WHY IS RESEARCH-BASED STEAM IMPORTANT?
The Workforce and Innovative Thinking
Nationally recognized researchers, educators, businesses, and governmental studies state that the United States’ future in the global economy could be significantly impacted by how well today’s students learn to think innovatively.
STEAM Rapidly Expanding
The STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math) movement is expanding exponentially in a variety of venues. It has been demonstrated that STEAM can help promote these important creative and innovative thinking skills.
SEAD Research Documented the Need
The Innovation Collaborative is an outcome of the National Science Foundation-funded SEAD (Science, Engineering, Arts, Design) network and initiatives, which were co-organized by the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Science Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Humanities. An analysis of the 55 SEAD white papers submitted by university science and arts practitioners internationally showed that there is a significant need for research and advocacy in the wide variety of arts/STEM learning applications.
Lack of Data on Effective Practices
However, research also has demonstrated that there is a great lack of significant data documenting the impact of STEAM in a variety of learning settings.
Anecdotal Evidence Shows Success
Anecdotal evidence shows the success of these strategies in promoting important thinking skills, but research is needed to document what practitioners are seeing.
How Important Are the Results?
The practices that are effective in delivering creative and innovation thinking skills in today’s students and adults are vital in developing a workforce that can innovate.
WHAT HAS THE COLLABORATIVE DONE TO ADDRESS THIS NEED?
K-12 Effective Practices
The Collaborative conducted research for 6 years to determine the most effective practices that delivered these important creative and innovative thinking skills in concert with mandated content learning in STEAM teacher/administrator professional development and classroom implementation. This research is the first effort by a coalition of national institutions. Based on input from the research and from experts in all disciplines, a comprehensive set of criteria has been identified, and statistically validated rubrics have been developed.
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These findings are now driving the Collaborative’s national STEAM Teacher/Administrator Professional Development.
Out-of-School Time Effective Practices
The Collaborative, in partnership with Texas Southern University, studied STEAM in Out-of-School Time nationally in a two-year project funded by the National Science Foundation. 70 leading STEAM researchers and practitioners from across the U.S. and also from Canada and Germany determined where the Out-of-School Time field is and where it needs to head next. This will be presented in the project’s Final Report.
Who Are the Advisors?
One of the strengths of the Innovation Collaborative is its cadre of nationally and internationally recognized researchers who serve as very active advisors for all our work. Known as Research Thought Leaders, they help provide the foundation for our research and all the work that we do. There are additional advisory teams of experts and practitioners from all disciplines helping strengthen the research and practice in K-12 and Out-of-School Time Learning.