By Anne Jolly
You already know what the acronym, STEM, stands for – science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Add an “A” for arts, and the acronym becomes STEAM.
At first, including that “A” generated questions and frequent push-back, since STEAM brings together what we generally think of as polar opposites in the curriculum. But STEAM is part of the picture, and it’s worth taking a comparative look at the two programs.
STEM
Both private and public sectors report that U.S. schools are not producing enough graduates with the skills we need to continue leading the world in innovation. Our graduates need more rigorous knowledge of math and science, plus the ability to integrate and apply that knowledge to solve many challenges facing our nation. And they also need a variety of personal attributes and thinking skills.
Our job as K-12 educators is to prepare our students for the world they will enter when they graduate. That’s why STEM programs are being established – to equip students with the specific 21st-century knowledge and skills they need. According to a 2014 study by the America Society for Engineering Education, quality STEM programs need to look like this:
- Students actively engaged in solving real-world problems.
- Multiple STEM content areas being integrated in meaningful ways.
- Inquiry-based and student-centered teaching and learning in progress.
- Students using an engineering design process to work toward solutions.
- Productive teamwork and communication among students.
- Students thinking critically, creatively, and innovatively.
STEM, then, is a specific foundational program designed for a specific purpose – to integrate and apply math, science, and technology to find solutions for real problems, using an engineering design process.
STEAM
STEAM is picking up steam in many schools and systems, but questions arise: How does including art advance STEM? How can art and STEM truly help each other?
Fine Arts proponents like Ruth Catchen, believe that the arts can serve as an on-ramp to STEM for underrepresented students. She sees arts activities as a way to offer more diverse learning and to increase motivation and the probability of STEM success. In an article on why we need to put the arts in STEM, author Anna Feldman points to art as a way to spark students’ imagination and apply creative thinking and design skills to these STEM projects. She maintains that arts offer great potential to foster creativity and ways of thinking that can unleash STEM innovation.
Roger Essley, artist, educator, and writer, promotes the use of visual tools to help STEM students grasp and share complex ideas. He points out that for centuries scientists, engineers, mathematicians, and inventors have used visual tools to explain their ideas to others and to clarify their own thinking.
So where does STEAM stand?
Including the “A” in STEM certainly offers promise, but how do we include the arts in STEM in an authentic way?
Here are 3 ways to include the arts in STEM:
- Design. Art can serve a practical function in STEM. Students can apply art design principles to products they create during a STEM challenge. They can use computer graphics to create logos or stylized designs to include in communications or presentations. Through industrial design, students can improve the appearance, design, and usability of a product. These types of undertakings can also help them gain digital skills and apply technology in authentic ways.
- Communication. Art (including the language arts), can play an important role in communicating with other students and with a wider community. For example, during STEM lessons students may sketch their ideas to make them clearer to others. They may use technical or persuasive writing or communicate orally. Language arts teachers can play a strong role in helping STEM students gain the collaboration and communication skills they need for the 21st-century marketplace.
- Creative planning. As students brainstorm solutions to an engineering problem, they might be more productive if they adopt a playful, inventive, artistic approach. Calling on their artistic right brain can help them to generate creative and innovative thinking. It can also bring added enthusiasm to the project.
To me, art and STEM seem to make good partners. In fact, since art is already a de facto part of STEM, strategically integrating it into a STEM program can be a sensible move. However, STEM education must maintain its clearly defined form and purpose. It should be driven by real engineering problems and integrate supporting science, mathematics and technology skills, processes, and concepts. Arts must not be used simply as a means of enhancing the lesson, but as a true means of contributing to a STEM challenge.
FAQs
STEM focuses explicitly on the hard scientific, technological, engineering or mathematical skills to drive progress or create a new concept. In STEAM curricula, per The Conversation, students leverage both hard and soft skills to solve problems. For example, STEAM encourages collaboration to understand a STEM concept.
Why STEM change to STEAM? ›
STEAM is an approach to education that focuses on Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts, and Mathematics. In other words, it's STEM but with arts programs added in! While it's true that the main difference between STEM vs. STEAM is the arts, the benefit of adding that letter “A” isn't immediately clear.
What is an example of STEM and STEAM? ›
STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics, while STEAM adds Art or Architecture. A problem with a door latch at home is an example of STEM and STEAM in action, involving science, technology, engineering, art/architecture, and mathematics.
What is the main difference between stream and STEM stream? ›
What is STREAM? STREAM adds one more layer to STEM and STEAM: reading and wRiting. Advocates of STREAM see literacy as an essential part of a well-rounded curriculum, as it requires critical thinking as well as creativity. STREAM projects are similar to STEM or STEAM, but fold in the components of reading and writing.
When did STEM become STEAM? ›
By 2012, the United States National Research Council proposed STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) as a new method of teaching K-12 science classes. Since then teachers around the world have used this way of teaching to great success.
Is STEM or STEAM better? ›
STEAM is often considered more inclusive than STEM because it allows kids who are naturally more gifted in creative subjects to feel valued and to let their talents flourish.
How to turn STEM into STEAM? ›
STEM + A = STEAM
My favorite part is the quote at the end, “As the kiddos go back to school, knowledge of science, technology, engineering and math are certainly important, but their imagination, creativity and how they interact with others is critical.
What turns STEM into STEAM? ›
As a result, education professionals have developed the acronym STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and math), leading many to assess STEM vs. STEAM, their merits, and their application in the professional sphere.
Which vegetable is an example of STEM? ›
Stem vegetables are those that have shoots or stalks which can be consumed. Some of the most popular stem vegetables include asparagus, celery, fennel, etc. These vegetables can be used to make a variety of dishes and are usually served with pasta, sandwiches, soups, etc.
What is a STEM example? ›
A stem may climb on rocks or plants by means of rootlets, as in ivy; other vines have twining stems that twist around a supporting plant in a spiral manner, as in the honeysuckle and hop. In other cases, climbing plants are supported by tendrils that may be specialized stems, as in the grape and passion-flower.
STEAM takes STEM education a step further by integrating “Arts” into the acronym, encompassing language arts, drama, graphic design, visual arts, music, and new media. The extra “A” expands the initial focus on hands-on investigation to include process-driven inquiry, design, and creativity.
What does STEM mean? ›
What is the full meaning of STEAM? ›
STEAM is an educational approach that incorporates the arts into the more-familiar STEM model, which includes science, technology, engineering and mathematics. STEAM programs can include any of the visual or performing arts, such as dance, design, painting, photography and writing.
Why is a STEM called a STEM? ›
It's a term many are familiar with, but don't necessarily understand. STEM is a common abbreviation for four closely connected areas of study: science, technology, engineering and mathematics. The fields are often associated due to the similarities that they share both in theory and practice.
What is STEAM in school? ›
STEAM Education is an approach to learning that uses Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts and Mathematics as access points for guiding student inquiry, dialogue, and critical thinking.
What was STEM originally called? ›
The 1990s also marked the first acronym used to define STEM. Initially called “SMET,” it was changed in 2001 to what we know today. Biologist and academic administrator Judith Ramaley coined it while a director at the NSF (National Science Foundation).
What causes water to change into STEAM? ›
When water is heated it evaporates, which means it turns into water vapor and expands. At 100℃ it boils, thus rapidly evaporating. And at boiling point, the invisible gas of steam is created. The opposite of evaporation is condensation, which is when water vapor condenses back into tiny droplets of water.
Why did they add an A to STEM? ›
The “A” is an Integral part of STEM
Because art subjects give students the freedom to harness the capabilities of STEM subjects. The “A” in STEAM is a term that represents liberal arts, language arts, social studies, physical arts, fine arts, and music.
Why are STEM and STEAM lumped together? ›
Because they both aim to prepare students for occupations requiring a blend of technical and creative skills, STEM and STEAM are frequently combined. STEAM strives to give children a more comprehensive education that will help them flourish in a fast changing world by fusing STEM and the arts.
What is the difference between STEAM school and regular school? ›
Traditional schools often promote a buffet-style, 'all-you-can-learn' curriculum, touching upon a broad variety of subjects. STEM schools fully explore science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, aiming to ignite in students a lifelong passion and understanding for these subjects.
