STEM TO STEAM

STEAM allows activities to be facilitators as great ways to promote communication, teamwork and creativity, while allowing students to get to know each other and develop an understanding of appropriate group work behavior.

Arts integration specialist and Education Closet founder Susan Riley defines STEAM as "an educational approach to learning that uses science, technology, engineering, the arts and mathematics as access points for guiding student inquiry, dialogue and critical thinking.

• STEAM is an integrated approach to learning that requires an intentional connection between standards, assessments and lesson design/implementation.
• True STEAM experiences involve two or more standards from science, technology, engineering, math and the arts to be taught and assessed in and through each other.
• Inquiry, collaboration and an emphasis on process-based learning are at the heart of the STEAM approach.
• Utilizing and leveraging the integrity of the arts themselves is essential to an authentic STEAM initiative.

Last month, Edutopia updated its list of resources for STEM to STEAM to better help teachers strategize around the different approaches to integrated studies. One of the strategies highlighted by Edutopia's Vicki Davis was the Maker Movement: Promoting students to tinker, create, modify, design, hack, build, invent, fix and make things in the classroom.

Sylvia Martinez and Gary Stager, in their book "Invent to Learn," write: "Maker classrooms are active classrooms. In active classrooms, one will find engaged students, often working on multiple projects simultaneously, and teachers unafraid of relinquishing their authoritarian role. The best way to activate your classroom is for your classroom to make something."

10 Innovative Projects That Take Learning From STEM to STEAM. In that article, Jessica McFadden highlighted some STEM lessons from School Specialty that incorporated elements of art and design to help students grasp science, tech, engineering and math concepts through the creative process. The Rhode Island School of Design maintains a comprehensive website calledSTEMtoSTEAM.org.

In today's fast-paced society, we need individuals with strong skills in critical thinking, problem solving and creativity. STEAM is showing promise as a way to help students develop those important 21st-century skills.

Using project based learning to teach 21st century skills: Findings from a statewide initiative Jason Ravitz, Buck Institute for Education (PDF Download Available). Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/258188193_Using_project_based_learning_to_teach_21_st_century_skills_Findings_from_a_statewide_initiative_Jason_Ravitz_Buck_Institute_for_Education [accessed Jan 30 2018].

SOURCE: http://exclusive.multibriefs.com/content/the-movement-from-stem-to-steam/education