-Meredith J.
The Arts in STEM: STEAMThis article is brought to you by National Science Teachers Association.
Arts funding has been under attack for years as schools
look for ways to increase funding for the core subjects. Want another science
teacher? We'll have to cut an art teacher. Or the music teacher. But there is
growing evidence that the arts are a necessary part of
education, and STEM education in particular.
In elementary school, regular
class work and enrichment programs for students routinely combine the arts
with math and science. In those years, the curriculum makes an effort to
address all seven of what Howard Gardner referred to as
"modes of learning": visual-spatial, bodily-kinesthetic,
musical, interpersonal, intrapersonal, linguistic, and logical-mathematical.
But once students reach middle school, the disciplines fractionate and students
are siloed into one or two modes of learning, at most.
The sad part of this is that many
of the world's greatest scientists and inventors were also artists, writers,
or musicians. If we fail to recognize this connection, we separate the work
of the heart from the work of the head, and this leads to unsatisfied
students who may not be able to reach their full potential. In Sparks of
Genius, by Robert and Michele Root-Bernstein,
the authors discuss 13 thinking tools that the great scientists and inventors
used in their work. Included among these are playing, body thinking, and
recognizing patterns. Many of the Root-Bernsteins' thinking tools have some
correspondence with Gardner's modes of learning.
Differences in modes of learning
can be found even within a specific discipline. Henri Poincaré, a French
mathematician (and a fascinating subject in his own right), had a deep
interest in scientific creativity. Some of his work is described in Sparks
of Genius. Poincaré recognized that among his mathematician colleagues,
some were visual thinkers (those who favored images and geometry) and some
were not (those who favored equations and logic).
All of this is by way of
exposition, to lay the background for why STEAM education makes sense.
In fact, two of the leading institutions of higher learning in the United
States, one firmly entrenched in the arts
(Rhode Island School of Design; RISD), the other world famous for science and
technology (Massachusetts Institute of Technology; MIT), are
leading the movement and taking the position that STEM and the arts are
undeniably intertwined. RISD is funding the STEM to STEAM initiative,
led by its president, John Maeda. At MIT, their vision of STEAM takes the
form of the Media Lab, where
cross-disciplinary study is fostered.
There is a compelling case for
incorporating the arts into STEM education, but you might still ask what that
might look like in practice. How can art easily be used in science or math
curricula? It may take some research on the part of the teacher, but there
are many ways to add art to any classroom, not just STEM classrooms. Geometry
lends itself quite well to art, as any fan of Piet Mondrian could tell you.
Some other examples of the
blending of art with other disciplines can be found in these intriguing
science sculptures or this public
art installation in a
Canadian park. These minimalist artistic posters that represent
the work of famous women scientists would make inspiring classroom
decorations. If you're a math teacher, you might want to experiment with hexaflexagons. The work
of M.C. Escher is full of fractal
geometry.
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