Cover STEAM image by Megan LLewellyn, Illustrator-in-Residence
Special Topics August 2017: STEAM
Letter from the Editor
There are lots of ways to say it - "STEAM is in the air," "Full STEAM ahead," "From STEM to STEAM." STEAM - the acronym standing for Science Technology Engineering Art Math - is the movement that everyone in education is talking about. STEAM is an approach, a curriculum, and a mindset. STEAM is an idea and ideal.
So, what exactly is STEAM? Simply put, it's not one single thing. STEAM can be found in universities in London, in middle schools in Brooklyn. STEAM takes place over one class period, or over an entire education. STEAM advocates for the integration of art and design approaches in the learning of STEM subjects. STEAM fosters well-rounded thinking and encourages cross-disciplinary exchange. STEAM gives equal voice to the arts and sciences. STEAM uses the strongest aspects of each discipline to create something new. While STEAM's origins stem from the Rhode Island School of Design in 2008, it now branches far and wide. We started to publish on STEAM this past year, including a feature on the organizational work of the Art of Science Learning, and a neuroscience and art course offered at Lafayette College.
The idea for this special topics issue came about when I went to prepare to teach a STEAM course of my own as the Innovator-in-Residence at Rutgers University. In researching STEAM approaches to design the course, I quickly realized how many types of STEAM there are out there. Like me, many teachers have been handed this STEAM task by excited institutions, and left on their own to create entirely new curricula from scratch. With varying resources, timelines, and circumstances, STEAM has many flavors, each with their own nuanced aims.
As this educational movement gains traction it's more important now, than ever, to come together and share our experiences, successes, roadblocks, techniques, and ideas. STEAM holds the promise of "fixing education," teaching students well-rounded thinking that will allow disciplinary specialization and cross-disciplinary thinking to not be mutually exclusive. STEAM promises students who will grow up to face our 21st century's biggest problems and opportunities with all the tools they need at hand, from coping with and combating climate change, to deciding on the future of our species as we near the reality of space colonization.
Collected here are the contributions of over 30 educators outlining their experiences enacting STEAM as this August's special topics issue, which we produced in addition to our standard August issue that you can read here. As always, your thoughts and experiences are welcome through our rolling submission system.
Take care, and happy reading!
Sincerely,
Julia Buntaine, Founder & Editor-in-Chief
There are lots of ways to say it - "STEAM is in the air," "Full STEAM ahead," "From STEM to STEAM." STEAM - the acronym standing for Science Technology Engineering Art Math - is the movement that everyone in education is talking about. STEAM is an approach, a curriculum, and a mindset. STEAM is an idea and ideal.
So, what exactly is STEAM? Simply put, it's not one single thing. STEAM can be found in universities in London, in middle schools in Brooklyn. STEAM takes place over one class period, or over an entire education. STEAM advocates for the integration of art and design approaches in the learning of STEM subjects. STEAM fosters well-rounded thinking and encourages cross-disciplinary exchange. STEAM gives equal voice to the arts and sciences. STEAM uses the strongest aspects of each discipline to create something new. While STEAM's origins stem from the Rhode Island School of Design in 2008, it now branches far and wide. We started to publish on STEAM this past year, including a feature on the organizational work of the Art of Science Learning, and a neuroscience and art course offered at Lafayette College.
The idea for this special topics issue came about when I went to prepare to teach a STEAM course of my own as the Innovator-in-Residence at Rutgers University. In researching STEAM approaches to design the course, I quickly realized how many types of STEAM there are out there. Like me, many teachers have been handed this STEAM task by excited institutions, and left on their own to create entirely new curricula from scratch. With varying resources, timelines, and circumstances, STEAM has many flavors, each with their own nuanced aims.
As this educational movement gains traction it's more important now, than ever, to come together and share our experiences, successes, roadblocks, techniques, and ideas. STEAM holds the promise of "fixing education," teaching students well-rounded thinking that will allow disciplinary specialization and cross-disciplinary thinking to not be mutually exclusive. STEAM promises students who will grow up to face our 21st century's biggest problems and opportunities with all the tools they need at hand, from coping with and combating climate change, to deciding on the future of our species as we near the reality of space colonization.
Collected here are the contributions of over 30 educators outlining their experiences enacting STEAM as this August's special topics issue, which we produced in addition to our standard August issue that you can read here. As always, your thoughts and experiences are welcome through our rolling submission system.
Take care, and happy reading!
Sincerely,
Julia Buntaine, Founder & Editor-in-Chief
Curricula
Discussion
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Editor in Chief: Julia Buntaine
Illustrator in Residence: Megan LLewellyn Guest Contributors: Jeffrey Toney, Stefani A. Allegretti, Nikoo Paydar, Jamaal Sheats, Sharon Lacey, Anna Lindemann, Mark Roughley, Kathryn Smith, Caroline Wilkinson, Alan Singer, Monica Lopez-Gonzalez, Shalini Le Gall, Bianka Hofmann, Sabrina Haase, David Black, Jacqueline Saville, Dolores Bartholomew, Mathilde Bessert-Nettelbeck, Philipp Schrogel, Danielle Olson, Ashli Davis-Polanco, Phil Getzen, Gabby Rabadam, Jeff Leake, Bonnie Epstein, Julia Sacha, Dave R. Wessner, Jose Luis Crontreras-Vidal, Dario Robleto, Laura Vosejpka, and West Marrin |
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