STEAM education: student learning and transferable skills

Abstract

PurposeGlobally, interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary learning in schools has become an increasingly popular and growing area of interest for educational reform. This prompts discussions about Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM), which is shifting educational paradigms toward art integration in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects. Authentic tasks (i.e. real-world problems) address complex or multistep questions and offer opportunities to integrate disciplines across science and arts, such as in STEAM. The main purpose of this study is to better understand the STEAM instructional programs and student learning offered by nonprofit organizations and by publicly funded schools in Ontario, Canada.Design/methodology/approachThis study addresses the following research question: what interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary skills do students learn through different models of STEAM education in nonprofit and in-school contexts? We carried out a qualitative case study in which we conducted interviews, observations and data analysis of curriculum documents. A total of 103 participants (19 adults – director and instructors/teachers – and 84 students) participated in the study. The four STEAM programs comparatively taught both discipline specific and beyond discipline character-building skills. The skills taught included: critical thinking and problem solving; collaboration and communication; and creativity and innovation.FindingsThe main findings on student learning focused on students developing perseverance and adaptability, and them learning transferable skills.Originality/valueIn contrast to other research on STEAM, this study identifies both the enablers and the tensions. Also, we stress ongoing engagement with stakeholders (focus group), which has the potential to impact change in teaching and teacher development, as well as in related policies.

Kontribusi STEAM Project Based Learning dalam Mengukur Keterampilan Proses Sains dan Berpikir Kreatif Siswa

“…STEAM sendiri memiliki pandangan yang berfokus pada beberapa prinsip, yaitu: interdisipliner, kreativitas, pembelajaran faktual dan pemikiran yang berpusat pada proyek (Henriksen, 2017). Perkembangan STEM menjadi STEAM tidak serta-merta hanya untuk menambahkan komponen seni (Art) seperti menggambar, mewarnai, dan mendesain dalam suatu pembelajaran, melainkan lebih kepada pola berpikir kreatif siswa serta dalam mempelajari keterampilan abad ke-21 (Quigley et al, 2020); (Bertrand & Namukasa, 2020); (Lee, 2020).…”

STEAM en la infancia y la brecha de género: una propuesta para la educación no formal

“…Los estudios cualitativos ayudan a reconocer los principales obstáculos que enfrentan estudiantes y docentes con el modelo STEAM, sobre todo quienes cuentan con financiamiento de fondos públicos. Se realizó un investigación en Ontario, Canadá (Bertrand & Namukasa, 2020) en el que realizaron grupos focales y encontraron entre sus principales hallazgos que la integración de las artes en el modelo promueve la comunicación y las habilidades de pensamiento crítico, y también ayuda a los estudiantes a desarrollar una perspectiva global.…”

Exploring the Effectiveness of STEAM Integrated Approach via Scratch on Computational Thinking

“…STEM education emphasizes enhancing science and mathematics as an integrated discipline and focuses on technology (Liliawati et al, 2018) in solving the problem. Nevertheless, many debates and suggestions on art integration into STEM have been voiced to maximize the STEM impacts in the science educational reformation (Bertrand & Namukasa, 2020). The educators' dissatisfaction with the students' poor academic achievement and failure to relate the knowledge learned in solving the daily life problems under STEM education stimulate the art integration into STEM (Bertrand & Namukasa, 2020).…”

“…Nevertheless, many debates and suggestions on art integration into STEM have been voiced to maximize the STEM impacts in the science educational reformation (Bertrand & Namukasa, 2020). The educators' dissatisfaction with the students' poor academic achievement and failure to relate the knowledge learned in solving the daily life problems under STEM education stimulate the art integration into STEM (Bertrand & Namukasa, 2020). This prompts the popping out of researches on Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics (STEAM) education in switching educational paradigms.…”

“…This prompts the popping out of researches on Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics (STEAM) education in switching educational paradigms. The art integration in science learning is by communicating the science idea in images, texts, and other visual information (Bertrand & Namukasa, 2020), especially the abstract concepts. Art (A) is integrated into STEM, and it enhances students' science learning through the STEM concepts visualization in the viewpoint of the art (Belbase et al, 2021;Jolly, 2014) with art experience.…”