This study addresses the lack of comprehensive discussion on the ways of integrating art into STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) curricula by designing a STEAM curriculum with a focus on electrically conductive clay. Two instructional sequences are compared: the STEM group, where STEM concepts are taught first, and the art group, where art is taught before integrating STEM. 113 middle and high school students in Taiwan participated, with data collected through pre- and post-tests on electric circuit science concepts, pre- and post-surveys on students' attitudes and learning attitudes towards STEAM, and the evaluation of design diagrams and the clay nightlight products. Due to the ordinal scale of the assessment and the non-normal distribution of the samples, non-parametric statistics are employed to examine whether there are significant enhancements of students’ learning and differences between the two groups. Results show both groups improved scientific concepts and attitudes toward STEAM. However, the art group specifically showed significant improvement in their attitude toward the influence of art on STEM. The correlation between scientific concept improvement and attitude enhancement differed between groups, indicating starting with art for students who have better attitudes towards art may focus on art design but potentially neglecting the learning of scientific concepts. The STEM group demonstrated higher product creativity scores. These findings contribute to the understanding of effective teaching methodologies for STEAM, particularly enhancing scientific concepts, learning attitudes, and creativity, thereby providing valuable insights for future curriculum design.

Authors:
Meng-Fei Cheng, National Changhua University of Education, Taiwan
Yi-Ching Liang, National Changhua University of Education, Taiwan

About the Presenter(s)
Professor Meng-Fei Cheng is a University Professor/Principal Lecturer at Department of Physics, National Changhua University of Education in Taiwan

See this presentation on the full schedule – Wednesday Schedule

Bookmark