STEAM Practices

Our team has developed a specific approach to STEAM by offering STEAM activities to youth over the course of 5 years, and researching the outcomes.  Based on our work, we think about STEAM as more than just teaching art and science together. Our approach focuses on designing and teaching with a set of what we refer to as “STEAM practices” in order to engage students in meaningful and impactful work.

We believe, and research has shown, that when STEAM activities are designed with intention and care, that they can lower barriers to engaging in science and art, stimulate creativity, and allow students to deeply connect to science and art practices.

The STEAM practices encourage learners to use multiple modes of inquiry to understand and create the world around them, while fostering identity connections and a STEAM mindset to deepen learning. 

Core STEAM Practices

1. Engage in close observation

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Engaging in close observation is a core practice of both art and STEM inquiry. Through close observation learners notice patterns, discover connections, and raise questions to better understand the observed object or phenomenon.


Personal Meaning

2. Focus on personal meaning

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Focusing on personal meaning helps learners connect with the concepts that are being explored, by personalizing STEAM for themselves. Although learners may create a product in a STEAM activity, it is important for them to focus on, and engage fully in, the process of creating rather than just the product itself. This helps promote self-compassion and reduces self judgment about the outcome.


Open Exploration

3. Conduct open exploration 

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Open exploration allows learners to test and work through their own ideas, rather than following a set of instructions that came from someone else. This is a very powerful way for learners to connect with, and take ownership of, the STEM and art concepts and practices that they are participating in.


Design with Intention

4. Design with intention

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Intentionality, or deliberate and purposeful thought and action, is essential in both art and STEM. It is how we apply our observations, knowledge, and skills to systematically probe new ideas or ask new questions.  In STEAMintentionality includes making deliberate choices about the use of tools and practices from both art and STEM, as well as choices about medium, technique, and composition in support of a creative vision.


5. Iterate 

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Iteration, or the act of revision and refinement of solutions based on the outcomes of previous tests, is another fundamental practice shared by both art and STEM. When learners use this practice in their own work, they can refine their understanding of concepts and practices by iterating through several ideas, drafts, prototypes, or models. Allowing learners to iterate their designs also keeps them actively engaged in the process of art and science, rather than focusing only on the outcome.


Communicate

6. Communicate about process and outcomes

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Communicating about the process and outcome of STEAM activities allows learners to cross-pollinate ideas and learn from each other, as well as illustrate their competence and share innovations. Feeling like an emerging expert, and being acknowledged as such by others, is a potent avenue for building identification with STEM and art.  


Printable Core STEAM Practices document (1 page PDF)

Barriers to Engaging in Art and Science

STEAM has the potential to lower barriers to engaging in science and art, stimulate creativity, and allow learners to deeply connect to science and art. So what are some of these barriers? This video discusses some of the common barriers youth face when engaging with science and art.


Example STEAM Activity

This video is from a STEAM activity we conducted with a group of upper elementary and middle school-aged girls. In this activity, learners engage in the core STEAM practices while using chemistry to create multi-colored palettes for watercolor painting.

Learners started out by engaging in open exploration of what happens when you mix acids and bases with indicators, in this case, red cabbage extract (Open exploration in context of science and art). Red cabbage extract is an interesting substance. It changes color depending on whether it is mixed with something acidic, like vinegar, or basic, like baking soda. This is why it is called an indicator– it indicates the pH.The learners were trying out concepts and “messing around” in a way that was learner driven, rather than prescribed by the instructor.As they worked, facilitators prompted them to communicate with each other and share their observations, techniques, innovations, and discoveries as they experimented with the material and process (Open exploration in context of science and art; Communicating about process and outcomes). Learners then continued to experiment and created their own color palette based on the science observations they made (Engaging in close observation). Artists often create their own tools and alter raw or existing materials…so, these learners were able to use a genuine art practice that came out of science exploration. Learners then iterated their designs based on further exploration (Designing with intention, Iteration). The result of this exploration was a piece of science/art work that had personal or aesthetic value to the learner (Focus on  personal meaning). At the end of the activity, the group gathered together to communicate about their experiments. Learners shared their finished artwork and articulated design choices, described discoveries, and asked each other questions about how specific results were achieved. They shared their responses about the artwork, such as what they thought was successful artistically, and what could be changed to strengthen the intended outcome (Communicating about process and outcomes).

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alternate layout stuff, ignore!

1. Engage in close observation

Engaging in close observation is a core practice of both art and STEM inquiry. Through close observation learners notice patterns, discover connections, and raise questions to better understand the observed object or phenomenon.

Personal Meaning

2. Focus on personal meaning

Focusing on personal meaning helps learners connect with the concepts that are being explored, by personalizing STEAM for themselves. Although learners may create a product in a STEAM activity, it is important for them to focus on, and engage fully in, the process of creating rather than just the product itself. This helps promote self-compassion and reduces self judgment about the outcome.

Open Exploration

3. Conduct open exploration 

Open exploration allows learners to test and work through their own ideas, rather than following a set of instructions that came from someone else. This is a very powerful way for learners to connect with, and take ownership of, the STEM and art concepts and practices that they are participating in.

Design with Intention

4. Design with intention

Intentionality, or deliberate and purposeful thought and action, is essential in both art and STEM. It is how we apply our observations, knowledge, and skills to systematically probe new ideas or ask new questions.  In STEAMintentionality includes making deliberate choices about the use of tools and practices from both art and STEM, as well as choices about medium, technique, and composition in support of a creative vision.

5. Iterate 

Iteration, or the act of revision and refinement of solutions based on the outcomes of previous tests, is another fundamental practice shared by both art and STEM. When learners use this practice in their own work, they can refine their understanding of concepts and practices by iterating through several ideas, drafts, prototypes, or models. Allowing learners to iterate their designs also keeps them actively engaged in the process of art and science, rather than focusing only on the outcome.

Communicate

6. Communicate about process and outcomes

Communicating about the process and outcome of STEAM activities allows learners to cross-pollinate ideas and learn from each other, as well as illustrate their competence and share innovations. Feeling like an emerging expert, and being acknowledged as such by others, is a potent avenue for building identification with STEM and art.  


Barriers to Engaging in Art and Science

Example STEAM Activity

The following video is from a STEAM activity we conducted with a group of upper elementary and middle school-aged girls. In this activity, learners engage in the core STEAM practices while using chemistry to create multi-colored palettes for watercolor painting. The following video is from a STEAM activity we conducted with a group of upper elementary and middle school-aged girls. In this activity, learners engage in the core STEAM practices while using chemistry to create multi-colored palettes for watercolor painting.

Learners started out by engaging in open exploration of what happens when you mix acids and bases with indicators, in this case, red cabbage extract (Open exploration in context of science and art). Red cabbage extract is an interesting substance. It changes color depending on whether it is mixed with something acidic, like vinegar, or basic, like baking soda. This is why it is called an indicator– it indicates the pH.The learners were trying out concepts and “messing around” in a way that was learner driven, rather than prescribed by the instructor.As they worked, facilitators prompted them to communicate with each other and share their observations, techniques, innovations, and discoveries as they experimented with the material and process (Open exploration in context of science and art; Communicating about process and outcomes). Learners then continued to experiment and created their own color palette based on the science observations they made (Engaging in close observation). Artists often create their own tools and alter raw or existing materials…so, these learners were able to use a genuine art practice that came out of science exploration. Learners then iterated their designs based on further exploration (Designing with intention, Iteration). The result of this exploration was a piece of science/art work that had personal or aesthetic value to the learner (Focus on  personal meaning). At the end of the activity, the group gathered together to communicate about their experiments. Learners shared their finished artwork and articulated design choices, described discoveries, and asked each other questions about how specific results were achieved. They shared their responses about the artwork, such as what they thought was successful artistically, and what could be changed to strengthen the intended outcome (Communicating about process and outcomes).