1.2 From STEM to STEAM
Watch
In the video above, Professor Uche Anaduaka introduces the shift from STEM education to STEAM - Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics - and outlines some of the potential benefits and strategies for adding Arts to your STEM teaching. While many will continue to use the term STEM in their programmes and everyday discussion, it's important to appreciate the potential of STEAM to integrate the traditional STEM disciplines together under an umbrella of creativity and critical design-thinking.
Optional: To see how art, creativity, and aesthetics can be included in a mathematics simulation, watch this demonstration on Mathematics Art, presented by Jean Claude Dushimimana in the Demonstration Gallery.
Read
Read the following articles for more information about STEAM education.
STEAM education: Where did it come from?
https://www.h2grandprix.com/steam-education-where-did-it-come-from/t1446
The history and importance of STEAM education
https://www.steamtruck.org/blog/steam-education-history-importance
From STEAM to STEM. The lost A (Art) and why it's important
https://primotoys.com/steam-to-stem-the-importance-of-art/
From STEM to STEAM. An enactive and ecological continuum
https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2021.709560
How schools can encourage STEAM education
https://www.miracle-recreation.com/blog/how-schools-can-encourage-steam-education/
Review
Learn more about how students’ potentials can be unlocked with STEAM Education.
Unlocking the power of STEAM education: How science, technology, engineering, arts, and math can transform learning for future generations
https://littlemedicalschool.com/treasurecoast/steam-education/
Unlocking kids' potential with STEAM education activities
https://1stmakerspace.com/blog/steam-education-activities
Why early STEAM education unlocks the future for all learners
https://www.eschoolnews.com/steam/2025/11/19/why-early-steam-education-unlocks-the-future-for-all-learners/
Explore · optional
Study how to access learning in STEAM education. Check also rubrics as useful assessment tool in STEAM and gain more knowledge about portfolios.
Assessment in STEAM education: How to assess student learning and growth in STEAM subjects
https://21stcenturyed.com/assessment-in-steam-education-how-to-assess-student-learning-and-growth-in-steam-subjects/
Rubrics: Useful assessment tool
https://uwaterloo.ca/centre-for-teaching-excellence/catalogs/tip-sheets/rubrics-useful-assessment-tool
What are portfolios?
https://pdo.ascd.org/lmscourses/PD11OC107/media/Assessm_Portfolios_M1_Reading_What_Are_Portfolios01.pdf
Self-assessment
https://teaching.cornell.edu/teaching-resources/assessment-evaluation/self-assessment
Peer assessment
https://teaching.cornell.edu/teaching-resources/assessing-student-learning/peer-assessment
Respond
It's one thing to adopt a STEAM approach to your teaching; it's another thing to adopt STEAM for solving real-world challenges in your daily life. Here you'll get to choose between these two, applying the STEAM approach to frame a concept in your teaching discipline or to try to solve a real-world problem in your community.
As usual, you'll also be asked to review some of the posts by others and respond to at least one dealing with a concept or community issue that's either similar or different from your own. Click the button below to get started.