As STEAM has gained traction in informal education settings, it is important to support educators in learning about and developing STEAM learning experiences. We investigated what STEAM means to informal educators and how it relates to their everyday lives and identities by examining a STEAM objects activity. We found three themes in how the participants talked about the significance of the STEAM objects they shared: connection to land, historicity, and agency of materials. The STEAM objects served as boundary objects that connected communities of practice, showing the integrative nature of
Iteration is a central practice in art and science; however, it has yet to be deeply explored in STEAM learning environments. This study adopts a sociomaterial orientation (Fenwick and Edwards, 2013) to characterize the nature of iteration in one STEAM activity, an Optics Design Challenge, with informal educators. We found that iteration emerged as “microcycles” of interactions, specifically as adjustments, additions, and negotiations in both material artifacts and the narrative.
Materials play an important role in learning. Humans actors use materials in particular ways depending on the context and materials also can shape how human actors use materials. This study explores the dialogical relationship between the participants and materials in suminagashi, a Japanese paper marbling activity. We found that materials that are traditionally thought of as art materials, such as paintbrushes, are used to support practices often considered science practices, such as experimentation.
The integration of Art with Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEAM) has been growing in popularity, however, there are a variety of conceptualizations of what it looks like. This study explores images of STEAM by examining activities created by informal educators. We found that STEAM activities were conceptualized as using one discipline in the service of another, intertwined, or parallel. This provides concrete images of what STEAM can look like in educational settings.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Blakely TsurusakiLaura ConnerCarrie TzouPerrin Teal SullivanMareca GuthriePriya Pugh
resourceresearchProfessional Development, Conferences, and Networks
The ChemAttitudes project recieved supplemental funding to create materials for train-the-trainer workshops in order to inoculate the chemistry outreach community with members who have the knowledge and resources to train others on strategies for stimulating interest, sense of relevance, and feelings of self-efficacy that were tested in the earlier work of the project. The project team recruited participants from minority serving professional organizations as a strategy for broadening participation. Can it work? Did it work?
This poster was presented at the 2021 NSF AISL Awardee Meeting.
This poster was presented at the 2021 NSF AISL Awardee Meeting.
The project is building a nationwide online coaching/mentoring program for out of school educators in rural settings.
This poster was presented at the 2021 NSF AISL Awardee Meeting.
The project scales up an award-winning coaching model:
Informal educators come together in small groups to share videos of their own interactions with youth
A coach helps them share feedback based on their use of key skills (e.g. how to ask youth purposeful questions).
The Polar Literacy (PL) project explores the development and implementation of Out of School Time (OST) learning opportunities focused on polar literacy concepts and authentic data with middle school aged youth. This poster was presented at the 2021 NSF AISL Awardee Meeting.
This project's goal is to advance the field by providing resources that empower STEM educators to design and deliver high-quality connected learning experiences based on relevant research and incorporating evidence-based practices.
This poster was presented at the 2021 NSF AISL Awardee Meeting.