Smoke is to Fire as STEAM is to . . . ?
Dr. Michael D. Fridley
OACTE, April 12, 2013
Science
Technology
Engineering
Mathematics
Sputnik
I believe that this nation should
commit itself to achieving the goal,
before this decade is out, of landing a
man on the moon and returning him
safely to the earth.
President John F. Kennedy
May 25, 1961
Sputnik
But if I were to say, my fellow citizens,
that we shall send to the moon, 240,000
miles away from the control station in
Houston, a giant rocket more than 300
feet tall, the length of this football field,
made of new metal alloys, some of
which have not yet been invented.
President John F. Kennedy
September 12, 1962
We are currently preparing students for
jobs that don’t yet exist, using
technologies that haven’t been invented,
in order to solve problems we don’t even
know are problems yet.
Richard Riley
Secretary of Education under President Clinton
(quoted by Karl Fisch, Did You Know/Shift Happens
2010 video)
STEM Focus
• 1892
• The Committee of Ten at Harvard
• A response to the gaps in the agrarian
school system of the 1800s
• Described the attributes of a good
industrial school system that would raise
the standards of excellence for modern
students
Architecture is "frozen music"… Really
there is something in this; the tone of
mind produced by architecture
approaches the effect of music.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Filippo Brunelleschi, 1377-1446
Portrait in a painting by Massachio
May not music be described as
mathematics of the sense, mathematics
as music of the reason?
James Joseph Sylvester
19th century English mathematician
Music is a secret arithmetical exercise
and the person who indulges in it does
not realize that he is manipulating
numbers.
Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz
17th century German mathematician and
philosopher who developed the infinitesimal
calculus independently of Isaac Newton and
designed a “calculating machine”
The Term “STEM”
• The National Science Foundation
• SMET
• Dr. Judith Ramaley
– Assistant Director of Education and Human
Resources, 2001-2004
• Learning in the context of real-world
problems
Why STEM?
• Economic competition
• Workforce competition
• Innovation competition
• Education competition
No Explicit Integration
• Content areas taught separately
• Connections may be made between
disciplines
Science
Technology
Engineering
Mathematics
Combining Two or More Content
Areas
• Using enrichment activities
• One content area is in service to the other(s)
Science
Technology
Engineering
Mathematics
Curriculum Shares Content from
All Four Disciplines
• Content areas overlap, but still separate
• Often involving problem-solving projects
T
M
S
E
One Subject is Central
• All other content areas serve the central one
Science
Technology
Engineering
Mathematics
According to
the National Science Foundation:
• The great scientific and technological
breakthroughs are expected at the
intersection of the disciplines.
Curriculum Supports Understanding in
Two or More Content Areas
• Combined curriculum
• Standards are met in all content areas
Science
and
Technology
Engineering
and
Mathematics
Fully Integrated STEM
• The whole is greater than the sum of its parts
Science
Technology
Engineering
Mathematics
STEM is a way of thinking that:
• Focuses on integrating STEM habits
• Uses Interdisciplinary Facilitation &
Assessment
• Is a dynamic approach to learning
• Emphasizes problem solving & critical
thinking
• Supports STEM Career readiness
STEM is not a thing, it is an attitude of
systematically applying Science,
Technology & Math to the real world of
engineering, design and problemsolving.
Dr. Randall Peterson
Principal, Eastview High School
STEM education is not:
• Extra science & math classes
• Strictly structured curriculum
• Simply using technology in “non-STEM”
courses
• Only for Talented and Gifted Students
Questions to Ask
• Is there an agreed-upon definition of
STEM education for the stakeholders?
• Is there an agreed-upon goal for STEM in
your context?
• Are any of the four STEM disciplines
integrated in instruction or the
curriculum?
What’s Right for You?
• Coordination
– Teaching similar topics at the same time
• Collaboration
– Theme teaching
– Discipline based
• Integration
– Submersion in a topic with all disciplines
recognized equally
All methods may be appropriate at various times
Based on Research & Current
Thinking
STEM education should …
• Integrate STEM disciplines
• Include authentic experiences
• Apply technologies
• Offer multiple pathways for learning
• Provide deeper learning through critical
thinking, problem solving, creativity
and innovation
STEM Schools
• No agreed-upon definition
• More intensive approach to a traditional
curriculum
• Emphasize project-based learning and
integrating ideas across disciplines
• Focus on a particular occupational theme
However . . .
Some schools may add the label
without making real changes
Barbara Means
Researcher at SRI International
You get this vast hue and cry for STEM,
which is a good thing, but then you
have to enact something. A lot of my
friends are using the term 'random acts
of STEM,' which is a lot of what
happens.
Thomas T. Peters
Executive Director of South Carolina's Coalition for
Mathematics and Science
All music is folk music. I ain't never
heard a horse sing a song.
Big Bill Broonzy
American folk and blues singer
Me Too-ism
• Whole schools are now marketing
themselves as STEM institutes, magnets,
charters, and academies to attract students
and cash in on grant funding that comes
with the brand.
More Me Too-ism
• Every high school in the District had
adopted an extra math course.
• The school hadn't bothered to change the
curriculum or teaching styles at all. But
henceforth, they would call themselves a
STEM school.
• STEM = CTE
Some Antidotes to Me Too-ism
• CTE programs offer an important
instructional approach that strengthens
students’ understanding of STEM content
and helps attract more individuals into
STEM career pathways. (ACTE)
• At the heart of any STEM program should
be courses in which students create
products, not just take tests.
More Antidotes to Me Too-ism
• STEM education is equated with
innovation.
• Incorporate a creativity rubric into your
project.
The creative scientist needs an artistic
imagination.
Max Planck
1918 Nobel Prize winner in Physics and
accomplished pianist
TEAMS
• Dr. Judith Ramaley
• Advocates for the inclusion of the arts
within STEM learning
Acronyms I Have Seen
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
STEM
TEAMS
STEAM
ArtSTEM
STEMArts
STEM-A
iSTEMarts
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
STREAM
STEAMIE
STEMx
STE[+a]M
oSTEM
STEMM
T-STEM
•
•
•
•
STEMIE
ST2REAM
CS-STEM
SEED (Social,
Economic, and
Environmental
Design)
STEAM
Joint Interim Task Force on STEM
Access and Success (HB 4056)
Report, 12/6/12
• The Task Force also recognizes the critical
supporting role played by the arts in
developing innovative technologies that
capture the imagination of students and
consumers alike.
Joint Interim Task Force on STEM
Access and Success (HB 4056)
Report, 12/6/12
• The Task Force advocates for the role of
art education in developing competent
STEM graduates.
Joint Interim Task Force on STEM
Access and Success (HB 4056)
Report, 12/6/12
• STEM is not just about academic learning;
it’s about applying technical knowledge in
a creative way to solve problems.
Joint Interim Task Force on STEM
Access and Success (HB 4056)
Report, 12/6/12
• The Task Force acknowledges the critical
role played by the arts in developing a
well-rounded and competitive STEM
workforce.
Scientific Method
Artistic Process
Creative Process
Engineering Design Process
Common Processes
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Background
Observe
Identify a need or problem (Develop an idea)
Research
Propose a hypothesis/solution
Test/create/build
Evaluate and refine
Communicate
Leonardo da Vinci, 1452-1519
Self-portrait
Why STEAM?
• Arts education is a key to creativity
• Creativity is an essential component of,
and spurs, innovation
• Innovation is agreed to be necessary to
create new industries in the future
• New industries, with their jobs, are the
basis of our future economic wellbeing
Without the arts, STEM is just a fourletter word.
When Winston Churchill was asked to
cut arts funding for the war effort, he
asked: “Then what are we fighting for?”
We simply cannot compete in the new
economy unless we do something now
about creativity and innovation.
Harvey White
Co-founder of both Qualcomm Inc. and Leap
Wireless International Inc., he coined the acronym
STEAM
The MP3 player wasn't a new thing
when the iPod came out, nor was the
iPhone the first smart phone. But they
were the ones that made you give a
damn.
John Maeda
President of the Rhode Island School of Design
I see us as being in the art business –
art, entertainment and mobile
sculpture, which, coincidentally, also
happens to provide transportation.
Robert A. Lutz
General Motors Vice Chairman
From model T Ford to the latest
concept car, we see the evolution of
technology is as much about aesthetics
of the product as its functionality.
National Science Teachers Association
Why STEAM?
• The brain connection
• The education connection
• The economic/workforce connection
• The creativity/innovation connection
• Other connections
– Why limit the possibilities?
The Brain Connection
• Research shows that visual perception and
brain wiring are somehow linked
• The arts combine the three major tools that
the mind uses to acquire, store, and
communicate knowledge
– Motor skills
– Perceptual representation
– Language
In terms of brain imaging, studies have
shown listening to music lights up, or
activates, more of the brain than any
other stimulus we know.
Istvan Molnar-Szakacs
Neuroscientist at the University of California, Los
Angeles (And that’s just listening!)
The Education Connection
• Arts are important to other countries
• The arts are a way of knowing, a way of
thinking, and a way of working
• Arts and crafts training enhances scientific
ability
• STEAM may be a way to keep kids in
school
I believe that arts will play an
important role. It is even more
important to have an integration in arts
and science so people will have the
creative and independent thinking.
Wu Qidi
China’s Vice Minister of Education
We have a creative problem in this
country.
Nirmala Sankaran
CEO of HeyMath, an Indian-based education
company
I cannot imagine MIT without its visual
and performing arts component.
Dr. Charles Vest
President, National Academy of Engineering
Learning, real learning, is fun.
Pete Seeger
American folk singer
The Economic/Workforce
Connection
• Only 30% of new jobs in the U. S. between
1998 and 2004 were routine, algorithmic; 70%
involve complex, heuristic tasks
• Fine motor control and simple manipulative
skills taken for granted 50 years ago are
today increasingly absent
• Creativity is the No. 1 “leadership
competency” of the future
The game is changing. It isn’t just about
math and science anymore. It’s about
creativity, imagination, and, above all,
innovation.
Business Week Special Report
The Creativity/Innovation
Connection
• Noncreative thinking is learned
• Creativity scores on other measures have
inched downward worldwide
• The correlation to lifetime creative
accomplishment was more than three
times stronger for childhood creativity
than childhood IQ
So the idea is to not only give kids the
tools to build the things that they can
imagine, but to also imagine the world
that they can build.
Nirvan Mullick
Filmmaker (Caine’s Arcade) and founder of The
Imagination Foundation
Other Connections
• Nobel laureates in the sciences are
seventeen times likelier than the average
scientist to be a painter, twelve times as
likely to be a poet, and four times as likely
to be a musician.
• Physicians who have musical training are
much better able to diagnose patients
using chest and abdominal percussion and
stethoscopy
What Do They Have in Common?
• Thomas Edison
• Steve Jobs
• Bill Gates
They are all DROPOUTS!
You cannot solve a problem from the
same consciousness that created it. You
must learn to see the world anew.
Albert Einstein
Theoretical physicist, 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics
Why limit the possibilities?
• Dr. Temple Grandin
• Nikola Tesla
• Etching, silk screen printing, and
photolithography
• Pace makers and stents
The theory of relativity occurred to me
by intuition, and music is the driving
force behind this intuition. My parents
had me study the violin from the time I
was 6. My new discovery is the result
of musical perception.
Albert Einstein
Theoretical physicist, 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics
The First Digital Image!
(ca. 1810)
Joseph-Marie Charles
Jacquard’s self-portrait in
black and silver thread
was coded by 10,000
punch cards
Hedy Lamarr
Actress and co-inventor of Frequency-Hopping
Spread Spectrum
Dr. Alexis Carrel
French surgeon, 1912 Nobel Prize in
Physiology or Medicine
The Starry Night, Vincent Van Gough
Leonardo da Vinci
Study for an angel’s face from The Virgin of the Rocks
For a copy of the famous photo of Albert Einstein
playfully sticking his tongue out at a photographer,
and guidelines for its use, go to
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Einstein_tongue.jpg.
Albert Einstein, eminent physicist
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEqccPhsqgA&feature=player_embedded
Running horse
http://vimeo.com/1675008
Boxing – at 0:12
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWX4O7K5pyA&feature=player_embedded
PBS video, Seeing Beyond the Human Eye
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDDfkKEa2ls
Upward lightening – beginning to 0:40
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6MUYsIjTKvk
Lightening with leader in slow motion at 0:55-2:00
http://cainesarcade.com/
The original film and Part 2 (with quotes)
Bills to Watch
• HB 2636 – STEM Investment Council
• HB 3232 – Strategic Investments in
Education
• HB 3272 – STEM Loan Forgiveness
Program
OregonSTEM is dedicated to creating
access to the most entertaining,
engaging, and inspirational Science,
Technology, Engineering and Math
activities and lessons available.
And, they are presenting the very
first Oregon STEM Festival!
http://www.oregonstemfestival.org/
Thank You!
Michael Fridley, Ed. D.
(503) 947-5660
michael.fridley@state.or.us