Visions and Beliefs

*Innovation * Communication *Collaboration * Critical Thinking * Choice*

STEAM University aims to develop student innovation, independence and confidence in skill areas that are becoming vital in today's world.

We focus on the development of innovation, communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and choice while making cutting edge technologies available to them to create passion projects in a wide variety of computer science areas.

2. Communication: Explain the Process, Explain the Purpose

• • The ability to both visually and verbally communicate your innovation is key to sharing and teaching others about how, what and why you created what you did.

3. Collaboration: Working with others

• • Collaboration within a group as well as within the classroom is an important part of the creative process. Being able to learn from experiences of working with teammates, both negative and positive, is important to learn from.

4. Critical Thinking: Plan, Problem-Solve, Troubleshoot, Learn

• • The ability to encounter and work with new technologies, new ideas, and issues that arise in the innovation process is an absolutely essential part of our rapidly advancing world. Being able to create a plan for success, follow the plan and report the plan all help develop a students critical thinking and problem solving skills.

5. Choice: Fundamentally Shift Motivation in the Classroom

• • Give students choice. Let the students choose projects that involve their passions. This increases student responsibility as they are the ones assigning themselves the goals of the project and thus student engagement and motivation to get it done is increased.

A STEAM U Lab...

• provides an essential component of middle school education for all students

• developss creative expression

• provide an arena for problem solving, critical thinking,and exploration

• gages and excites students

• improves students’ ability to effectively articulate thoughts and ideas

• promotes respect and understanding

• bolsters confidence and presence

• cultivates self-awareness and self-reflection

• affords students opportunities to critically evaluate sources, ideas, information, and trends.

• encourages collaboration and cooperation among diverse populations and across cultures

• builds a bridge between community and school promotes interdependence, investigation, and curiosity

• helps students communicate for diverse audiences and purposes

• utilizes technology to enhance learning

• supports all curricular areas in delivering a world-class education

• expands learning beyond the walls of a classroom