What Is STEAM Education?

STEAM education is an approach to learning that integrates science, technology, engineering arts and mathematics to foster creativity, critical thinking and problem-solving skills. 

The “A” in STEAM stands for the arts, which includes disciplines like visual arts, music, design and humanities, broadening the traditional STEM focus to encourage innovation and holistic learning.

In This Article:

• What Is STEAM in School?
• What Is the History of STEAM?
• Why Is the “A” in STEAM Important? Exploring the Benefits
• Pursue New Teaching Horizons at GCU

What Is STEAM in School?

STEAM is the same integrated approach with the same topic areas as STEM but with a nod to arts education. STEAM acknowledges the importance of creativity, innovation and imagination in developing and implementing STEM-based projects.

Arts education can encompass:

• Visual arts and design
• Language arts
• Music
• Drama
• Dance
• New media

Of course, it is not necessary to include each subject area in every activity. Teachers can combine an artistic approach with a science project, for example, or students can use technology to develop artistic designs. This could be as simple as having elementary students create a drawing that represents a scientific concept or middle schoolers using digital tools to craft visual representations of their learning.

At the secondary school level, STEAM students may have the opportunity to partner with real companies and initiatives to develop solutions to problems. For instance, students can partner with medical tech companies to create a series of artistic posters that reflect the pathophysiology of melanoma in order to raise community awareness about skin cancer. Such partnerships may be more complex, enabling students to tackle practical issues through interdisciplinary projects that require critical thinking, collaboration and advanced skills.

What Is the History of STEAM?

STEM education gained attention in modern education, due to the interplay between the mind of a scientist with that of an artist or designer.¹ Yet, some educators found that STEM education alone was lacking, as it did not lead to significant student engagement.

John Maeda, the former president of the Rhode Island School of Design, championed the addition of the “A” to STEM to create STEAM. The reason for the addition was that creativity is an essential ingredient of innovation in areas beyond the arts.² In other words, proponents of STEAM education advocate for the importance of creativity in all areas of life, including science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Why Is the “A” in STEAM Important? Exploring the Benefits

Some people might remain unconvinced that STEAM can really benefit students. After all, students take art classes along with math and science, so why do these subjects need to be integrated?

For starters, because the world is continuously changing, it stands to reason that education should change right along with it to meet the needs of new generations. It can be argued that students today are already far more tech-savvy than previous generations. They stream entertainment online, read books on a screen and give voice commands to digital assistants.

But something might be lost in all that technological innovation — the search for a higher truth and genuine human connection and experiences. Artistry and beauty, when integrated with STEM curricula, have the potential to speak to students on a deeper, more meaningful level.

Student Engagement

Students who are engaged in the classroom are typically active participants in their own education, taking ownership of their learning activities and experiences. An engaged student is one who is interested in the learning material and lessons, and who feels motivated to pursue academic excellence. Yet, school engagement has dropped.³

With students, particularly teens, losing interest in school, STEAM education may be one solution. This is because hands-on STEAM projects encourage students to take ownership of their educational activities and empower them to exercise their own creative control. In addition, STEAM allows for a highly personalized learning experience, which means students can pursue projects that truly interest them.⁴ Starting STEAM education in the early years of elementary school may help spark curiosity and help build a foundation of interest in these subjects, fostering long-term engagement as students grow.

Diverse Perspectives in Education

Students often work on STEAM projects in groups, which can help teach them about collaboration and teamwork. During a group project, students may brainstorm any number of ideas or solutions to a challenge, which introduces them to a range of diverse perspectives.⁵

Beyond diverse perspectives on educational topics, STEAM projects can also encourage cultural competence by facilitating the collaboration of diverse team members.⁴ Exposure to peers from all walks of life may encourage students to be more respectful of others and accepting of differences and enable them to understand that each person has something of value to offer. For elementary students, this might involve collaborating on a community garden project, where they share ideas and learn from each other's diverse experiences.

Pursue New Teaching Horizons at GCU

Grand Canyon University invites aspiring and current educators to explore our teaching degrees. Although GCU doesn't offer a specific STEAM degree, we actively integrate the "A" in STEAM — into our project-based learning courses, enhancing creativity and fostering interdisciplinary thinking within our STEM degrees. The College of Education offers the Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education with an Emphasis in STEM degree to those just beginning their higher education journey. Or, choose from our master’s degree programs, such as the Master of Education in Secondary STEM Education program.