Tools to Mediate Learning and Self-Assessment in a STEAM Unit of Work

Abstract

In some high school learning environments, hundreds of students engage in collaborative, term-long, project-based learning STEM or STEAM units of work. In this chapter, the authors report on an ongoing design-based research project in which researchers and teachers collaborate to design, teach, and assess STEAM units of work. They draw on research on project-based learning and interdisciplinary collaboration to inform the analysis drawing on Jonassen's typology of problem solving. The purpose of this chapter is to present two tools that functioned as boundary objects mediating learning and self-assessment: (1) a ‘STEAM slider' used by students in groups to reach consensus on the use of the tools, knowledge, and processes employed in their project and (2) a criteria sheet developed to mediate students' and teachers' engagement in self- and teacher-assessment. The authors use these results to make recommendations for the next iteration of the project.

Effectiveness of Project-Based Learning on STEAM-Based student’s worksheet analysis With Ecoprint Technique

“…Students actively participate in the learning process and acquire 21st-century abilities when using the STEAM approach. Taylor (2016) In STEAM education, instructional models often incorporate collaborative or cooperative learning approaches, wherein students take on the role of subject matter experts and collaborate within groups to collectively complete tasks (Edelen et al, 2023;Thompson et al, 2020).…”

The Effects of STEAM-Based Activities Gifted Students’ STEAM Attitudes, Cooperative Working Skills and Career Choices

“…According to Slavin (2014), cooperative learning should be included in all STEM classes. Models applied when considering STEAM disciplines may include collaborative or cooperative learning, in which students assume the role of experts and work together as a group to complete the task (Thompson, Chapman & Kanasa, 2020). Group work, which is also used in the education of gifted students, which is the study group of this research, is one of the crucial ways of enrichment (Neber, Finsterwald & Urban, 2001;Rankin, 2016).…”