The Future is STEAM
In a world where luxury is in the palm of our hands, it seems that the information that we are looking for is even further away than we ever imagined it could become. Since the invention of the Internet, humanity’s hurried transformation into a global society reliant on Tik Toks and Twitter have left us with a dilemma—we have forgotten how to apply knowledge given to us. With so much luxury being integrated into our daily lives, we seem to have forgotten that integrating more science and art in education earlier brought the opportunity for children to learn effectively and bring balance to both impoverished neighborhoods and rural America. As a united society, we must continue implementing science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics (STEAM), including computer science in early education to promote executive thinking, inspire evaluation of information, trigger innovative thought, and encourage children to pursue higher education. Therefore, in appreciating the significance and importance of technological advancements and development in the current century, this paper aims to analyze STEAM and its impact in transforming the world around us.
Implementing technology in learning is useful in inspiring the evaluation of new data and allowing students to discover further information in creative ways. Markedly, when we encourage students to challenge themselves by learning about technologies and analog systems early on, they learn the habit of discovering ideas. According to Riley (2020), STEAM entails an educational approach to learning, which employs the use of Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts, alongside Mathematics as access points for guiding students’ inquiry, dialogue, and critical thinking. In a study designed to prove this strategy, it was concluded that students benefit from the integration of new technologies because “they are not bounded to the limited curriculum and resources. Instead, hands-on activities in a technology-based course are designed to help them to stimulate their understanding of the subject” (Ghavifekr & Rosdy, 2015, p. 176). Not only does this mean that old information can be placed in present-day context with the seemingly infinite amount of information available to us, but both teachers and scholars can thoroughly evaluate old technologies, new technologies, and derive the significance of the development of our frameworks.
Moreover, Ghavifekr & Rosdy (2015) connote that the integration of technology, “helps students to learn more effectively besides enabling them to find related knowledge and information for learning… The technology always acts as a medium for students to find related knowledge and information for their learning” (p.183). In other words, by preparing students to master the skill of executive thought and evaluating technology earlier in their lives, we are gifting them the most powerful tool in the world and creating new pathways for possibly a better future for our planet.
Accordingly, the future of education is not only dependent on making appropriate use of the technology we are so lucky to have today but instead counts on the mixture of STEAM in the lives of our students. Encouraging students to take STEAM programs tends to trigger innovative thought by provoking students to connect the concepts within engineering and computer science to subjects of chemistry, mathematics, and art, among others. Nevertheless, acts of making the connection between analog and digital ways, making sense of our physical world, and—in the same manner—discovering the spirit through art can reverse human nature’s tendency to forget the importance of wisdom and history. For instance, a study performed by NSF showed that 2-year-olds exposed to STEAM-related subjects in schools demonstrated even stronger cognitive skills like receptive vocabulary, expressive language, listening comprehension, spatial comprehension, and early counting growing up compared to students who lacked that exposure. (National Science Foundation, 2014). This is a clear example that exposing children to the tools which assist in faster comprehension of our current sciences, pieces of literature, and arts and will enhance the hidden ideas and potentials inside the minds of the new generations in a way we’ve known past generations to be able to. A learning environment that mimics conditions of self-reliance while also requiring skills like observation, prediction, experimentation, and problem-solving in early childhood and elementary-level learning builds the same skills that children acquire when practicing how to read—but even more so, and it’s fun. Hence, children enjoy school, and retention rates are sure to increase.
The joint statement made in schools today is that children dislike subjects such as mathematics, computer technology, and anything because they require memorization of formulas or executive thought or, even more, a certain mentality. On the contrary, research has proven this to be false. Remarkably, STEAM subjects are so vast that they almost cater to students in that they allow for all types of learning methods to be taught. Church, who claims art encourages students to pursue higher education in scientific inquiry and other liberal studies, says, “CIVITAS research has shown that specific artistic enrichment modalities stimulate specific parts of the brain. For example, the base or brain stem responds to touch; the midbrain to music-making and movement; the limbic region to dance, art, play therapy, and nature discovery; and the cortical region to art, storytelling, drama, and writing,”(Church, 2020, n.p). This research shows that it does not necessarily matter what is being taught, but rather how it is being taught. STEAM courses are unique in that they require all parts of the brain to work in unison, meanwhile requiring specific elements to be worked on individually if need be.
An example of this would be precision between subjects like computer science, graphic art, and literary composition. Notably, science courses in kindergarten and elementary education are also fundamental in helping children explore their minds while understanding more about the world around them. Thus it’s not rocket science that subjects on engineering and technology should also be included because they are immensely necessary for understanding the mind and the universe.
Subsequently, no subject is meant for everyone. However, regardless of grading methods and teaching methods, STEAM courses are a necessary approach to promoting the development of decision-making minds, the achievement of higher education, new innovative philosophies, and the creation and discovery of information. This doesn’t mean that all students need to take Physics, for example— and maybe that should be brought up to boards of education across the country—but the encouragement of STEAM learning early on in our schools will turn our country into a new generation of leaders. The future of our country would bear leaders who can enjoy things like play therapy in their computer science courses in 4th grade. Innovators and inventors who were thankful that they didn’t need to spend hours looking for information because they were given the technology to discover it faster, or maybe even politicians. The latter knew that, by 7th grade, chemistry and art had a lot more in common than their parents did. These are the citizens of tomorrow unless we stop restricting ourselves, including our children, from access to information right in front of our noses. If we genuinely dream for our children to have a better future, we must first realize that the dream begins with STEAM.
References
Ghavifekr, S. & Rosdy, W.A.W. (2015). Teaching and learning with technology: Effectiveness of ICT integration in schools. International Journal of Research in Education and Science (IJRES), 1(2), 175-191. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1105224.pdf
Riley, S. (2020). What is STEAM Education? Education Closet. Retrieved June 15, 2020, from https://educationcloset.com/what-is-steam-education-in-k-12-schools/
National Science Foundation (2014). STEM Education Data. Retrieved June 15, 2020, from https://nsf.gov/nsb/sei/edTool/index.html
Church, E. B. (2020). Learning Through the Arts. Retrieved June 15, 2020, from https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/articles/teaching-content/learning-through-arts/