The world around us is changing rapidly and there’s no doubt that the education process should keep up with it. With the world getting more complex than ever, students must be exposed to interdisciplinary teaching processes such as STEAM, to give them a composite and integral education. Now, what is STEAM?
What is STEAM education?
STEAM is a relatively new educational concept, so you might be wondering, what is STEAM? STEAM is an acronym which stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math. Contrary to what the name might suggest, STEAM is not merely a compilation or assembling of these five academic fields. STEAM is an educational concept in which the approach to teach and learn STEM subjects is through the arts. Therefore, it refers to an intentional integration of academic studies with art disciplines such as dance, visual art, theatre, and music.
How is STEAM education beneficial?
STEAM education is a multi-layered education process, which comes with a lot of benefits for students.
- Students are exposed to creative processes: STEAM activities combine different aspects of all the five academic fields, which help students to ask a lot of guided thoughtful questions, find out the answers, apply their learning to solve problems creatively.
- Students learn to collaborate meaningfully and solve problems uniquely: STEAM activities often involve teamwork where students collaborate to exchange ideas and discuss problem-solving methods. STEAM encompasses a lot of fields, hence every student has some strength in at least one aspect of any of the fields, and does not feel left out.
- Students learn to think critically: In STEAM projects, students are required to think through problems in a systematic manner and apply the information they’ve learned about technology to find out the best solutions by critical thinking. STEAM projects are often cross-curricular, therefore the students are made to exercise different parts of the brain at the same time, increasing critical thinking abilities.
- Students are encouraged to explore STEM fields by getting hands-on learning experiences: STEAM projects increase interest in students in STEM fields by offering them a chance to engage in hands-on learning, using different tools and materials.
- Students learn to value the arts: Through STEAM projects the students realize the variety of the arts and their integral importance in the products of STEM fields. The students engage better with the academic fields when they are approached through artistic mediums such as music and visual arts.
Want to know more about what is STEAM education? Please visit https://www.makeblock.com/.
