Effectiveness of a Collaborative STEAM Module on Secondary Preservice Teachers' Lesson Planning Skills and Views

• In Event: Innovations in Mathematics Teacher Education

Abstract

To improve students’ interdisciplinary learning, it is necessary to find ways to support teacher candidates’ pedagogical preparation for STEAM practices during teacher education. Thereby, in this study, the influence of a 5-week collaborative cross-disciplinary STEAM module on secondary mathematics, science, and English language arts (ELA) pre-service teachers’ (PSTs) views and lesson planning skills in the context of STEAM integration was studied. As ELA provides the foundation for students’ learning of STEM subjects, a conceptualization of ELA as the arts component in our STEAM module was used. Preliminary findings indicated an improvement in PSTs’ STEAM conception and showed slight evidence in their STEAM lesson planning skills. Based on these results, possible implications for pre-service teacher education emphasizing STEAM integration are discussed.

Authors

• Vecihi Serbay Zambak, Monmouth University

• Alex Romagnoli, Monmouth University

• Judith Bazler, Monmouth University

• Meta L. Van Sickle, College of Charleston