From STEM To STEAM Education — Help Your Child Make The 21st Century Leap!
STEM is well known in the education space as being the acronym for Science, Tech, Engineering and Mathematics. But taking STEM to the next level is now STEAM — Science, Tech, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics.
The most important feature of both STEM and STEAM is practical, hands-on learning. Therefore, reading your school science text book will not cut it. You have to really practically understand and create to classify something to be STEM-based or STEMtastic!
Moreover STEAM does not obliviate STEM, but it enhances it. It is a necessary step to add the creative, cultural, socially conscious and contextual elements to the more rational and analytical STEM. The A for Art in STEAM, somewhat brings the right-brain strengths to the more left-brained stand-alone STEM. As you may know the left-brain is more methodical and analytical, whereas the right-brain is more artistic and intuitive.
One really good example of the integration of STEM with A (Art) would be through architecture. Architects use science, math, engineering and technology to create buildings. But Art also becomes a central aspect of architecture, with creativity and historical/ cultural context heavily influencing the design aspects of the construction.
Another important thing to note about A (Art) here is- that it is not only linked to creating beautiful imagery, but rather majorly about a way of thinking that artists use for creating something. This same way of thinking can be incorporated into solving problems or presenting information. It can be referred to as- Design Thinking. Art is not only about beautification, but rather to try and look from the perspective of the one who experiences it. This sense of empathy is a very important feature of design thinking, and rightfully comes in very handy when designing products or solutions for other people. For example, if we are designing a car, design thinking would involve imagining the passenger sitting in the car- what are their needs? What will make their journey more comfortable? For instance, features such as- arm rest, glass holder, glove compartment- are all features designed imagining the experience of the consumer. As one can imagine, design thinking is an essential element of quality innovation.
STEAM also incorporates and helps exercise 4 of the top skills amongst what are considered to be the most crucial skills to have in the 21st century by the World Economic Forum. These are the 4 C’s of the 21st Century Education: Creativity, Collaboration, Critical Thinking, and Communication.
So how do we get the younger generations to get interested in STEAM, and what are some for these opportunities? If done right, it is natural and effortless to get young people interested in STEAM. STEAM really plays on the curiosity of children, and allows them to question, explore and create. In fact STEAM is a really good gateway to help kids fall in love with the process of learning. With kids like Gitanjali Rao (First ever Time Kid of the Year in 2020) and Shubham Banerjee (Young Innovator and Entrepreneur), younger generations have the inspiration to use STEAM to design a new and better world.
To fully tap into your change-making potential, look for opportunities to learn where creating goes hand in hand. If you are looking for online learning programmes, shortlist courses that provide hands-on experience, and give you the opportunity to work on projects that simultaneously allow you to create the social impact you desire to create. For example, as part of all programmes at BeSingular, students get the chance to create real-life projects that target UNSDGs and aim to create social change. Some of the projects created by our students include- Waste Segregation Software, Language translator, and Sign language-to-English translator.
We hope you enjoyed reading this blog. For more interesting, tech-based content, check out BeSingular Digital.
