Science and art are sometimes described as completely various things. This narrative can start early, encouraging children to pursue a STEM education – short for science, technology, engineering and math – which can or may not include an arts education.
How acting professorI never thought much about STEM fields until I got one Arts Integration Scholarship in STEM educational models. I took this chance to jot down and direct a play for primary school students that showed how the humanities can enhance and extend work in STEM fields when properly integrated – nevertheless it was not a straightforward process.
STEM or STEAM?
Should STEM be expanded to STEAM – science, technology, engineering, art and arithmetic – using adding art stays kind of a debate.
The origins of STEM education could be traced back to… Morrill Act of 1862, promoting agricultural sciences and later engineering at land-grant universities. To achieve this, in 2001 the National Science Foundation focused on STEM education make the US more competitive on the planet.
The Biden-Harris initiative launched in December 2022, the so-called You belong in STEM offers over $120 billion in support for K-12 STEM education through 2025. However, as of 2012, the United States Research Council has been exploring the concept Steam education.
Researchers found that when incorporated into STEM education art creates space for curiosity and innovation. So why the shortage of agreement and consistency as as to if it must be STEM or STEAM?
The tendency to emphasise STEM education could also be as a result of: higher future wages STEM fields or significant funding to which it’s more closely related STEM-based research and grants than for art. STEAM education takes longer and is more complex than the normal STEM education model.
It can also be the case that many STEM researchers lack motivation for interdisciplinary work related to the humanities, and vice versa. In fact, this was precisely the situation I found myself in when an arts researcher asked me to create something about STEM disciplines that I knew little or no about.
Setting up a show
It took me several tries and a lot of research to get my STEAM-focused game script into its current form.
First, I made some basic discoveries. I learned this there may be a debate on whether art must be incorporated into STEM education. I learned this”“soft sciences” corresponding to psychology If not included in lots of STEM educational models. I lacked experience in most STEM disciplines. And I had a hard time finding a project that inspired me.
But eventually I began working on five one-act plays called “The STEAM Plays: Using the Arts to Talk about STEM.” Each of them focused on the STEAM education category. I wrote the primary version of this system with a chip on my shoulder, attempting to prove that art actually belongs in STEM education.
The tone was defensive and provocative – and never entirely appropriate for the first age range I was specializing in.
The recent, revised version, which hits Michigan elementary schools in fall 2023, features 20 bite-sized comedy scenes and songs that dramatize the integrity of the humanities in lots of STEM fields. These include how engineering skills influence the design of a celebrity’s evening gown, how bakers must know basic chemistry, and the way TikTok’s mathematical algorithms find recent videos for every user.
In each scene, students can see how artistic imagination and inventive considering expand STEM education.
Rob Roznowski
Offstage
These themes emerge from a broader scientific understanding that STEM shouldn’t be done in a vacuum of creativity stimulating students’ artistic considering will help them each in science lessons and within the art room.
One of the show’s plots is about an evil genius who deems art less vital, attempting to keep it away from STEM. He swaps the bodies of a scientist and an actor, in addition to an engineer and a creative author. During each body swap, the STEM skilled and the artist recognize the similarity of their work. In the ultimate scene, the evil genius tries to modify the bodies of Pythagoras and Taylor Swift, but realizes that music is, above all, mathematics.
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Many teachers have given rave reviews. “The performances brilliantly highlighted the importance and value of art in our education system,” noted one in all them. “Students left the category having fun with and with a deeper understanding of how all the various facets of STEAM can work together.
STEAM education by which students acquire soft skills corresponding to empathy, cooperation, emotional intelligence and creativity through art, helps prepare students to enter the job market. These discussions should not limited to K-12 education – many research grants encourage interdisciplinary work.
My understanding of the STEM and STEAM debate and my experience writing, producing, and seeing people’s reactions to my program have helped me understand how essential the humanities are to each student’s education. I learned that without artistic imagination, STEM students’ broader considering skills could be stifled.
All I needed to do was write a kid’s play to get it.
