Using an iSTEAM project-based learning model for technology senior high school students: Design, development, and evaluation

TLDR

The study aimed to integrate imagination into STEAM education by designing a wearable‑device‑for‑pets course for senior high school technology students and to assess its effects on students’ imagination, STEAM competences, and learning satisfaction. Using a design‑research approach, 40 third‑year students were randomly assigned to eight groups for an 18‑week course, with data collected via questionnaires, peer evaluation, pre‑ and post‑tests, and self‑report surveys to evaluate the proposed iSTEAM integration model. The iSTEAM model produced moderate to high positive correlations between imagination integration, work quality, and students’ application of learning, significantly boosting imagination, STEAM competences, and learning satisfaction, and offers a framework for educators to develop and assess iSTEAM courses.

Abstract

Abstract The purposes of this study were to integrate imagination and STEAM education to construct a special topic course on wearable devices for pets for technology senior high school students studying electronic science; to explore the impacts of the learning process on students’ imagination, STEAM competences and satisfaction with learning effectiveness; and to investigate the integration of imagination into STEAM education. This study adopted the design research method and took 40 students in the third year of a special topic course in electronic science at a technology senior high school as the research subjects. The students were randomly divided into 8 groups, and teaching activities were carried out for 18 weeks. This study used questionnaire and documentary analysis methods to carry out peer evaluation, pretests, posttests and student self-report surveys to collect qualitative and quantitative data for statistical analysis and cross-validation. In this study, a new integration model of imagination and STEAM is proposed. The design research method was employed to plan the iSTEAM course and design special topic activities about real-life issues so that the degree of integration of imagination into the STEAM special topic course and the quality of the students’ work were moderately positively correlated and highly positively correlated, respectively, with students’ application of their learning from various aspects of iSTEAM, which can significantly enhance their imagination, STEAM competences, and satisfaction with their learning effectiveness. The iSTEAM teaching model can help engineering educators develop and evaluate iSTEAM courses and learning activities and provides new contributions to and research directions for STEAM education.