STEAM Instruction as a Conduit to Connected Learning Opportunities

• In Event: 43.010 - Connected Learning and Equitable Participation for Youth: Bridging the Home-School Participation Gap

Abstract

Objectives
In many classrooms, meeting demands of standards and standardized testing led to the decline of two cornerstones of effective teaching, engagement and relevancy (Jennings & Lauen, 2016). Some teachers identify content rigidity as a major obstacle to adopting practices encouraged by reform movements (Authors 2 & 1, 2017). Consequently, they create curricula disconnected from ways students learn. We present research from a five-year longitudinal study with 43 middle school math and science teachers implementing STEAM instructional units with attention to Connected Learning (Ito et al, 2013). Participants used a STEAM conceptual model to inform novel pedagogical techniques to re-engage students through relevancy and creative problem solving.

Theoretical Framework
We draw on the Connected learning framework (Ito et al., 2013) which includes four components: 1) Contexts for learning (peer supported, interest-powered, academically orientated); 2) Core properties (production-centered, shared purpose, openly networked); 3) Design principles informing intentional connections (everyone can participate, learning happens by doing); and 4) New media amplifying opportunities for connected learning (fostering engagement and self-expression, increasing accessibility to knowledge and learning experiences, expanding social supports for interests, expanding diversity).

Methods/Data Sources
We used qualitative case study (Stake, 1995) to examine STEAM teaching practices in middle school classrooms during two-years of our study. Participants were enrolled in a series of four STEAM classes; they worked at fourteen middle schools in a district in the Southeastern United States. The STEAM district coordinator recruited the participants; 21 taught math and 22 taught science. Data sources included observations using an observation rubric, video recorded data, teachers’ weekly reflections, and post-observation debriefing sessions. Teachers were observed twice during a 16-week period. Primary data sources, the observation notes and video, were analyzed using a priori codes aligned with connected learning and categories of codes derived from an observation rubric (Authors 2 & 1, 2016). A priori codes categories and criteria (in parenthetical) included: discipline integration (multiple content areas, connected ideas), classroom environment (problem-based, authentic tasks, multiple methods, student choice, technological integration, teacher facilitation), and problem-solving skills (cognitive skills, interactional skills, and creative skills).

Results
Teachers shifted their traditional teaching practices and created an environment for peer supported, interest-powered, and academically orientated spaces while using the STEAM conceptual model. Production-centered spaces were evident, but limited in the types of student opportunities (e.g. “making” and coding were rarely used). Teachers typically determined the shared purpose and controlled the networked learning. Most teachers facilitated design principles of intentional connections, having everyone participate, and learning by doing. New media was sometimes used to foster engagement and self-expression and increase accessibility to knowledge and learning experiences. Teachers seldom expanded social supports based on student interests and diversity. The full paper will provide examples, discussing each in detail.

Significance
This research informs professional development models for teachers to foster connected learning opportunities in classrooms. Aligning the STEAM conceptual model to units of study in classrooms, which are interest-based and engaging to students, can positively impact STEAM instruction.

Authors

• Danielle Christine Herro, Clemson University

• Cassie Fay Quigley, University of Pittsburgh