STEAM – Arts Integration Frameworks for Transdisciplinarity

Abstract

Whether for 21st century skills development such as creativity, communication, and collaboration orfor transdisciplinary knowledge creation leading to innovation, the integration of Arts with STEM (Science,Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) fields is gaining popularity in higher education. However, a comprehensive survey of proven methodologies to integrate Arts with STEM disciplines (referred to as STEAM) currently does not exist. This paper presents the preliminary results of asystematized literature review done to characterize the integration of arts with STEM disciplines in higher education. It also uses these findings to analyze the most recent STEAM initiative of the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Ottawa. This research finds three main rationales to integrate arts with STEM and presents the frameworks discussed in the literature to do this integration. It also examines how creativity is assessed and developed within STEAM higher education contexts. This research contributes a reference of validated arts integration and creativity frameworks which can be used to setup STEAM projects or evaluate them in relation to proven methodologies. The frameworks presented in this research can be used in classrooms and professional environments.

Modernizing the photogrammetry curriculum by integrating the entrepreneurial mindset, bio-inspired design and STEAM approach

“…Including STEAM in the engineering classroom stimulates students to understand the components of STEM education more straightforwardly and interestingly, supported by the principles of arts (Yuni and Bukit, 2021). It also improves students' imagination, creativity, and innovation skills (Rodier et al, 2021).…”

Supporting transdisciplinary STEAM practices: Integrating architectural modelling into mathematics education through a cross-cultural dynamic lesson plan (DLP) tool

“…STEAM education could be considered a transdisciplinary approach based on the dynamic integration of precise discipline frameworks (Soublis, 2017). Moreover, STEAM and transdisciplinary approaches share their aim in addressing real-world challenging problems or situations (Rodier et al, 2021). Furthermore, transdisciplinary creativity, problem-solving and method adaptation approaches are mutual to STEAM educational merits, which encourage teachers to promote them in their teaching (Guyotte et al, 2014).…”

Exploring Transdisciplinarity in Engineering Education and Practice: A Review of Literature and Existing Initiatives

“…[26]. The Network also characterizes transdisciplinary research as "link[ing] societal problem solving with scientific knowledge production in a process of co-producing knowledge;" and recommends some guiding principles 4 to researchers engaged in transdisciplinary research.…”

“…All these papers were concerned with ongoing conceptual work on applications of transdisciplinarity to engineering education. Sharunova et al proposed a curriculum embracing a transdisciplinary engineering design process [1]; Tan et al created a conceptual framework for developing transdisciplinary skills in engineering education by incorporating systems thinking, empathy and metacognition [2]; Ha and Czekanski shared results of a student survey on the development of transdisciplinary competencies related to sociotechnical knowledge through the design process [3]; and Rodier et al reviewed STEM and arts integration (STEAM) approaches as a vehicle to support transdisciplinary skill development [4]. Furthermore, within the proceedings of the American Society for Engineering Education, seven US-based papers produced over the past decade focused on various aspects of transdisciplinarity in teaching and learning.…”

“…https://ciret-transdisciplinarity.org/moral_project.php 2 Also available at https://cirettransdisciplinarity.org/chart.php#en 3 https://transdisciplinarity.ch/en/transdisziplinaritat/was-ist-td/4 These guiding principles are: orienting to societal challenges, grasping the complexity of problems, developing knowledge and practices that promote what is perceived as the common…”