AN EDUCATOR'S GUIDE TO STEAM RESOURCES
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
STEAM AND TEACHING WITH STEAM IN THE CLASSROOM by Kenneth Kay PRIMARY SOURCES by Catherine Cooney Adding the letter A for Art and turning STEM into STEAM acknowledges the role of creativity, curiosity, wonder, and beauty in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM). This addition also emphasizes the science, technology, engineering, and math inherent in art. The A takes math facts and uses them to spark theories. It takes practicing scales and transforms them into jazz riffs. The A in STEAM lets students explore unexpected paths and wonder about what might be possible. Primary sources provide rich material to wonder about. Students practice critical thinking and analysis skills through studying these sources by closely observing, reflecting, and asking questions. Art, whether visual art, music, movement, or theater, connects with us emotionally as well as intellectually, and many students naturally engage with the arts on a deep level, allowing their curiosity to lead learning. It is this intrinsic drive that fuels lasting knowledge. Albert Einstein famously said, “I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious.” Add the A to STEM and watch where curiosity leads.
The goal of STEAM is to use cross-curricular experiences and a variety of deep content, combined with discovery through realworld activities, to maximize learning. It allows students to learn from their strengths and improve their weaker skills. This way of learning maximizes the concept of divergent thinking. The arts help make STEM personal. STEAM accentuates experiential, hands-on education. It encourages connection and collaboration. As students seek to solve diverse problems, their creative juices are set in motion by an infusion of arts thinking. Students feel more in charge of what and how they learn.
APPLYING THE LENSES OF STEAM TO TEACHING WITH PRIMARY SOURCES by Trey Smith Teaching with primary sources in classrooms involves inviting students to observe, reflect, and question. Students' noticings and wonderings can spark further investigations. In pursuing these investigations, teachers can support students in applying, both separately and together, the lenses of the sciences, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics. For instance, how might students make sense of a political cartoon about water quality from the perspective of an artist and of a scientist? Additionally, what might students learn about art, engineering, and technology from a historical patent for a wireless communication system inspired by a musical instrument? Primary sources, as artifacts created for real-world audiences and purposes, offer windows into the past and into disciplinary knowledge and practices.
This undated photograph shows Hamilton Hall at the University of the Arts when the school was known as the Philadelphia College of Art. The building was originally part of the Pennsylvania Institution for the Deaf & Dumb.
The University of the Arts, established in 1876, is one of the nation’s only universities dedicated solely to educating students in design, fine arts, media arts, crafts, music, dance, and theater. The University has developed an innovative and flexible approach to developing professional artists, designers, and writers. The University acts as a catalyst for these creative professionals to connect, collaborate, and create across disciplines and traditional boundaries. The Professional + Adult Programs office at the University provides K-12 teachers in the provides professional development programming across subject disciplines and grade levels to K-12 teachers in the regional educational community.
AN EDUCATORS GUIDE TO SOURCES FOR STEAM
SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY ENGINEERING ART MATH
The Teaching with Primary Sources Program at the Library of Congress works with colleges and other educational organizations to deliver professional development programs that help teachers use the Library of Congress’s rich reservoir of digitized primary source materials to design challenging, high-quality instruction. As part of the Teaching with Primary Sources (TPS) Educational Consortium, the University of the Arts creates curricular materials and professional development opportunities for K-12 educators that focus on teaching with primary sources in an arts context to enhance cross-curricular areas in all grade levels. The Professional Institute for Educators at the University of the Arts - Through graduate courses, the Professional Institute for Educators develops innovative and creative educational programming to serve the professional development needs of K-12 teachers in and through the arts. PIE is a recipient of the Pennsylvania State Education Association Seal of Recognition.
Contributors
Image Credits
Erin Elman is Director of the TPS Program at the University of the Arts and Dean of the Division of Continuing Studies at the University of the Arts.
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Catherine Cooney is the Program Coordinator for the TPS Program at the University of the Arts. Kenneth Kay is a UArts TPS Coach and an instructor in the University of the Arts Professional Institute for Educators. His areas of concentration are multimedia, mobile devices, communication, and conflict resolution.
Bell, Alexander Graham. Drawing by Alexander Graham Bell. 1876. The Library of Congress, https:// www.loc.gov/item/magbellbib004331. Back: Historic American Buildings Survey, Creator. Pennsylvania Institution for the Deaf & Dumb, 320 South Broad Street, Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, PA. 1933. Photograph. The Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/pa1043/.
Trey Smith has taught science and social studies in Philadelphia public schools, served as the 2015–16 Science Teacher-in-Residence at the Library of Congress, and is currently pursuing a PhD in the learning sciences at Northwestern University.
The University of the Arts 320 South Broad Street Philadelphia, PA 19102 | 215-717-6006 | tps@uarts.edu
Teaching with Primary Sources Program at the University of the Arts