Comparison of Four Universities on Both Sides of the Taiwan Strait Regarding the Cognitive Differences in the Transition from STEM to STEAM in Design Education

Abstract

There have been many studies on the effectiveness of the STEAM model since its integration into design education, but further investigation is needed to determine whether teachers and students truly understand the meaning of STEAM. The aim of this study is to evaluate people’s perceptions of the STEAM model in design education. Respondents from four universities on both sides of the Taiwan Strait participated in the study. Following expert evaluation and a number of tests, the revised questionnaire was used to survey the attitudes of respondents. The results indicate the following: (1) Respondents were more familiar with universities in their area and therefore rated them relatively highly. While this is reasonable, it suggests that respondents may lack a global perspective. (2) The proportion of arts courses is generally high, but further analysis is required to determine whether they in fact play a role in connecting to STEM. This study concluded that educators and researchers need to have a deep understanding of the essence and connotations of STEAM. Students must also consider how to acquire the knowledge and skills needed for 21st-century design through STEAM courses. Furthermore, the use of STEAM in design education needs to be continuously evaluated and improved.

From Hi-Tech to Hi-Touch: A Global Perspective of Design Education and Practice

“…In this study, the aim was to assess perceptions of the STEAM model in design education among respondents from four universities on both sides of the Taiwan Strait [4]. The findings demonstrated that respondents' restricted global outlook is attributable to their exposure to local universities.…”

Análisis de la autopercepción sobre el uso del enfoque STEAM en las estrategias de aula de docentes de Ciencias Naturales de México y Colombia

“…Aunque ha habido avances en la definición de STEAM y en su aplicación a través de estudios empíricos -que podrían proporcionar orientaciones para su utilización en el aula (Bases & García, 2021;EL-Deghaidy et al, 2017;Sun et al, 2023)T-, la evidencia disponible aún es limitada en cuanto a investigaciones que puedan evaluar el nivel de autopercepción en el uso de este enfoque por parte de los docentes de ciencias naturales en la planificación, ejecución y evaluación de sus clases.…”

Validation of an Instrument to Measure Natural Science Teachers’ Self-Perception about Implementing STEAM Approach in Pedagogical Practices

“…In this context, some studies report that in order to achieve these challenges, it is necessary to start from appropriate teacher training with this approach, a curricular alignment to integrate other disciplines in their subjects, and the consolidation of learning communities for the strengthening of sustainable educational networks [15,16]. On the other hand, there is a solid consensus that the STEAM approach has a relatively low level of standardization and that the theorization criteria are highly diverse, so some studies differ on its vision in terms of inter-, trans-and multidisciplinarity or even the addition and positioning of letters in its acronym [5,[17][18][19], which is also a challenge to overcome. In part, all of this likely creates some teacher barriers, especially in the natural sciences, that limit the implementation of STEAM in their classrooms [13,20,21].…”