Katie Sorto

What is STEM to STEAM?

Our education system has been stagnated for centuries, which has led the public to

question whether or not its effective. Schools were first created with the intention to prepare

individuals for the work field. The purpose of education was to teach students to read and write.

Our education system can be summed up in one acronym STEM (Science, technology,

engineering, and math). With the social and economic changes that have been occurring in the

21st century, there has been this realization that STEM education may not be enough to prepare

our students for the real world.

Rhode Island school of design, have championed a movement called STEAM education.

It is a different and innovative educational system (k-12), incorporating art. STEAM stands for

science, technology, engineering, art and math. Researchers believe that this form of education

can provide students with wider set of skills to better their educational and career opportunities.

At the moment our nation is facing many economical and social challenges that in turn require

students to possess more in depth knowledge of different subjects, ability to integrate and apply

that knowledge to solve these challenges. Many schools have adopted this form of education

because it promotes critical thinking and problem solving, creativity, collaboration, and

communication. In our current curriculum, students are told information, expected to memorize

it for tests and pass. But there isnt focus in instilling higher educational goals. There is little

room for innovation and creativity, often teachers follow a script and teach from the textbook.

Which is not necessarily ineffective but it does not teach students long term goals and objectives.

With STEAM education educators hope to allow students to integrate art in a way that enriches

their educational experience.

 The STEAM programs context is motivating, engaging and real world experiences. The

goal of the program is to integrate and apply meaningful and important mathematics and science

content. There is main focus on teamwork and communication. The program is also inquiry-

based and student centered meaning, it allows students to do the exploring and learning on their

own. Despite the outstanding goals of the STEAM program many question its efficiency and

integration into the curriculum. Some educators and school members do not see its advantages.

They think there needs to be a separation from arts and sciences. Others do not see its

reimbursement to society, leaving many to question the new form of education. Ruth Catchen is

an educator and STEAM devotee. She works with a team of STEM writers and program

developers to fund and launch the STEAM program in Colorado through crowdfunding. She and

many of the STEAM program creators believe that art is a great tool for learning and can help

diverse groups of students. The merging of art can serve as a tool to ELL students, gifted

students and students with disabilities. The innovative STEAM program allows students to

communicate and express themselves in different ways. It also helps students become global

citizens of their community and that is vital in our technological and diverse world.

Art can be embedded into our education system in meaningful ways, if teachers put the

effort and see art as a potential tool in education. Art does not have to be separated from math,

ELA, science, or any other material. Students can create designs, perform speeches and dramas

and use creative planning as part of the curriculum. The problem is when teachers view art as

just a leisure activity, they need to understand how art can create further deepen lessons. The

STEAM program is not about putting academia aside and focusing more on art, its about

making more creative and critical thinkers through hands on STEM activities and projects. The
goal of the STEAM program is for students to attain a higher quality education that will teach

them skills they can use as adults.

Research has shown that the U.S is behind academically, further pressuring teachers to

focus on STEM. This proves that our education system in fact needs to change and not hold on

solely to STEM education. Maybe the solution to the disparity in our educational achievements

in comparison to other countries is the STEAM program. The Common Core program that so

heavily focuses on STEM fields has not advanced our stance in education to a great extent and in

fact has caused a lot of controversy. This suggests that alternative solutions are needed and one

of those solutions can be STEAM education.

In todays global world we need students that have more skills to offer than just reading

and writing, we want students to possess skills that will help them face our competitive and

demanding society. Our education system is very content focused, creating students that lack in a

set of skills needed to survive in the real world. STEM education alone is just not enough to

prepare students for adulthood; they need to be skillful communicators, creators, critical thinkers

and collaborators. The STEAM program fulfills all those skills, the inclusion of art makes for

more creative, communicative, and critical thinking students. These are skills vital in higher

education as well as in the work field. Integrating art into the curriculum allows students to be

imaginative and develop life-long skills.

The STEAM program teaches students to become independent, creative and problem

solving individuals. We want to generate students who can think for themselves, in our current

education system our students rely greatly on the teacher for their learning. Students need more

space and time to work on their own and with their peers, in order to detach themselves from the
teacher and learn to become adults. The STEAM programs goal is just that. Its not about

eliminating STEM education but enhancing our students educational experience.

SOURCES:

http://www.nea.org/assets/docs/A-Guide-to-Four-Cs.pdf

http://www.edweek.org/tm/articles/2014/11/18/ctq-jolly-stem-vs-steam.html

http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/future_tense/2015/06/steam_vs_stem_why_we_need_t
o_put_the_arts_into_stem_education.html

http://stemtosteam.org/