The necessity of including the arts in STEM

Abstract

A great change in education is taking place at this moment. Studies have shown our U.S. students to be behind, threatening our place in the global community. Our businesses decry the skills (or lack of skills) for their incoming employees. Everyone agrees that we need to change the tide. STEM is the current model holding everyone's attention, and the addition of the arts is gathering STEAM. Stakeholders weighing in to the debate seem to cause more confusion about what these terms mean, and how we can best implement them in the schools. This paper explores the role of the arts in the K-12 setting, and Middle School General Music in particular, and the impact it has as an integrating force in the STEM debate.

G.A. STEM Project: Gaming through Cultural Heritage

“…The basic core subjects of STEM, in this perspective, provide the tools to work with as well as other contexts to explore, learn and create. The STEAM approach is a whole brain thinking based approach, showing that subjects are not isolated from each other (DeSimone, 2014). The complexity of the modern worlds' challenges, undoubtedly, requires broader views and solutions which do not rely on STEM solely.…”