Converting STEM into STEAM Programs: Methods and Examples from and for Education

Arthur J. Stewart · Michael P. Mueller · Deborah J. Tippins

Feb 2020 · Environmental Discourses in Science Education Book 5 · Springer Nature

About this ebook

This book examines the push and pull of factors contributing to and constraining conversion of STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education programs into STEAM (science, technology, engineering, math and arts) education programs. The chapters in this book offer thought-provoking examples, theory, and suggestions about the advantages, methods and challenges involved in making STEM to STEAM conversions, at levels ranging from K12 through graduate university programs. A large driving force for STEM-to-STEAM conversions is the emerging awareness that the scientific workforce finds itself less than ideally prepared when engaging with so-called ‘wicked problems’ – the complex suite of emerging, multifaceted issues such as global climate change, social injustice, and pandemic diseases. Dealing with these issues requires cross-disciplinary expertise and the ability to insert technical and scientific understanding effectively into areas of public planning and policy.

The different models and possibilities for STEAM, as the next phase of the STEM revolution, laid out in this book will promote research and further our understanding of STEAM as a forward-thinking approach to education.

Gillian Roehrig, STEM Education, University of Minnesota, USA

The ideal teacher sees opportunities for integrating ideas from multiple disciplines into every lesson. This book offers many worthwhile suggestions on how to do that deliberately and systematically

George DeBoer, Project 2061 of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, USA

For the last several years, calls for expanding STEM education have grown, but so too have concerns about technocratic approaches to STEM. This volume challenges the community to consider broader views on STEM by focusing on the place of arts education within this movement. The chapters offer much needed, new perspectives on the (re)integration of the arts and sciences

Troy Sadler, School of Education, University of North Carolina, USA

About the author

Arthur J. Stewart of Lenoir City, Tennessee, is a scientist, science educator, and poet. He earned his Ph.D. at Michigan State University in aquatic ecology and worked at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory for 17 years as an ecologist and ecotoxicologist before becoming a science education project manager for Oak Ridge Associated Universities. In addition to publishing over a hundred scientific articles, book chapters, and technical reports, his science-inspired poetry has been published many literary magazines and in more than a dozen anthologies.

Michael P. Mueller is a professor of secondary education with expertise in environmental and science education in the College of Education at the University of Alaska Anchorage. His philosophy now focuses on how privileged cultural thinking frames our relationships with others, including nonhuman species and physical environments. He works with teachers to understand the significance of cultural diversity, biodiversity, and nature’s harmony. He is the coeditor-in-chief of Cultural Studies of Science Education.

Deborah J. Tippins is currently a professor in the Department of Mathematics and Science Education at the University of Georgia. Her scholarly work focuses on encouraging meaningful discourses around environmental justice and sociocultural issues in science education.