As I began planning the curriculum for the 2016-2017 school year, I researched the difference between STEM and STEAM as I had seen people reference these activities using both terms. I wanted to fully understand the difference so I could properly plan for the weekly activities.
STEM vs STEAM
STEM stands for science, technology, engineering, and math. STEAM adds the additional element of art to the mix, representing liberal arts, language arts, social studies, physical arts, and fine arts and music. Research shows that children who study STEM gain a variety of skills including critical thinking, communication and innovation, as well as collaboration. By adding the arts, the child is supposed to improve their imagination and creativity by exploring art when it comes naturally in science.
Does the “A” make a difference?
Of course our kids should be learning about the arts, but should they be learning about the arts in the same context as science and math? The purpose of STEM is to focus on science and math and innovation is closely associated with these subjects. If we add the arts, are we losing the focus on science and math?
A great example of adding the arts in STEM is looking at software engineers. For those unfamiliar, a software engineer designs, developments, maintains, tests, and evaluates the software and systems that make computers or anything containing software work (source). And if this person is really lacking on their arts skills? The design of the software may be very clunky and not at all user friendly!
I believe that as long as the STEAM focus is still on science and math, with arts incorporated into those activities, your child will still be getting the skills intended through this study. If the focus shifts to arts while adding in science and math, it may no longer be balanced. Ultimately, a well-rounded child will perform better than one who has only been focused on certain activities.
While my intention was to already include arts as a separate lesson during our weekly studies, I believe that STEAM is the right decision for us and we will be including these activities a few times each week.