight into the forms of support that teachers deem important in STEAM teacher training programs and the benefits of such a program for teachers’ professional development.
The GoSTEAM program promotes authentic integration of the arts into PreK-12 computer science, engineering, and invention instruction. STEM and arts teachers come together to form STEAM Innovation Teams in collaboration with university-based coaches and creative Innovators-in-Residence. Starting with a STEAM professional development summer institute and continuing throughout the year, the teams come together to design and implement novel STEAM lessons and initiatives in their schools that integrate learning goals from both the STEM and the art disciplines. This type of transdisciplinary collaboration between colleagues from vastly different fields is new to most teachers and presents unique challenges. A primary goal of the GoSTEAM professional development is therefore to create safe, interdisciplinary spaces where meaningful, cross-disciplinary collaborations can occur. In 2019, this was accomplished through an intensive, 120hour face-to-face summer professional institute that incorporated many community building activities and collaborative planning sessions. In 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the summer institute changed to an online format and faced the challenge of providing teachers with a personally meaningful STEAM experience during a summer of crisis. Results show that the 2020 institute successfully supported the teachers, energized them, and provided them with tools to augment their virtual instruction. This paper describes the program adaptations due to COVID-19.
Her research focuses on design and engineering education with a focus on promoting diversity and inclusion. She has served as PI and co-PI for grants from multiple sponsors including NSF and Amazon totaling more than $9M. In addition, her STEM outreach programs and curricula have impacted hundreds of thousands of K-12 students nationwide. She is the cofounder and director of Georgia Tech's K-12 InVenture Prize, a statewide invention competition, open to all students and teachers in Georgia. She earned her BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign in 2007, and her Masters and PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Georgia Tech in 2009 and 2012. Dr. Moore received the Georgia Tech Teaching Effectiveness Award in 2018.
Mike Ryan is research faculty at the Georgia Institute of Technology's Center for Education Integrating Science, Mathematics and Computing (CEISMC). Mike has expertise in the design and use of projectbased learning (PBL) to facilitate standards-based learning.-Mike is the Co-PI for the NSF-funded project Science Learning Integrating Design, Engineering and Robotics (SLIDER), overseeing curriculum design, teacher learning and research strategy. The project investigates the integration of engineering in science classes to facilitate physics learning.-Mike is senior personnel for another NSF project, AMP-IT-UP, that is studying STEM integration. He designs curriculum, PD, and strategy for the project.-Mike is active in designing and researching online learning courses in PBL for educators. Mike has also previously taught secondary science in public schools. Mr. Jeffrey H Rosen, Georgia Institute of TechnologyAfter 14 years in the middle and high school math and engineering classroom where Mr. Rosen was working on the integration of engineering and robotics into the teaching of the core curricula classrooms. He has now been at Georgia Tech's CEISMC for the past 8 years working on curriculum development and research on authentic STEM instruction and directing the state's FIRST LEGO League competition program. Mr. Rosen has authored or co-authored papers and book chapters that address issues of underrepresented populations participation in engineering programs and the integration of robotics and engineering into classroom instruction. Jayma Koval, Georgia Institute of TechnologyJayma Koval is a Teacher in Residence at Georgia Tech's Center for Education Integrating Science, Mathematics and Computing (CEISMC). In this role she has developed middle school science curriculum and assessments for NSF funded projects. Previously, Jayma was a middle school science teacher for 10 years and coordinator of her school's Science Olympiad team. Sabrina Grossman, CEISMC: Georgia TechI am currently a Program Director in Science Education at Georgia Tech's Center for Education Integrating Science, Mathematics, and Computing (CEISMC), which is a K-12 STEM outreach center for the university. I am working on several exciting projects including working with the STEM Incubator as Problem Based Learning Specialist and teaching an online course in Project-Based Inquiry Learning. I also work on the SLIDER team developing curriculum to teach physical science with robotics and designing teacher materials to support the implementation of that curriculum. Lastly, I work on the AMP-IT-UP project, which is a NSF Foundation Math and Science Partnership to promote workforce development and to identify and cultivate the next generation of creative STEM innovators. Through my participation in this project, I assist in writing middle school science modules and supporting teachers in their implementation. The Science Learning Integrating Design, Engineering and Robotics (SLIDER) project at the Georgia Institute of Technology is in the 5 th year of devel...
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