STEAM buzzword - why?

[Anonymous]

Am I the only one who does not get why the A was added to STEM? I thought stem was supposed to be a focus on science tech math engineering. Adding the arts now means everything? Isn’t that just “school”? What am I missing?? STEAM as an acronym seems really stupid to me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Am I the only one who does not get why the A was added to STEM? I thought stem was supposed to be a focus on science tech math engineering. Adding the arts now means everything? Isn’t that just “school”? What am I missing?? STEAM as an acronym seems really stupid to me.

I don’t get it either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Am I the only one who does not get why the A was added to STEM? I thought stem was supposed to be a focus on science tech math engineering. Adding the arts now means everything? Isn’t that just “school”? What am I missing?? STEAM as an acronym seems really stupid to me.

English and History

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Am I the only one who does not get why the A was added to STEM? I thought stem was supposed to be a focus on science tech math engineering. Adding the arts now means everything? Isn’t that just “school”? What am I missing?? STEAM as an acronym seems really stupid to me.

100%

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:STEAM is better than “STEM.” But it is still not as inclusive.

The new and preferred acronym is S-STEAM, to support, acknowledge, and raise up the importance of sports for a more holistic approach to mental and physical health.

Is that A for the arts?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:STEAM is better than “STEM.” But it is still not as inclusive.

The new and preferred acronym is S-STEAM, to support, acknowledge, and raise up the importance of sports for a more holistic approach to mental and physical health.

Is that A for the arts?

Yes. The arts are crucially important.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:STEAM is better than “STEM.” But it is still not as inclusive.

The new and preferred acronym is S-STEAM, to support, acknowledge, and raise up the importance of sports for a more holistic approach to mental and physical health.

Is that A for the arts?

Yes. The arts are crucially important.

Food, water, and sleep are also crucially important.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:STEAM is better than “STEM.” But it is still not as inclusive.

The new and preferred acronym is S-STEAM, to support, acknowledge, and raise up the importance of sports for a more holistic approach to mental and physical health.

Is that A for the arts?

Yes. The arts are crucially important.

So is your mum but the Indians won’t buy it

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:STEAM is better than “STEM.” But it is still not as inclusive.

The new and preferred acronym is S-STEAM, to support, acknowledge, and raise up the importance of sports for a more holistic approach to mental and physical health.

I wish that were a joke. Literature and History are important, especially for the development of critical thinking skills which are needed now more than ever.


The good thing is that it's all just marketing and doesn't mean anything. Legos are legos. But parents seem to buy it so schools will continue to pretend.

Tell us exactly why you “wish it were a joke?” Seriously, Pp: why?

And no, inclusion is not a joke. Or are you one of those who is opposed to inclusion?

Because it has nothing to do with inclusion and you're making that word meaningless.

That poster is making fun of inclusion idea by applying it to something ridiculous. Don't bite, PP.

[Anonymous]

I think the STEAM concept means well, but is seldom put into practice well. In real life, smart and creative people learn things by exploring and creating. This is the classic story of geniuses tinkering in garages and learning more than they could in school. I totally believe kids learn through play and exploration. The problem with turning this into a curriculum, though, is that it becomes artificial and forced. The nerdy kid tinkering with a machine might teach themselves science or engineering principles for many reasons: they have already mastered the basics taught in school, they have a natural interest in the topic, and most importantly, the project was their own idea and so they take the initiative. You can't replicate that in a school setting with any number of legos.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Am I the only one who does not get why the A was added to STEM? I thought stem was supposed to be a focus on science tech math engineering. Adding the arts now means everything? Isn’t that just “school”? What am I missing?? STEAM as an acronym seems really stupid to me.

The "A" was added in education because some kids would come into a STEM activity and be immediately turned off and unwilling to approach the activity. By adding art to STEM activities more kids are interested in the activity and it's supposed to be a gateway to getting kids interested in STEM. It's supposed to make math and science less intimidating and provide relevance to something kids want to learn about.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Literature, history, art, music and philosophy are called the humanities. Those with backgrounds in those areas like long, fancy words.

Science, technology, engineering and math are called STEM because those disciplines like and use acronyms.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Am I the only one who does not get why the A was added to STEM? I thought stem was supposed to be a focus on science tech math engineering. Adding the arts now means everything? Isn’t that just “school”? What am I missing?? STEAM as an acronym seems really stupid to me.

The "A" was added in education because some kids would come into a STEM activity and be immediately turned off and unwilling to approach the activity. By adding art to STEM activities more kids are interested in the activity and it's supposed to be a gateway to getting kids interested in STEM. It's supposed to make math and science less intimidating and provide relevance to something kids want to learn about.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Am I the only one who does not get why the A was added to STEM? I thought stem was supposed to be a focus on science tech math engineering. Adding the arts now means everything? Isn’t that just “school”? What am I missing?? STEAM as an acronym seems really stupid to me.

The "A" was added in education because some kids would come into a STEM activity and be immediately turned off and unwilling to approach the activity. By adding art to STEM activities more kids are interested in the activity and it's supposed to be a gateway to getting kids interested in STEM. It's supposed to make math and science less intimidating and provide relevance to something kids want to learn about.

Does this work though? I love art and have nothing against kids learning and enjoying it, I just doubt that this is an effective gateway to science and math.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Am I the only one who does not get why the A was added to STEM? I thought stem was supposed to be a focus on science tech math engineering. Adding the arts now means everything? Isn’t that just “school”? What am I missing?? STEAM as an acronym seems really stupid to me.

The "A" was added in education because some kids would come into a STEM activity and be immediately turned off and unwilling to approach the activity. By adding art to STEM activities more kids are interested in the activity and it's supposed to be a gateway to getting kids interested in STEM. It's supposed to make math and science less intimidating and provide relevance to something kids want to learn about.

It is not merely a matter of "some kids." When it was merely "STEM," it began to be viewed through the lens of gender equity. Viewed in that way, there were too few women and girls attracted to STEM, but likely this was also an effect of girls not being welcomed / implicit biases by both male students and male teachers.

One method of correcting that historical injustice was to make STEM more inclusive. Hence, the logical and equitable result is STEAM.