TEACHING RESOURCES |
STEAM
Full STEAM ahead for 21st century citizens The world is rapidly changing, and it is widely acknowledged that 21st century citizens and workers will increasingly require skills that many schoolleavers and graduates don’t currently possess, most especially in maths and science, and in the ability to apply knowledge to solve the ever-evolving demands of modern life.
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into the established science- and maths-orientated subject areas. Prompted by a desired to allow greater access to STEM for all types of learners, the inclusion of Arts provides opportunities for educators and students to use Arts principles and practices, such as communication and expression, in their otherwise technically-focused teaching and learning. A key aim here is to produce well-rounded and wellgrounded global citizens for the coming century.
Most teachers will already be familiar with the education system’s response to this challenge: STEM – an integrated approach to the teaching of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, aimed at developing students’ skills in critical thinking, problem solving, creativity, innovation, communication, collaboration and entrepreneurship.
Nevertheless, the new STEAM still reflects the existing STEM ethos, particularly in its commitment to providing motivating, engaging and realworld contexts in which students can acquire and apply meaningful mathematical and scientific skills and understanding. Teaching methods continue to be enquirybased and student-centred, with teamwork and communication a major focus.
Yet with the pace of the technological revolution becoming even hotter, STEM has now morphed into STEAM through incorporating the Arts
School News has asked four industry experts to provide their perspective on how the various elements of STEAM could or should be used in schools.
schoolnews Term 1 - 2018
Industry perspectives Julie Baker, education manager from the Museum of Transport and Technology (MOTAT) in Auckland, provides a historical perspective of technology in schools, and emphasises the importance of “keeping it real” Remember the 1990s, when computers were the new thing in schools? We all got excited about the need for students to learn how to use the new technology, we collected shopping receipts and cashed them in for computing hardware, we housed our shiny hardware in specialised computer rooms and timetabled our students to learn about trackball mice and Excel spreadsheets. It took us a while to get our heads around the difference between Technology in Education (learning about the computer) and Educational Technology (using the computer for learning), but when we eventually did we took the computer from the pedestal we had created for it, dis-established computer rooms and relegated computers to being just another a tool for learning. We changed the focus from learning about the
computer to learning with the computer. This progression wasn’t a wasted journey for us, the process we went through was necessary for us to gain knowledge of the computer itself while developing an understanding of its potential to revolutionise education and learning. The journey was as important as arriving at the destination. When I look at what we are currently doing with robotics and coding, I think we are in a similar situation. At this early stage, we’re a bit dazzled by the novelty and the challenge of learning about robotics – for example, what code needs to be written to navigate our shiny robot around the maze, to make it turn at precisely the right point, to turn on the lights and sound effects? We need to spend a bit of time playing with the hardware as this is a necessary part of gaining knowledge and developing our understanding. We’re at the start of our journey, figuring out the nuts and bolts, making our first stuttering attempts at speaking the language, mastering the rules and conventions.
