Journal for Learning through the Arts A Research Journal on Arts Integration in Schools and Communities · 2016 · 53 citations · 7 references
EducationInstructionScience EducationElementary Science EducationScience InstructionStem EducationArts IntegrationEngineering EducationIntegrated Stem EducationStem Conceptual UnderstandingStem CurriculumStem IntegrationArts-integrated ScienceElementary Integrated Stem EducationNext Generation Science StandardsPhysical Science IntegrationQuasi-experimental BaselineSteam EducationSteam Integration In MathematicsStem Lesson Design
The Next Generation Science Standards emphasize engineering in K‑12 STEM, prompting educators to debate adding arts and proposing STEAM curricula while warning that such integration could weaken STEM instruction. The study aimed to test whether arts integration helps upper‑elementary students conceptualize unseen phenomena and to assess the impact of STEAM lessons on physical science learning in grades 3‑5. Ten high‑poverty elementary schools were randomly selected as treatment sites and divided into two cohorts, and a quasi‑experimental design was used to compare STEAM lessons with a STEM‑only curriculum. Students who received STEAM lessons showed greater improvement on physical science benchmark assessments than those who received a STEM‑only curriculum.
The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) have brought a stronger emphasis on engineering into K-12 STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) instruction. Introducing the design process used in engineering into science classrooms simulated a dialogue among some educators about adding the arts to the mix. This led to proposals for a STEAM (STEM + arts) curriculum, as well as warnings that integrating the arts would weaken STEM instruction. The study summarized in this article tested the hypothesis that the arts might provide upper-elementary students, who were still concrete thinkers, with a powerful means of envisioning phenomena that they could not directly observe. This study investigated the impact of STEAM lessons on physical science learning in grades 3 to 5. Ten out of the 55 high-poverty (Title 1) elementary schools in a large urban district were randomly chosen as treatment schools and divided into two cohorts. Using a quasi-experimental design that holds general student scientific achievement constant, the study found that students exposed to the STEAM lessons demonstrated greater improvement on physical science benchmark assessments than students exposed to a STEM-only physical science curriculum.
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Academic Language and the Challenge of Reading for Learning About Science
Catherine E. Snow · Science · 2010 · 567 citations