Empirically, the United States' approach to education has been to specialize its STEM students using almost exclusively STEM focused curriculum in hopes of propelling the country's scientific prowess. However, compared to other nations that utilize more interdisciplinary curriculum, the US has begun to lag behind.
STEAM is a new movement designed to incorporate the arts into students' academics. This contemporary approach to learning is based on the idea that today's students need both natural and creative intelligence in order to be competitive in STEM as it exists in current times. Additionally, there is a belief that integrating STEAM into US curriculum would first, provide a creative outlet for STEM students, second, help to recruit more creatively oriented students into engaging with STEM fields, and third, help students to derive joy from their learning.
The dynamics of juxtaposing artistic, abstract learning with scientific, logical learning makes students more open to developing innovative and diverse solutions to today's most complex issues. By changing US curriculum to give more attention to the arts and how they interact with other areas of knowledge, the United States would significantly increase its capability to serve as the global leader for scientific progress.
Excellent post. I think this might be the way to go with the presentation. Defend STEAM for schools?
ReplyDeleteProbably not, I can't seem to find an official website or any information directly from the STEAM movement.
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