Computational thinking: Enhancing STEAM and engineering education, from theory to practice

Integrated STEAM education in South Korea is an approach to preparing a quality STEM workforce and literate citizens for highly technology-based society. Through a literature review, this study examined the STEAM education initiative in South Korea and investigated its effects on learning and teaching. Studies in South Korea found that teacher professional development courses increased teachers’ recognition of the initiative as well as their confidence in teaching STEAM. Teacher interviews showed that coaching in classroom practices within teachers’ professional development was helpful. Although studies reported that many science teachers adopted STEAM in science teaching, there was a lack of research on how teachers taught STEAM lessons, let alone the connections between teachers’ perceptions of STEAM and their classroom practices. As for STEAM effects on student learning, a number of meta-analyses showed that students’ experiences with STEAM were effective in both cognitive and affective learning. The effect was higher in affective domains. Interviews with college students who had STEAM experiences in grade school showed that the effects could be long-term. The meta-analysis studies failed to identify significant mediating factors, which required further in-depth research on how contextual variables function in student learning. This paper provides a glimpse of what can be achieved through STEAM efforts, and what should be further researched for better theory and practice.

This session is a follow up to the Research on STEAM Teaching and Learning Workshop that was held May, 11, 2018 and sponsored by the George Mason University Office of Research. Workshop participants and those not able to attend the workshop are invited to join this session for lightning talk networking session for those interested in STEAM Education Research efforts at Mason. Join us as we identify opportunities to collaborate and explore bold and innovative visions for STEAM teaching and learning research at Mason through a STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics) education research networking session. Several (8-10) faculty from a diverse set of programs will share 1-2 minute "lightning" descriptions of their STEAM teaching and learning research interests. Sharing of interests will be followed by time for open networking to help colleagues identify overlapping interests and opportunities to work together. Session participants will become more familiar with the diversity STEAM teaching and learning research taking place on campus and will be able to identify existing projects of interest, as well as potential collaborators for new ideas. ______________________________________________________________ FULL ABSTRACT: This session is a follow up to the Research on STEAM Teaching and Learning Workshop that was held May, 11, 2018 and sponsored by the George Mason University Office of Research. Workshop participants and those not able to attend the workshop are invited to join this session for lightning talk networking session for those interested in STEAM Education Research efforts at Mason. Join us as we identify opportunities to collaborate and explore bold and innovative visions for STEAM teaching and learning research at Mason through a STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics) education research networking session. Several (8-10) faculty from a diverse set of programs will share 1-2 minute "lightning" descriptions of their STEAM teaching and learning research interests. Sharing of interests will be followed by time for open networking to help colleagues identify overlapping interests and opportunities to work together. By the end of this session participants will be able to name 3 potential collaborators for their teaching and learning projects. Presenter list: Carley Fisher-Maltese Margret Hjalmarson Kimberly Holmes Adam Winsler Jaime Lester

Introduction: Scopus is a bibliographic database recognized globally for its breadth and depth, and plays a vital role in identifying research trends in education, particularly in the STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) approach. Its vast collection of scientific articles, journals, conferences and patents provides researchers with access to a wide and diverse range of relevant studies. Scopus' ability to provide a comprehensive and up-to-date view of the development and implementation of the STEAM approach is crucial. Methodology: Using advanced bibliometric search and analysis tools, researchers can identify emerging patterns, evaluate pedagogical methodologies, and recognize areas that require further attention. In addition, Scopus facilitates the detection of international collaborations and the identification of leaders in STEAM research, allowing educators and policymakers to make decisions based on solid evidence and current trends. Results: In this bibliometric analysis of publications in Scopus between 2010 and 2024, the terms Educational approach STEAM, STEAM approach and STEAM were used as search metadata, yielding 254,303 results. After applying filters, 263 documents directly related to STEAM were selected. The results, analyzed using Vosviewer, revealed six affinity clusters based on keyword recurrence. Terms associated with STEAM include transdisciplinarity, instructional design, pedagogy, and technology. STEAM education is linked to teacher education, computational thinking, and art education. STEM relates to science and educational robotics. Primary education encompasses preschool and secondary education, comprehensive education, and inquiry-based design. Less frequently, the nodes education and teaching are associated with curriculum, science education, motivation, and pedagogical methods. Conclusion: This keyword analysis demonstrates the wide range of competencies and terms associated with STEAM, providing valuable information for identifying key competencies in this educational approach.

This study explores the evolving concept of STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) education and its implementation through India’s Atal Tinkering Labs (ATLs) in alignment with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. The primary objectives are to examine learners’ perceptions of STEM and STEAM, identify key elements and challenges in implementing STEAM education, assess its significance through ATLs, and propose strategic recommendations. Adopting a qualitative, descriptive research methodology, this study relies entirely on secondary data sources including academic literature, government policy documents, and ATL implementation reports. The findings highlight a positive shift in educational discourse toward interdisciplinary and hands-on learning, with STEAM education offering enhanced opportunities for creativity, critical thinking, and 21st-century skill development. However, the study also uncovers challenges such as lack of teacher training, infrastructural deficiencies, socio-economic barriers, and limited awareness, especially among rural and female students. The conclusion underscores that integrating STEAM education via ATLs can bridge the gap between theoretical and practical knowledge, fostering holistic development. For its effective implementation, systemic support, i teacher capacity building, and community awareness are essential. This study contributes policy-relevant insights and pedagogical strategies for mainstreaming STEAM education in Indian schools.

Mobile messaging surged as a teaching aid during and after the COVID-19 lockdowns, yet its evidence base in integrated science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics (STEAM) education remains fragmented. Guided by Arksey-O’Malley and Joanna Briggs Institute scoping protocols, this review systematically searched Web of Science, Scopus, and ERIC for peer-reviewed articles published between 2020 and 2024 that embedded WhatsApp in STEAM learning. Twenty-one studies satisfied the requirements. Seventy-two percent of the applications were for math or science, and there weren’t many for engineering, technology, or, especially, the arts. This shows a clear imbalance between the fields. Most of the studies were short, cross-sectional, or qualitative; only four used experimental or longitudinal designs. Most of the reported benefits were in problem-solving, working together, and grasping concepts. The impact sizes were moderate, and there wasn’t much testing of higher-order skills like creativity, design thinking, and creative expression. Low data costs and user familiarity made it easy for people to start using it quickly, but too many messages, privacy problems, and exhaustion from interacting with too many people–especially in groups with more than fifty members–threatened long-term use. There was still not much evidence on fairness, ethics, and long-term learning. The review suggests (1) broadening the focus of the disciplines to include engineering, technology, and the arts, (2) using stronger, more complex research designs, (3) incorporating validated tools that measure advanced STEAM skills, and (4) including clear privacy and ethics guidelines to support long-lasting, scalable practice. The results together lay out a study plan for moving mobile instant messaging applications, such as WhatsApp, from being used as a one-off pilot to making strong, balanced contributions to STEAM teaching.

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to examine science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics (STEAM) efforts at Florida Atlantic University’s (FAU) John D. MacArthur Campus Library (JDM) to share methodologies and ideas with other academic libraries. Recently, there has been an emphasis on and push for science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education in colleges and universities across the USA as a means for training future work forces and for remaining competitive in global job markets (Land, 2013). FAU in South Florida is a big proponent of STEM and STEAM education (Florida Atlantic University, 2012; Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, 2013).Design/methodology/approach– As many librarians and outreach staff strive to remain relevant to their faculty and students with changing technologies (Drewes and Hoffman, 2010), the FAU JDM outreach staff have developed several novel programs that are geared toward the STEAM initiative.Findings– The Library Outreach Committee at FAU was committed to investigating how they could advance student success through visual arts programming. How can the library help contribute to STEAM education for the students and learning community as a whole? How can the library engage art students? Can the library promote dialogue in arts to the faculty and staff, regardless of their disciplines? This article will describe and discuss the various art outreach programs that the JDM has tested and their outcomes addressing goals toward STEAM education and academic libraries.Originality/value– The objective in sharing the experiences at the JDM is to spark new and successful program ideas at other academic libraries across the country and abroad and create knowledge in this relatively new area.

Recently, there has been growing interest in STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) education, as it provides diverse skills needed for economic development. Therefore, in this paper, it is examined 22 published articles on STEAM education from 2016 to 2020, corresponding to studies carried out in the Asia-Pacific region. The review found different research studies done in preschool, as well as primary and secondary schools. It is discussed the current characteristics and challenges of STEAM education in relation to its interdisciplinary educational approach. These studies demonstrate that efforts have been made to implement a STEAM curriculum in the education system.

STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) education has been increasingly recognized as an effective approach for developing students academic performance, learning skills and 21st-century competencies. While STEAM initiatives are commonly implemented within formal school settings, there is limited empirical evidence regarding the impact of non-formal STEAM education supporting students success at school, espeacilly in North Macedonia. This study presents an empirical case study of a non-formal STEAM education program implemented at the SkyLab Education Center. Using a mixed-methods research design all the data were collected through surveys administered to students and parents in GoogleForms at SkyLab Education center. Quantitative data examined perceived changes in learning skills, academic confidence and school performance especially in science field and technology while qualitative responses provided deeper insight into students and parents experiences. The findings indicate that participation in STEAM-based activities contributes to improved problem-solving skills, higher learning motivation, increased self-confidence and better engagement with school subjects. Parents reported positive changes in students academic behavior, responsibility and interest in learning. This study contributes empirical evidence supporting the role of STEAM education as an effective approach for enhancing students school performance and highlights the importance of non-formal learning environments as a valuable complement to formal educationwith potential for gradual integration into formal school systems.

STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics) education has recently been encouraged and attracted much national attention. This qualitative study aimed to conduct a thematic analysis of college student STEAM open responses to provide an examination of college students’ perceptions of their STEAM experiences into the STEAM field. Based on transformative learning theory, a thematic analysis of 756 written responses to seven prompts by 108 college student participants revealed three primary themes: (1) exciting and challenging difficulties, and transdisciplinary learning in STEAM; (2) STEAM learning of gradual process, problem-oriented instruction, and creative problem solving; and (3) metacognition development in STEAM. The findings revealed that undergraduates’ STEAM perceptions provide strong support for STEAM implementation to enhance teaching effectiveness in higher education.

Background More and more research has recently focused on STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) education, especially early childhood education. To the best of our knowledge, no review studies have focused on theoretical frameworks, the details of learning activities, assessment methods, outcomes, and challenges that educators encounter in early childhood education (ECE) settings. Purpose This study reports a scoping review of the literature on the characteristics of STEAM in early childhood education, synthesizing empirical studies on STEAM in ECE to understand how STEAM has been taught at the ECE level and to inform future STEAM curriculum development. Methods The electronic databases used for the literature search included Scopus and Web of Science. A total of 26 articles on STEAM in early childhood education published from 2017 to 2023. Results and Conclusion This study analysed 26 articles and found that (1) most studies adopted the frameworks provided by global educational initiatives or more local educational policy frameworks to inform their research purpose and design for promoting STEAM to develop student’s learning skills; (2) most studies used technologically enhanced learning, followed by inquiry project-based learning; (3) the learning outcomes included knowledge gain, skill acquisition by children, and attitude changes by teachers and parents; (4) mixed-research designs were most commonly used, followed by qualitative designs; and (5) the significant challenges of STEAM education in ECE settings include limited pedagogical content knowledge, negative attitudes towards teaching STEAM, and insufficient teaching guidelines and resources. This study also provides recommendations for educators and future research directions for researchers.

This chapter analyzes the impact of personalized learning on student engagement and achievement within the context of STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics) education. Personalized learning, a pedagogical strategy that tailors instructional methods and resources to the unique needs, talents, and interests of individual learners, has gained popularity as a means to create deeper engagement and better educational outcomes. This chapter dives into the theoretical underpinnings of individualized learning and evaluates its potential to change established teaching approaches in STEAM education. The chapter illustrates how individualized learning practices, assisted by adaptive technologies, promote active involvement and higher levels of accomplishment among students. Through case studies and examples, this research gives insights into how individualized learning might define the future of STEAM instruction, ensuring that students not only meet academic standards but also develop the skills necessary for innovation and creativity in the 21st century.

“STEAM education,” with its addition of “arts” to STEM subjects, is a complex and contested concept. On the one hand, STEAM builds upon the economic drivers that characterize STEM: an alignment of disciplinary areas that allegedly have the greatest impact on a developed country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). On the other hand, the addition of the arts may point to the recovery of educational aims and purposes that exceed economic growth: for example, by embracing social inclusion, community participation, or sustainability agendas. Central to understanding the different educational opportunities offered by STEAM is the interrogation of the role—and status—of the arts in relation to STEM subjects. The term “art” or “arts” may refer, for example, to the arts as realms/domains of knowledge, such as the humanities and social science disciplines, or to different ways of knowing and experiencing the world enabled by specific art forms, practices, or even pedagogies. In the face of such variety and possibilities, STEAM is a portmanteau term, hosting approaches that originate from different reconfigurations or iterative reconfiguring of disciplinary relationships. A critical discussion of the term “STEAM” will thus require an analysis of published literature alongside a review and discussion of ongoing practices in multiple field(s), which are shaped by and respond to a variety of policy directions and cultural traditions. The outcome is a multilayered and textured account of the limitations and possibilities for and relational understandings of STEAM education.

The graphics calculator (GC) is a hand-held technology. With it, students visualize and understand concepts in mathematics and science better. It also allows them to make real-world connections, binding together advanced graphing functionality and conceptual science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics (STEAM). As they gain a deeper understanding of abstract concepts, they acquire creative and critical thinking and problem- solving skills they need to reach greater academic successes. In learning, GC plays several roles in increasing students’ computational thinking and procedural skills. Despite being a learning tool that satisfies science and mathematics curriculum needs, the calculator often has been used as an add-on to traditional teaching methodology rather than central and in more integrated ways. This study looks into the potential of developing computational thinking skills using GC technology. The data of the study was obtained from secondary sources through a systematic review method. The study showed that GC seems to be effective tools to practice STEAM education as well as to develop students’ computational thinking through analysing and decompose real problem as well as engaging in the abstraction process and developing an algorithm using coding. The findings provides justifications on the impact of GC in developing computational thinking skills thereby maximizing the pedagogical benefits to students.

Science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education has become one of the fastest growing trends in curriculum development around the globe. Integrated STEM education undoubtedly forms a new multifaceted phenomenon in education to prepare students to meet the new challenges of the 21st century. Science, Mathematics, and Technology education have always been a part of the K-12 curriculum as individualized disciplines. However, engineering is rarely taught in primary schools, and schools have no empirical experience of how to develop and implement an integrated STEM curriculum for students at the early age. In this project, an exploratory study of design-based research on integrated STEM curriculum with a local primary school in Hong Kong is reported. Through this study, it provides the first-hand experience of how integrated STEM education may be designed and implemented in the future. The findings may help schools in K-12 recognize the challenges and opportunities in bring the integrative learning to students.

After a fairly recent study discussed in IEEE Spectrum, with the catchy title, “want-girls-attracted-to-tech-put-a-for-art-in-stem”, on the strategies of attracting more female students to opt for studies in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics), the acronym STEM has been modified to STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics), by adding “art” as a topic in the curricula. In a recent study, the authors of this paper noted that there has been and there is still an on-going discussion on the low percentage of females in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) related studies. Some initiatives of engineers in the USA and Canada and current discussions in the IEEE community support the idea of adding an A (for Arts) in STEM leading to STEAM. With the element of gamification in many subjects and associated elements of Art in many disciplines, this strategy may help to improve the number of female students, as confirmed by a study performed in 2016. Topics with the hue of art are found in many STEM subjects and the staff responsible for courses can tune the content to accommodate these in already existing programs by putting more emphasis on “Art”. This paper addresses possibilities of adding elements of “Art” in existing courses with Biggs' Teaching and Learning, Intended Learning Outcomes and Assessment with gender balance in focus. The example of the Shad, Canada's successful STEAM and Entrepreneurship Live-in program for high-school (i.e. pre-university) students are cited. With respect to Biggs' model and using problem based learning (PBL), we point out, how the curricula in our universities in electrical engineering, IT and system engineering have many similarities with the pedagogical goals of the Shad program. This paper presents possibilities of incorporating elements of “art” related topics in disciplines under focus in the EAEEIE-community. Experiences from some courses in our universities are also provided with some pertinent conclusions for STEAM studies with enhanced gender balance on national, regional and international levels.