 The Collaborative’s Research Thought Leaders help provide the strong research foundation for the Collaborative’s work. Each Thought Leader is nationally and internationally recognized in their own field and brings an extensive depth of experience and expertise. They also are adept at working across disciplines. In previous newsletters, we brought you interviews with each of our Thought Leaders. This new series, launched in the Winter 2021 newsletter, reflects on how you might apply some of their most important ideas in your STEAM work. To do so, we’re using examples of the Collaborative’s successful application of these ideas in K-12 classroom implementation and teacher professional development. The first article examined creative and innovative thinking. This second article examines STEAM and interdisciplinary learning. Future series articles will look at such topics as applications of these concepts to learning settings, STEAM educator training, and creating effective STEAM models. The information below is based on Thought Leaders’ interviews and an in-person convening in Washington, D.C. in 2016, that was supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts. Interdisciplinary Learning Interdisciplinarity refers to knowledge that spans disciplines and fields. It is particularly relevant in the 21st century since many innovations occur at the intersections of various fields. Also, we live our fast-paced lives in an interdisciplinary manner, often experiencing science, art, and humanities phenomena simultaneously. Thought Leader Input
Application
0 Comments
 By Lucinda Presley and Tricia Shelton
In this article written for Collaborative member organization, the Arts Education Partnership, authors Lucinda Presley and Tricia Shelton detail how the Collaborative and the National Science Teaching Foundation can support STEAM-based learning for remote learners in these challenging times and into the future. Since remote and hybrid learning are dominant modes of teaching for the foreseeable future, educators and students alike can benefit from STEAM learning strategies to promote engagement and learning across settings. Research suggests that STEAM (the integration of sciences, technology, engineering, the arts and math) education can help address these needs by increasing student engagement and preventing learning loss associated with remote learning. STEAM education can help develop students’ creative, social and emotional, and critical thinking skills to enable them to effectively process and navigate these unprecedented times. The transdisciplinary focus of STEAM education is also well positioned to reduce redundancy and maximize learning across the disciplines when instructional time is at a premium. The National Science Teaching Association (NSTA) and the Innovation Collaborative have developed strategies and recommendations for high-quality STEAM learning for all students, which educators can integrate into their remote learning situations. Pillars of Sensemaking NSTA recommends four “must haves”, or pillars, for this type of high-quality instruction. These four sensemaking pillars focus on the following opportunities and learning for all students:
These sensemaking pillars dovetail with successful hybrid lesson planning strategies the Innovation Collaborative found in preliminary studies that were completed with support from the National Endowment for the Arts. The following strategic steps are designed for real-world problem solving that engages and empowers students to explore important concepts:
While the future is uncertain regarding remote and hybrid learning, we are certain that STEAM education will continue to provide meaningful learning experiences for students. Enjoy seeing students thrive and grow! aep-arts.org  The Innovation Collaborative’s national online STEAM teacher professional development series is expanding.
Launched in spring, 2020, with support from the National Endowment for the Arts, this professional development program trains teachers in STEAM effective classroom practices using the Collaborative’s K-12 research outcomes. Despite the pandemic, more than 24 administrators and arts, sciences, math, and social studies teachers from across the U.S. have already completed the course. The current spring, 2021, cohort is simultaneously training teachers, administrators, and course facilitators. These facilitators are course graduates and also Collaborative Innovation Fellows. Given their gained experience and expertise, these facilitators will be well positioned to conduct future online professional development for the Collaborative. Both teachers and administrators report a desire to continue their training. To do so, the 2020-21 cohorts have begun networking virtually to continue collaborations long-term through guidance and a networking platform provided by the Collaborative. By David Pyle, Collaborative Advisory Council member I have a confession to make: I love organic chemistry. It's true. My original education was in the arts. Music and a BFA in painting and drawing. Then I was ruthlessly seduced by chemistry, physics, and math. That combination fueled a deeply rewarding career in business and media. A career that never would have happened had I not studied music, art, AND science. Now, after 35 years that included managing consumer brand marketing, teaching, editing, writing, and executive leadership in publishing and media, I'm focusing on creating stories and resources that make those intersections between the arts and sciences - and the opportunities that arise within - clear and irresistible. For example, see the short resource videos at my CreativEnergy channel (https://tinyurl.com/5guohbwa) with titles like: ‘Mystery of the Portly Painting’ (did you know that oil paintings the world over are gaining weight at this very moment) and ‘Where'd that Color (Van)Gogh?’ (let's throw basketballs at poodle-shaped molecule models!). ‘From Caves to Charcoal to Carbon Fiber’ takes a Fred-Flintstone-Cro-Magnon guy from chewing on bear fat to inventing art-making to the molecular tetrahedrals of carbon.
I’ve had such a rewarding career - in business, teaching (art + Montessori), publishing and media - not because I operated as an “art-person” or a “science-type”, but because I’ve been fortunate to live and work in the convergence of the two. I had an inkling of what this could mean when I took my first college course in organic chemistry, a topic that people often say brings them to their knees. It was a summer program in which the class met for three hours each day, jamming two full semesters into just 10 weeks. I did well in the class. Really well. And I found that I loved the subject. Why? Because organic chemistry is highly sculptural. To understand what's happening at a molecular level, you have to be able to visualize what's happening in three-dimensions. I soon concluded that I was in love with the subject (in a way that other students clearly were not!) because of the experience I had as a visual artist. I could clearly SEE what was going to happen around the bonding sites of different molecules and the mechanisms that would drive their "dance”. Over a period of years, it became abundantly clear to me that one of the most powerful and effective routes to really seeing the mechanisms of chemistry and physics - and of business and management - is through the creative skills that come with an artistic, integrative eye and ear. I've written and spoken about the "Perfect Intersection" in the arts; the fact that learning in the arts creates context and meaning around and within the other disciplines. In the hopes of making that connection tangible and real for others - and to add another voice to the many excellent programs and resources being developed across the STEAM community - I've launched the aforementioned CreativEnergy channel. Free lesson plans and other resources will be added soon. Confessions of a love for other disciplines? There are so many others who can say the same. And while confession may be good for the soul - I hope it will also be good for STEAM! About David Pyle  David's 35-year career in the arts and business has been fueled by his education in music, painting, and chemistry. In addition to experience as a teacher, he's managed consumer brands in the artist's products category, serving as Director of Marketing for Winsor+Newton and then Brand Director for Liquitex. In 2000, his book, What Every Artist Needs to Know About Paints and Colors, was published by Krause. Over the last 15 years, he’s served as publisher for the largest media brands in the fine art-making and crafting categories, most recently as Senior Vice President/Group Publisher with F+W Media managing The Artist’s Magazine, American Artist, Watercolor Artist, Interweave Knits, Love of Quilting and, online, ArtistsNework.com, ArtistsNetwork.TV, QuiltingDaily.com and Interweave.com and more. Through it all, he's continued to paint. In 2020, he left the corporate media world and launched a number of art-making initiatives, a new marketing services group called Pyle Creative Studio, and a series of educational resources for the art and science community.
 By Juliana Texley, Collaborative Board member and former NSTA President
Is there a divide between science and imagination? Common conceptions of science as non-imaginative persist, but research suggests the critical role of imagination, both in the practice of STEM and in shaping learners' perceptions of themselves. Leaders at the Museum of Science, Boston, are exploring the intersections of imagination, STEM, and education practice in ways that are actionable for museum professionals. Their project will consider how research on imaginative thinking, and perspectives on the role of imagination in STEM practice and STEM education, can be systematically applied to support STEM learning in museum contexts. A grant from the Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program at the National Science Foundation (NSF) will support this project. This NSF division “seeks to advance new approaches to, and evidence-based understanding of, the design and development of STEM learning in informal environments; provide multiple pathways for broadening access to and engagement in STEM learning experiences; advance innovative research on and assessment of STEM learning in informal environments; and develop understandings of deeper learning by participants”. Research in the fields of neuroscience, psychology, child development, and education suggest ways that imagination can be fostered and improved. This evidence could be applied to the design of museum experiences to help improve STEM outcomes. The project will complete a literature review, a document review, and a survey of ISE (Informal Science Education) professionals. It will host a convening of STEM professionals (researchers, practitioners, educators, and others) and disseminate products designed to inform future project development. As a result of these activities, the leaders hope to prompt conversations about imaginative thinking, identify areas for future research, and influence future research. They hope to inspire imaginative thinking among public audiences through exhibitions, programs, and other designed experiences. The grant Principal Investigators are Rebecca Kipling and Christina Reich of the Museum of Science, Boston. You can find out more about the project at: https://nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1906899&HistoricalAwards=false Using Drama to Understand the Nature of Science“Using Drama to Expand Student Understandings of the Nature of Science” An article by Lydia E Carol-Ann Burke, Alison McAvella, and Anne Wessels For decades researchers have identified the affective barriers that prevent students from identifying with the roles and practices of science. However, the December, 2020, Science Teacher journal describes experiences that contributed to significant gains in student understanding of the nature of science. These pedagogical strategies allow students to express their feelings and describe experiences in ways that are not common in science education. In an introductory strategy, students sort 15 statements about the nature of science as “Agree” or “Disagree.” Then, students review their whole group’s record of agreement or disagreement and the teacher facilitates a discussion about understandings and students’ personal experiences. In Strategy 2, student pairs create ‘freeze-frame’ depictions (tableaux) to represent the relationship between Science and Student. This strategy of striking and holding a pose is similar to the recent mannequin challenge trend and could be explained and set up in the same way. In Strategy 3, students observe and discuss science-themed drama. The authors cite the Copenhagen movie as one example of a drama that allows students to consider the nature of science. In Strategy 4, students create scenes that represent extracts from a larger storyline. First, the class collectively generates a list of important contemporary scientific issues. These issues can be local or global and can be general or specific to the topic of study. After creating the list, students as a group prioritize the issues (e.g., using a dotmocracy survey or other voting strategy). The top-ranking issues are then distributed as topics for small group work. There, they develop a short scene based on the issue assigned. The goal is to work toward an “inciting incident”, an event that would propel the main character into the central problem of the story in a dramatic or life-changing way. The authors recommend that teachers be patient as students express themselves, being very attentive to the students’ comments, repeating and seeking amplifications and clarifications, until students are satisfied that they have clearly communicated their ideas. https://www.nsta.org/science-teacher/science-teacher-novemberdecember-2020/using-drama-uncover-and-expand-student Ya Gotta Have Art!ESL (English as a Second Language) students in the Engaging Newcomers in Language and Content Education (ENLACE) Academy at Lawrence (Massachusetts) High School, share the same challenges and more as native English-speaking students in these “unprecedented circumstances”. This started with an effort to get a 3-D printer for the art department. It ended up as a major effort in the Samsung Solve for Tomorrow program for ENLACE art teacher Shaddai Vargas. Samsung sponsors a national competition that challenges public school teachers and students to come up with STEM-based solutions to problems impacting their communities. The contest helped Lawrence students come up with a whole world of new possibilities that integrate art, engineering, and technology. Vargas writes: “Teaching STEM through PBL [Project Based Learning] is something that I want to continue for the positive impact it will have on the future…not just for my students but for our community and the world. Integrating technology and PBL in my art class opened a new special vibe where creativity and community are in a constant boost”. Vargas’ students’ projects involved looking for a solution to natural gas explosions, which had devastated homes in the community. As an art teacher, he felt the experience opened a “whole new world of opportunities” for his curriculum. https://www.eschoolnews.com/2021/02/10/how-an-art-teacher-tackles-stem-and-pbl/2/ REALM ProjectREopening Archives, Libraries, and Museums (REALM) is a research project conducted by OCLC (a global library cooperative), the Institute of Museum and Library Services, and Battelle (a global science and technology research institution). It will produce science-based information about how materials can be handled to mitigate COVID-19 exposure to staff and visitors of archives, libraries, and museums. Battelle has contributed data to guide the reopening process. Currently in the third stage of the project, the partnership is monitoring the protocols that have been developed. https://www.oclc.org/realm/home.html EvaluatinG Computer Workshops at the Science MuseumDafni Konstantinidi-Sofrona has reported on research about how computer workshops are interfacing with and supporting science learning in informal settings. The CoderDojo workshops at the Science Museum, London, United Kingdom, are part of the CoderDojo global movement of free, volunteer-led, community-based programming clubs for young people. CoderDojo believes that an understanding of programming languages is increasingly important in the modern world, that it’s easier to learn these skills early, and that nobody should be denied the opportunity to do so. https://www.nsta.org/connected-science-learning/connected-science-learning-march-april-2021/evaluation-computing Larry Ferlazzo offers “Ten Culturally Responsive Teaching Strategies for the Science Classroom” in Education WeekThis column summarizes the culturally responsive teaching experiences and recommendations of 4 teachers, such as:
https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/opinion-ten-culturally-responsive-teaching-strategies-for-the-science-classroom/2021/02 Building an Anti-racist Science ClassroomNSTA’s (National Science Teaching Assn.) Next Gen Navigator features a blog on ways to create a supportive and equitable environment in the science classroom. Some suggestions from the blog are listed below.
Read the entire blog at https://www.nsta.org/blog/building-anti-racist-science-classroom  The Collaborative’s Research Thought Leaders help provide the strong research foundation upon which the Collaborative’s work rests. Each Thought Leader is nationally and internationally recognized in their own field and brings an extensive depth of experience and expertise. They also are adept at working across disciplines. In our previous newsletters, we brought you interviews with each of our Thought Leaders. This new series will consider how you might apply some of their most important ideas in your STEAM work. To do so, we’ll use examples of the Collaborative’s successful application of these ideas in K-12 classroom implementation and teacher professional development. This first in a series of articles looks at STEAM’s relation to creativity and innovation. Future series articles will look at such topics as equity; interdisciplinarity; applications of these concepts to learning settings; STEAM educator training; and creating effective STEAM models. The easily readable information below is built upon the Thought Leaders’ newsletter interviews, on conversations with them, and on an in-person convening in Washington, DC, that was supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts. Creativity and Innovation For the Collaborative, the definition of creativity relates to novel ideas, while innovation refers to the application of those novel ideas to appropriate uses. THOUGHT LEADER INPUT
 APPLICATION
 In its position as a national STEAM education trailblazer, the Innovation Collaborative has adopted its position on STEAM education.
This position was thoughtfully developed by a team of Collaborative leaders representing arts, science, and humanities institutions, with continuous input by all Collaborative members across disciplines and learning settings. In this position statement, the Collaborative emphasizes the importance of equity, curiosity, and the application of competencies and practices across disciplines. These competencies and practices include, but are not limited to, fluency, originality, imagination, collaboration, problem-solving, risk-taking, and persistence. See Applying Research Thought Leader Wisdom article in this newsletter for more on applying creativity and innovation. The Collaborative’s STEAM position also emphasizes the importance of transdisciplinary learning. In this approach, boundaries are erased among disciplines, increasing learning in addition to cognitive and affective growth.  In the last newsletter we summarized just a few of the ways in which educators and guides have innovated to provide effective COVID learning environments when traditional methods were not possible. Over the past year, this process has progressed with additional thoughtful approaches and also research-based analyses of where we are and how we might move forward. Coping through Literature and the Arts More and more, thought leaders are looking beyond the current health crisis to plan for recovery. This includes not only economic and structural measures but also intense attention to psychological and emotional crises that the pandemic has caused. Increasingly, writers are recognizing the important role that literature and the arts have and must continue to play in this process. Here are just a few of the resources and articles that have appeared in the past few months: Trade Literature to Help Students Understand (Recommended by Angela Ding at Worlddreader.Org) The Unwelcome Stranger, by Drew Edwards & Diana Nawatene A grandfather advises children how to cope and be kind. I Love You, by Michael Ross Kwizera does not understand why she cannot be physically with her grandparents. Coronavirus: A Book for Children, by Elizabeth Jenner, Kate Wilson, Nia Roberts, & Axel Scheffler This non-fiction book answers questions children might have about the coronavirus. Hello, My Name is Coronavirus, by Manuela Molina Cruz An informative book narrated by the virus, itself. My Hero Is You, by Helen Patuck Sarah is upset because she cannot go to school. She feels unsafe. An imaginary dragon gives her comfort. The Virus-Stopping Champion by, Hilary Rogers A short story convinces children that they, too, can be champions. Read more at https://www.worldreader.org/now/6-books-to-help-your-children-understand-the-coronavirus/ Poetry for the Pandemic And the People Stayed Home (Family Book, Coronavirus Kids Book, Nature Book), by Kitty O'Meara A beautifully-illustrated poem that reflects the angst of in today’s world. Arts for an Anxious World - and More
How Art Helps Us Make Sense of COVID 19’s Incredible Toll. (from National Geographic) Contributed by Collaborative Innovation Fellow Julie Olson In a field outside of JFK Memorial Stadium in Washington, DC, artist Susan Brennan Firstenberg’s art helps Americans visualize our shared grief—a flag for every one of our COVID deaths. People come and help, praying and giving physical manifestation to what we are all experiencing. That is one of many memorials that have bloomed across the country. Another is by a thirteen-year old student in Sherman Oaks, California, who is spearheading the creation of a quilt. Eventually, all panels of this quilt will be assembled. Like these exhibits, other art installations throughout the country are addressing the country’s shared COVID experiences. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/2020/11/how-art-helps-make-sense-covid-19-incomprehensible-toll/ Our Kids Need Arts Education More than Ever: Here’s What’s Lost Without It (from Time) Frank Gehry calls on President Biden to empower school-age children to help heal themselves by restoring arts education because the arts…(help them) express and channel their emotions…and find their spirit’s song. He urges this emphasis on the arts so that children have the creative powers necessary to solve the problems we are leaving behind. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/our-kids-need-arts-education-now-more-than-ever-heres-what-is-lost-without-it/ar-BB1c6Q9j?ocid=msedgdhp/ From the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Teaching K-12 Science and Engineering During a Crisis The COVID-19 pandemic is resulting in widespread and ongoing changes to how the K–12 education system functions, including disruptions to science teaching and learning environments. This report describes high-quality instruction today, with tips for administrators, teachers and others. It emphasizes quality and equity, giving advice for managing and monitoring instruction. The free publication is available for download from the National Academies. https://www.nap.edu/resource/25909/interactive/?fbclid=IwAR0cufKezzb_-cCrlbi4skWinZk5SXkD2VQRlFV2zWdxZ86y-6qw8sy-xTw#.X3ZJmWof3RA.facebook And for lightness and pure joy… Pre-K Teacher Goes Viral After Sharing Virtual Classroom Dance Parties: “It’s About Bringing That Joy Factor” Azel Prather, Jr., went viral when he shared his virtual pre-school dance party on YouTube. Pre-pandemic, Prather taught preschool at Kipp DC Arts and Technology Academy in Washington, DC. He has long recognized those children who were “dancing in their seats” when they were supposed to be learning sight words. Dance was part of the program then and it is now, through Instagram and other social media tools. https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/pre-k-teacher-goes-viral-after-sharing-virtualclassroom-dance-parties-its-about-bringing-that-joy-factor-165553012.html The approaches above are different, but the message is clear. Moving forward, education will never be the same.  The Educational Theatre Association’s (EdTA) August survey, “The Impact of COVID-19 on Theatre Education,” has confirmed the profound effect of the pandemic on school theatre throughout the United States, leaving many programs at significant risk in the coming years.
The survey queried more than 11,000 middle and high school theatre educators about the status of their programs in the pandemic environment. Nearly 2,400 teachers responded, offering a snapshot of how COVID-19 has reshaped both their teaching methods and student learning opportunities. Analysis shows programs have suffered substantial revenue losses, with 91% of schools forced to cancel performances in spring 2020. For many programs, ticket revenue provides the main source of funding, as 44% receive no financial support from their districts. Money lost to investments in canceled productions coupled with lack of spring ticket sales created a ripple effect on current season budgets. In fact, 22% of programs faced cuts for the 2020-21 academic year. Many survey respondents reported 2019-20 revenue losses that were substantially more than they earned, and it is likely the economic downturn will limit other funding support this school year and beyond. For teachers, the impact raises short-term concerns about student recruitment, morale, and motivation as well as longer-term uncertainty about reductions in program capacity, external funding, and student opportunities. According to James Palmarini, Collaborative Advisory Council member and EdTA policy and advocacy advisor, the cancellations and lost revenue numbers were not unexpected, but still troubling. “We knew many theatre programs had to cancel their shows in the spring, but the numbers regarding those lost productions and revenue are still very sobering,” he said. Palmarini added there was hope from respondents for the current school year, with 59% answering “maybe” and 19% “yes” to a question regarding whether they thought they would produce a live show in 2020 or 2021, and 97% indicating they were returning to their positions in fall 2020. Seventy-five percent of educators stated they were starting the school year entirely virtually or in a hybrid model. The data on how they are adapting to the virtual environment suggests a broad range of strategies, with no predominant mode for reaching students. In the spring of 2020, the most frequently realized instructional strategies were virtual lessons taught asynchronously and available on-demand; project-based lessons spanning multiple class periods; instructional videos or digital games; and digital versions of lesson packets with worksheets. EdTA will conduct a follow up survey in the Summer of 2021. For a comprehensive summary of the survey results visit the EdTA Rapid Response Advocacy Center.  The National Coalition for Core Arts Standards (NCCAS) has launched Arts ARE Education, a national campaign encouraging school districts to continue to fund and support K-12 arts education programs in the 2021-22 school year. Given expected state and district budget cuts, calls for remedial education in tested subject areas, and the continued need for PPE equipment, NCCAS expects that arts programs across all disciplines will be at risk.
The campaign asks advocates of all ages to take these action steps through its website:
He added that the campaign is also mindful that students of color in high poverty districts are most likely to lose arts education access, given the limited resources the districts will have to continue with arts programs. “I think the Arts ARE Education campaign offers theatre education (and all arts education) advocates a great opportunity to raise their voices in a very grassroots way that can make a real difference for our students and the fields of theatre and all arts education.”  The Smithsonian has announced the 2021 Innovative Lives series. Over the past 25 years, the Institution’s Lemelson Center has hosted the Innovative Lives program series featuring more than 85 inventors, innovators, and entrepreneurs. Attendees can participate in informal chats. This year, Lemelson programs focus on diversity and inclusion in the invention ecosystem. The webinars in the series are open for free registration. Below are upcoming events. March 10: Growing Up with an Inventor and Sharing their Story through Film will feature documentary filmmakers Rob Lemelson and Cindy Yoon sharing stories and film clips from documentaries about their famous inventor-fathers.
April 14: Marilyn Hamilton, co-inventor of the Quickie Wheelchair, will speak with NMAH (National Museum of American History) curator Katherine Ott about her life as an athlete and inventor. May 12: Sarah Will, Paralympic skier and accessibility advocate, and Mike Schultz, inventor of the Moto Knee and Versa Foot, will come together to talk with NMAH sports curator Jane Rogers about their respective careers. Register for Growing Up with an Inventor  Rob Horowitz, Ed.D. Executive Director, ArtsResearch and Associate Director, Center for Arts Education Research, Teachers College, Columbia University. He is known for his arts education research that demonstrates the important relationships between in-school arts learning and cognitive, social, and personal competencies. The Collaborative’s Research Thought Leaders help provide the strong foundation upon which the Collaborative’s work rests. Each Thought Leader is nationally and internationally recognized in his/her own field and brings an extensive depth of experience and expertise. They also are adept at working across disciplines. A Thought Leader is featured in each Collaborative newsletter. In this issue, we visit with Rob Horowitz, Ed.D., whose expertise and research in arts education helps inform the work of the Collaborative. In a conversation with Collaborative Executive Director Lucinda Presley, Rob talked about his work and its relationship to the Collaborative. Tell us about your career. I was originally a working musician, but was always interested in education. I had three major educational experiences that helped prepare me for my work. In my first experience, I became a teacher in New York City. Because I wanted to make a difference, I taught music, computer science, social studies, and a lot of other things at an alternative high school for students who had dropped out or been suspended. I became the tech coordinator for the school. I helped these students get their alternative degrees. I helped a lot of students, but there were also were a lot of challenges. In that job, I learned a lot about education, city politics, and how schools work. It was an enormously educational experience for me. I had an undergraduate degree in music and history, so, while I was teaching at the alternative school, I went to Teachers College at Columbia for a master’s degree in music education. I liked it so much, I stayed for another master’s in music ed. and then a doctorate in music ed. My dissertation was on assessment of jazz improvisation. I ended up leaving the teaching job and concentrating on those degrees. I loved research. When I graduated, I ended up, in the 1990s, working for ArtsVision, a consulting firm based in New York City that did work all over the U.S. In this, my second educational experience, I helped ArtsVision with evaluation and assessment projects and curriculum and program development. We worked to re-energize arts education in New York City, which had been in decline for a number of years. The project resulted in a $36 million grant for NYC arts education, with $12 million provided by the Annenberg Foundation. For me, this was one of my main educational experiences because I learned about public policy, foundations, cultural groups, and their relationship to school systems. I also learned about how partnerships and collaboration work from all perspectives – from the funding to the teaching/practitioner side. Our work became the catalyst for New York City school districts to start emphasizing arts education once again. Tell us about your research. The Center for Arts Education Research at Teachers College, Columbia was awarded a grant from the MacArthur Foundation and GE Fund to study transfer, or how the arts can influence other kinds of learning. It was the largest study in a monograph, Champions of Change, that was published by the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities. Champions of Change has been widely distributed, and still has a strong internet life. Our study was called “Learning in and Through the Arts” (LIATA). My full-time job to manage that grant for a few years was my third major educational experience. I learned how to manage a large grant, how to think about transfer, and how the arts might influence other spheres of learning. The transfer model that we worked on and the ways of thinking about it has influenced my work ever since. (For more information on this transfer study, see the article “Transfer between Disciplines: A New Perspective” in this newsletter.) We developed a model which helped show that there are ways of thinking, feeling, and doing – competencies – that are unique to the arts and that also are applicable to other areas. Our model identified cognitive, social, and personal competencies and dispositions that are inherent to the arts and also applicable in other domains, that may provide the pathways to transfer. The model has been consistent with other models with some overlapping categories, such as Hetland and Winner’s Studio Habits of Mind at Project Zero, aspects of 21st Century Skills and CASEL’s Social-Emotional Learning Competencies. The consistency is encouraging and indicates we are collectively on our way to better understanding how the arts influence human development. Mary Hafeli, who worked on that project with me, and I were recently funded by the National Endowment for the Arts to reopen some of the LIATA data and do a secondary analysis. We found strong relationships between elaborative thinking skills and visual arts and drama. We also found that the outcomes we described in LIATA were strongest when there was effective collaboration between classroom teachers and arts specialists. What have you discovered in your research that points to the importance of the Collaborative’s work? From my standpoint, we can look at some of these areas we identified in LIATA and see whether or not they are applied in other areas. For instance, it is interesting to observe how creativity, imagination, and the willingness to express oneself are applied in the STEM world. All the things we found in our LIATA transfer study can be carried through to other areas. It’s important to look at how those competencies learned in the arts are reapplied in other areas – or vice versa. That is what the Collaborative is doing with its rubrics and and thinking skills – looking at transfer across disciplines. How do you think the Collaborative is moving the arts and arts education fields forward? Certainly we need this type of work across disciplines where we all learn from each other, where we can delve into these bigger questions, and where we engage in those questions of ways of thinking, ways of doing, and how these interact across subjects. This is so important. It’s important, too, that the Collaboratve is returning us to that, moving us out of our silos so that educators can think about those relationships. The arts very much needs this to help the arts teachers come out of their classrooms and interact with other teachers, for it’s important for them to be a part of their communities. What steps need to be taken in the future for K-12, out-of-school, and higher education to provide a firm foundation for the STEAM movement? This is a big question. I’m coming at this from the arts, and I know other Thought Leaders are coming at it from other disciplines. But, from my perspective, when talking about STEAM, we want to make sure that the arts experience has integrity as an arts experience. In other words, children are engaging in artistic thinking as part of the STEAM project, and I think the Collaborative has done a great job with that. There’s also expression, representation, and those cognitive, social, and personal areas that are part of the experience. To be STEAM, it must have some form of visual or performing arts in order to access the important arts competencies. How do you see the Thought Leaders and the Collaborative benefitting from their work together? Talking to people from different disciplines with different approaches is just amazing. The conversations we’ve had in our Thought Leader meetings and in our Collaborative meetings are some of the best conversations I’ve had in the last couple of years. This gives me a chance to really hear and explore things I might not have thought about, such as how someone is going to learn science or what that experience is like. This reflects on all our work and it’s one of the reasons I liked working on the LIATA project so much. We are all so focused on finishing whatever we are working on that we often don’t have the chance to step back and take a look at what it all means – why are we doing this and how we think about things more broadly. We are all so focused on the practical, but here, in the Collaborative, we also are thinking conceptually, and it’s very stimulating. It’s also really rewarding being a Thought Leader because in these rich conversations with Thought Leaders in other disciplines, such as science education and neuroscience, we are thinking about similar issues but from different points of view. I feel that there’s a consensus that the kind of transfer we are talking about, which is very hard to capture statistically, is conceptually what we all do in a way. We all learn in one context and apply that learning in another context – that’s what life and learning is. It’s not about subject to subject, say art to STEM, though there is some of that. Instead, it’s a way of thinking about things, say, about imagination and creativity. Since our subjects do get siloed in schools, this is helping because children work across those connections, integrating artistic thinking and STEM thinking. Do you have any other thoughts you’d like to share? I’ve been thinking a lot about the situations we are in because of COVID. As children go back to school, the arts are more important than ever because they bring a sense of community to the school. They also create a sense of identity and a way for children to relate to each other in multifacted ways. Though it’s tough times and children need to learn the basic skills and not fall behind, they also need to be able to feel, to express and make connections, and this is where the arts are so important in developing those cognitive, social, and personal skills. We must be vigilant to make sure that the arts and these skills are kept in place. This is not just arts for the arts’ own sake, as important as that is; it’s because these competencies that the arts engender benefit so many other areas central to their development. The arts content is the pathway for the development of these important competencies. It’s these competencies that enrich children’s lives for years to come. Resources that address Dr. Horowitz’ research: Learning In and Through the Arts – Champions of Change NEA Secondary Analysis of Learning In and Through the Arts Critical Links What You See Is What You Get: The Development of an Observation Strategy, VSA, Contours of Inclusion English Language Acquisition Through Dance and Theater: Impact and Pathways Connections: The Arts and Cognitive, Social, and Personal Development, in Partnering Arts Education: A Working Model from ArtsConnection, Dana Foundation  Transfer, in the education world, is where competencies, skills, practices, processes, and/or content from one discipline can be applied to another discipline or context. It is an important issue to consider as we work to give today’s students vital creative (novel idea) and innovative (applying the novel idea) thinking skills for academic success and strong workforce preparation. The concept of mutual transfer among disciplines underpins the Collaborative’s goals of promoting creative and innovative thinking for K-12 and out-of-school-time students by focusing on disciplinary practices, processes, and competencies as students learn the required content.
The Collaborative’s arts Research Thought Leader, Rob Horowitz, Ed.D. (See “Meet Research Thought Leader” article in this newsletter.) has done significant research on the concept of transfer, having explored this concept for over 20 years. He and his colleagues have developed a strong transfer model that has received significant recognition, including its dissemination by Arts Education Partnership (AEP), the national arts organization that supports arts practice through research and policy. This model is found in Dr. Horowitz’ work, “Learning in and Through the Arts: The Question of Transfer” (https://scinapse.io/papers/2119313428 and https://www.aep-arts.org/wp-content/uploads/Champions-of-Change_The-Impact-of-Arts-on-Learning.pdf). It looks at the issue of transfer more broadly and deeply than before. It points to competencies acquired in arts learning that are applicable in other subjects and to life in general. The arts content and skills, Dr. Horowitz says, though important in their own rights, can provide these pathways for transfer. The compentencies in this transfer model are cognitive development, social development, and personal development. Cognitive competencies include creative thinking skills such as fluency, originality, imagination, and elaboration, in addition to focused perception. These, then, facilitate the ability to change perspectives, express ideas, and create meaning. The social/emotional competencies include the abilties to collaborate, communicate, and empathize. The personal, or affective, learning competencies include risk-taking, persistence, self-confidence, and the student’s ownership of his/her learning. All of these, he points out, can be carried over to other disciplines and contexts. As examples of this transfer in action, he points to the long history of science where famous scientists worked across disciplines. This includes the naturalist John James Audubon, who used art as a way to understand and record his scientific observations of birds, and Leonardo daVinci, who used art to understand scientific phenomena, including dissections of the human anatomy, and to conceptualize his engineering designs. These men transferred art skills and competencies into scientific fields to promote their own understanding and to communicate meaning. As important as the transfer of arts competencies to other disciplines is, he says, it is important to note that transfer of practices or competencies also can be conveyed from other disciplines to the arts. His study on transfer went beyond the concepts from the 1980s and 1990s that saw transfer as unidirectional from the arts to enhance learning in other subjects, such as arts enhancing test scores. It noted that skills engendered in other disciplines, such as creativity and critical and divergent thinking, can transfer back to enhance arts learning. This can be promoted, he points out, by shared ways of thinking between disciplines so that transfer then could be multidirectional, interactive, and dynamic. The implications from this research, he points out, resonate strongly with the Collborative’s work. The Collaborative’s research has documented the importance of transdisciplinary learning where students integrate different disciplines’ practices, competencies, and content interdependently and simultaneously, seeing that one discipline cannot complete the task without the other. This, in turn, contributes to a deeper understanding of each discipline to achieve an overarching synthesis. This synthesis can help solve problems, explain phenomena, create a product, and more. “It’s important that educators think about these relationships and move out of our silos,” he points out, to provide our students even richer and more valuable educational opportunities. An example of this transdisciplinary learning where different disciplines’ practices, competencies, and content are multidirectional, interactive, and dynamic occurred with 95 second grade underserved rural students (see image). They were given the problem of using the Elements of Art to invent a 3D wheel that could navigate Mars’ sandy and rocky surface. Through initial hands-on experiences integrating both disciplines, they combined their grade-level science concepts of texture, mass, rolling, and spinning with art concepts of line, shape, texture, and form (related to mass). They also integrated disciplinary practices such as (science) observing, asking questions, experimenting, developing a solution, testing, evaluating, using data to develop a conclusion, and (art) creating, presenting, responding, and connecting. They then used these science and art concepts to design and make their invention and write a team presentation that would show how well their invention solved the problem. One two-person student team creatively thought of their wheel having feet with magnets on them to “stick” to Mars’s magnetic soil that is high in iron oxide. They also added scoops to the wheel to scoop up the soil to test it. In their experiences, they didn’t separate the disciplines’ concepts and practices by thinking “I’m doing art now” or “I’m doing science now”. Their inventing process transcended each of the disciplines, driven by a strong synthesis that was richer than each individual discipline and that solved their problem, like in a real-world scenario. In the process, the students used many of the cognitive, social, and personal competencies outlined in Dr. Horowitz’ model. Assessments showed strong student integration skills and understanding of content. An increase in creative thinking was evident in 89% of the students. In addition, 100% of the teachers believed these experiences developed students’ critical thinking skills. One teacher said, “This enhanced my students because the kids got to use their own creative thinking and it brought them joy and they found a purpose they’ve never had before”. This is evidence of an important takeaway from Dr. Horowitz’ study on transfer. He emphasizes that, while it is important that competencies engendered by arts learning can transfer from the arts to other subjects, it also is important to understand that important competencies used in a variety of other disciplines and can transfer back to the arts, and then go back and forth, with no one discipline having priority over another. This way, the strength of each discipline can flow to enhance other disciplines, and, ultimately, students’ learning and thinking for the present and for their futures.  Collaborative member national education institutions have risen to the challenge to help their stakeholders adapt to the current COVID challenges. We asked representatives from these institutions to give us the top 3 strategies that their institutions are using to effectively address COVID for their stakeholders.
Below are impressive strategies that these institutions are using. These strategies can benefit the entire STEAM field. Crayola Cheri Sterman, Director of Education At Crayola Education we are meeting teachers where they are and bringing a message of new opportunities to the discussions.
Dramatic Results Christi Wilkins, Executive Director We are transforming our delivery to engage with our students/families/collaborators by:
Educational Theatre Association Jim Palmarini, Director of Educational Policy, Reimagined the student-driven International Thespian Festival (ITF) and the annual EdTA Conference for teachers as virtual events (2,000+ attendees for ITF-V and 900+ for Conference)
International Technology and Engineering Educators Association Steve Barbato, Executive Director
National Association of Gifted Children Bess Wilson, Immediate Past Research Network Chair; Assistant Professor, Department of Foundations and Secondary Education, University of North Florida
National Dance Educators Association Susan McGreevy, Executive Director
National Science Teachers Association Tricia Shelton, Director of Professional Learning and Standards Implementation
 By Christi Wilkins, Collaborative member and Executive Director of Dramatic Results
The Collaborative’s spring, 2020 newsletter included information about the Dramatic Results™ panel presentation at the Arts Education Partnership’s Annual Convening (fall, 2019) titled Systemically STEAM: Tips for Forming a STEAM Ecosystems. Dramatic Results also presented at the 2020 SLECoP Virtual Convening (October, 2020). In this session, titled Resilience and Resolve – The Power of Thriving STEAM Learning Ecosystems, presenters shared their successes and failures in integrating the arts with STEM through a cultural/psycho-social framework. The session documented Dramatic Results’™ work when its own resilience and resolve were put to the test this past spring. As schools across the world adjusted to the current global health crisis, the agency swiftly pivoted its in-person operations within four weeks, replacing all in-person programs with live, virtual STEAM programs using Zoom. As a direct result of their investment in cross-sector dissemination and community-building efforts, they have expanded their original 7-member local STEAM Ecosystem (including: U.S. Sailing Center; Long Beach Public Library; Historical Society of Long Beach; Growing Experience; an urban farm located on the grounds of a housing project; engineers from Boeing and Northrop Grumman; a Bravo TV chef; and The Social Justice Sewing Academy) into a regional and national collaboration with Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Museum of Design, a digital artist from Fab Labs, a neuroscientist from Duke University’s TIP Program, Start Science, and ReDiscover. By leveraging its growing STEAM Ecosystem, Dramatic Results™ has been able to offer engaging online classes on topics that include cyborg prototyping, genetics of “dragon breeding,” design thinking in healthcare, video game design, photography, movie-making, and mixed media art. Students responded to the new format almost immediately, with consistent levels of engagement, especially through the site’s chat. Dramatic Results™ is further expanding its STEAM Ecosystem reach to serve Calvert County Public Schools (CCPS) in Maryland, a rural community with few resources. This fall, CCPS will serve its first virtual STEAM cohort, which will provide under-resourced gifted girls across six middle schools an after-school “hands-on” live virtual STEAM program. You can learn more about Dramatic Results™ and how to start building a STEAM Ecosystem in your community. Download a FREE copy of the Dramatic Results™ STEAM Mapping Tool™ here.  By: Jonathan Katz, Collaborative Strategic Planning Committee Chair and Collaborative Strategic Advisor Mission The Innovation Collaborative is a national transdisciplinary¹ forum to foster creativity,² innovation,³ and equity⁴ in teaching and learning. Purpose The Innovation Collaborative provides information about how effective intersections of the arts, sciences, humanities, engineering, math, and technology (STEAM) can reinforce innovative thinking. To that end, it identifies, conducts, and disseminates research. By supporting teaching and lifelong learning, the Collaborative encourages networking and collaboration across disciplines, institutions, and individuals in both in-school (formal) and out-of-school (informal) settings and the intersections of the two. Vision We envision a diverse, equitable, and inclusive society where:
Goal 1: Improving Practice To promote and share research about the many ways that the intersections of the arts, sciences, humanities, engineering, math, and technology (STEAM) promote creative and innovative thinking in all audiences and demographics
Goal 2: Collaboration To create equitable opportunities for individuals and institutions to convene and share in interdisciplinary conversations, collaborations, and experiences that lead to a shared vocabulary, a common understanding of the value of these intersections, and an appreciation for their applications
Goal 3: Policy Development and Implementation To identify shared beliefs among individuals and institutions regarding the importance of the arts, STEM, and humanities (STEAM) intersections in teaching and learning, resulting in a policy agenda and individual policy statements that form the foundation of equitable collective efforts
DEFINITIONS Transdisciplinary¹
 Creative Thinking²
Innovative Thinking³
Equity⁴
 In response to COVID and the Collaborative’s focus on diversity, the Collaborative is growing its National Endowment for the Arts-funded national online teacher professional development for 2020-21.
A number of K-12 teachers completed the first iteration of this professional development in the spring semester, 2020. Due to COVID, all experiences for teachers and students were virtual. Teachers who completed the course commented on the effectiveness of the course and its strategies, lessons, and examples. Since all their experiences were entirely virtual, they will be able to return to the course in 2020-21 and apply the lessons and the Collaborative’s research-validated assessments in their in-person classrooms with students. They will be joined by teachers who were not able to complete the course in spring, 2020, in addition to teachers whom the Collaborative is recruiting for this opportunity. This includes teachers of color and teachers of diverse students who are being recruited. For those teachers who are new to this K-12 online professional development in academic year 2020-21, there will be an an additional focus on culturally responsive teaching (CRT). Many STEAM strategies strongly dovetail with CRT strategies. This year, the project will look at effective strategies for integrating CRT with the online STEAM teacher professional development. (Please see Culturally Responsive Teaching and Collaborative K-12 STEAM Effective Practices in this newsletter.) The State Education Agency Directors of Arts Education (SEADAE) recently published a white paper that offers an in-depth look at STEAM from the K-12 perspective. Funded by the National Endowment for the Arts, this effort engaged state arts education directors, along with Collaborative Executive Director Lucinda Presley and Strategic Advisor Jonathan Katz. Also included were leaders of the California Arts Project and Young Audiences Arts for Learning.
This white paper points out that by effectively integrating STEAM instruction into their classrooms, educators can help prepare today’s students to address global challenges needing creative and innovative thinking. It looks at effective pedagogy, learner and teacher empowerment, assessment and evaluation, STEAM sustainability, and implications for research. It is a valuable resource for educators in all disciplines. You can find the white paper at: https://www.nationalartsstandards.org/sites/default/files/SEADAE-STEAM-WHITEPAPER-2020.pdf What should artistic and cultural leaders aspire to exemplify and accomplish in a time of crisis? Innovation Collaborative Strategic Planning Advisor Jonathan Katz published a series of four blogs on the Americans for the Arts website entitled Leadership Success in a Crisis Environment. They are intended to stimulate dialog about characteristics desirable in leaders during crises, the ways effective crisis managers think, the special needs and opportunities for leadership during crises, and the management principles that prove most valuable during crises. Jonathan welcomes feedback as well as forums for discussion of the ideas.
 By: Diversity Committee Chair Amanda Upton
Editor’s Note: Since its inception, the Collaborative has worked to address the needs of diverse students and teachers. In 2019, its Diversity Committee launched an even more focused initiative to address these needs. The Collaborative’s Diversity Committee has been actively engaging with diverse education leaders, which, in turn, have provided the Collaborative with valuable insights regarding STEAM and equity, bringing a richer perspective to our work. By strengthening the Collaborative’s membership with expert diverse perspectives and including experts in various disciplines, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), and diverse audiences, we continue to gain greater insight. These unique perspectives help ensure we are more effective, with the highest standards, and are addressing the needs of the diverse populations. This work aligns with our mission of fostering transdisciplinary learning through creativity, innovation, and equity in teaching and learning. To that end, we are excited to welcome, as part of the Collaborative, administrators and educators who are working with us to enrich our work with diverse populations. Lillian Poats, PhD, Professor, College of Education, Texas Southern University, an HBCU, is currently engaging in our K-12 classroom and teacher professional development. Bernell Peltier-Glaze, PhD, Interim Dean and Professor, College of Education, Texas Southern University, is providing culturally responsive teaching for all teachers in the Collaborative’s National Endowment for the Arts-funded national online teacher professional development and is assisting with the Collaborative’s out-of-school time project. Dr. Poats and Dr. Peltier-Glaze are both involving Texas Southern University’s current and past student teachers in our teacher professional development initiatives. Sharon Delesbore, PhD, who is a Fort Bend (TX) Independent School District (HISD) middle school administrator and president of the Association for Multicultural Science Education (AMSE), is working on the Collaborative’s Strategic Plan Committee and has provided valuable insight with her expertise on equity and diversity and how the Collaborative can best frame the Strategic Plan in an inclusive manner. Florentia Spires, STEM Instructional Leader in Prince George’s County Public Schools (MD) and the National Science Teaching Association’s (NSTA) District III (DE, DC, and MD) Director, has joined the Collaborative’s K-12 Effective Practices Committee. The Collaborative also has two award-winning diverse science educators, Richard Embrick, from the Houston, Texas area, and Melissa Collins from Memphis, Tennessee. In our out-of-school time initiative, we are pleased to welcome Jasmine Sadler, an aerospace engineer, mathematician, and dancer, who leads the STEAM Collaborative in San Diego, CA. All of these educators bring personal and professional perspectives that are enriching the Collaborative’s work in a manner that can only be brought to the table by their life experiences. We welcome them and look forward to continuous engagement with their expertise.  There are many innovative programs across the country that are integrating the arts with STEM. Below are some very engaging examples that were funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF). Embodied Physics See how dance centers in Boston, MA, collaborated with TERC, MIT, and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution to provide embodied learning for African American and Latino students. This project included the youth working with physicists, choreographers, and educators to demonstrate their science learning and make it relevant to their lives. About the Project and NSF Project Description. Theatre and STEM Learn how science educators, youth development experts, and learning science educators from Boston College partnered with Watertown Children’s’ Theatre in Boston, MA, to develop plays based on relevant scientific themes. This study looked at how the youths’ science identity was affected by this project. NSF Project Description Tech and Puppetry Discover how to use puppet-making and performance to teach prototyping skills. These easy lessons are made available through a project partnering Atlanta’s Center for Puppetry Arts and Georgia Tech researchers. The practitioners showed how everyday electronics can be integrated with personal expression. About the Project and NSF Project Description   Transfer, in the education world, is where competencies, skills, practices, processes, and/or content from one discipline can be applied to another discipline or context. It is an important issue to consider as we work to give today’s students vital creative (novel idea) and innovative (applying the novel idea) thinking skills for academic success and strong workforce preparation. The concept of mutual transfer among disciplines underpins the Collaborative’s goals of promoting creative and innovative thinking for K-12 and out-of-school-time students by focusing on disciplinary practices, processes, and competencies as students learn the required content.
The Collaborative’s arts Research Thought Leader, Rob Horowitz, Ed.D. (See “Meet Research Thought Leader” article in this newsletter.) has done significant research on the concept of transfer, having explored this concept for over 20 years. He and his colleagues have developed a strong transfer model that has received significant recognition, including its dissemination by Arts Education Partnership (AEP), the national arts organization that supports arts practice through research and policy. This model is found in Dr. Horowitz’ work, “Learning in and Through the Arts: The Question of Transfer” (https://scinapse.io/papers/2119313428 and https://www.aep-arts.org/wp-content/uploads/Champions-of-Change_The-Impact-of-Arts-on-Learning.pdf). It looks at the issue of transfer more broadly and deeply than before. It points to competencies acquired in arts learning that are applicable in other subjects and to life in general. The arts content and skills, Dr. Horowitz says, though important in their own rights, can provide these pathways for transfer. The compentencies in this transfer model are cognitive development, social development, and personal development. Cognitive competencies include creative thinking skills such as fluency, originality, imagination, and elaboration, in addition to focused perception. These, then, facilitate the ability to change perspectives, express ideas, and create meaning. The social/emotional competencies include the abilties to collaborate, communicate, and empathize. The personal, or affective, learning competencies include risk-taking, persistence, self-confidence, and the student’s ownership of his/her learning. All of these, he points out, can be carried over to other disciplines and contexts. As examples of this transfer in action, he points to the long history of science where famous scientists worked across disciplines. This includes the naturalist John James Audubon, who used art as a way to understand and record his scientific observations of birds, and Leonardo daVinci, who used art to understand scientific phenomena, including dissections of the human anatomy, and to conceptualize his engineering designs. These men transferred art skills and competencies into scientific fields to promote their own understanding and to communicate meaning. As important as the transfer of arts competencies to other disciplines is, he says, it is important to note that transfer of practices or competencies also can be conveyed from other disciplines to the arts. His study on transfer went beyond the concepts from the 1980s and 1990s that saw transfer as unidirectional from the arts to enhance learning in other subjects, such as arts enhancing test scores. It noted that skills engendered in other disciplines, such as creativity and critical and divergent thinking, can transfer back to enhance arts learning. This can be promoted, he points out, by shared ways of thinking between disciplines so that transfer then could be multidirectional, interactive, and dynamic. The implications from this research, he points out, resonate strongly with the Collaborative’s work. The Collaborative’s research has documented the importance of transdisciplinary learning where students integrate different disciplines’ practices, competencies, and content interdependently and simultaneously, seeing that one discipline cannot complete the task without the other. This, in turn, contributes to a deeper understanding of each discipline to achieve an overarching synthesis. This synthesis can help solve problems, explain phenomena, create a product, and more. “It’s important that educators think about these relationships and move out of our silos,” he points out, to provide our students even richer and more valuable educational opportunities. An example of this transdisciplinary learning where different disciplines’ practices, competencies, and content are multidirectional, interactive, and dynamic occurred with 95 second grade underserved rural students (see image). They were given the problem of using the Elements of Art to invent a 3D wheel that could navigate Mars’ sandy and rocky surface. Through initial hands-on experiences integrating both disciplines, they combined their grade-level science concepts of texture, mass, rolling, and spinning with art concepts of line, shape, texture, and form (related to mass). They also integrated disciplinary practices such as (science) observing, asking questions, experimenting, developing a solution, testing, evaluating, using data to develop a conclusion, and (art) creating, presenting, responding, and connecting. They then used these science and art concepts to design and make their invention and write a team presentation that would show how well their invention solved the problem. One two-person student team creatively thought of their wheel having feet with magnets on them to “stick” to Mars’s magnetic soil that is high in iron oxide. They also added scoops to the wheel to scoop up the soil to test it. In their experiences, they didn’t separate the disciplines’ concepts and practices by thinking “I’m doing art now” or “I’m doing science now”. Their inventing process transcended each of the disciplines, driven by a strong synthesis that was richer than each individual discipline and that solved their problem, like in a real-world scenario. In the process, the students used many of the cognitive, social, and personal competencies outlined in Dr. Horowitz’ model. Assessments showed strong student integration skills and understanding of content. An increase in creative thinking was evident in 89% of the students. In addition, 100% of the teachers believed these experiences developed students’ critical thinking skills. One teacher said, “This enhanced my students because the kids got to use their own creative thinking and it brought them joy and they found a purpose they’ve never had before”. This is evidence of an important takeaway from Dr. Horowitz’ study on transfer. He emphasizes that, while it is important that competencies engendered by arts learning can transfer from the arts to other subjects, it also is important to understand that important competencies used in a variety of other disciplines and can transfer back to the arts, and then go back and forth, with no one discipline having priority over another. This way, the strength of each discipline can flow to enhance other disciplines, and, ultimately, students’ learning and thinking for the present and for their futures.  Collaborative member Jasmine Sadler is one of 120 women of color across the US that are working scientists who are being honored with a full-size statue in the If/Then exhibit sponsored by Lyda Hill Philanthropies. The exhibit was inspired by a study showing that fewer than six statues of women exist in the main parks or downtowns of the 10 top American cities, in addition to San Francisco, CA, and Washington, D.C. In this exhibit, more women statues will be assembled in one location than ever before. The exhibit was scheduled to open May 1 in Dallas, TX NorthPark Center, but the opening has been rescheduled due to COVID.
Ms. Sadler, who is a rocket engineer and a classical ballerina, also has an MBA. She is CEO of the STEAM Collaborative in San Diego, CA. She says, ”I am so grateful to be among the more than 120 Women Ambassadors in Science. This opportunity has shown girls all over the world that there are women who look just like them that are great problem solvers with style. I am so proud to say we are doing our part to expand the mindset of all people. This includes myself because I now have multiplied by 10 the number of PhD STEM Women in my network!” She also pointed out that, through this work, she will be an ambassador for STEAM. She is an integral part of the Collaborative’s out-of-school-time STEAM initiative and the strategic planning committee. Find out more about Jasmine and this exhibition at: http://wise.nautil.us/feature/607/3-d-printed-statues-in-central-park-shine-a-light-on-women-scientists?mc_cid=52cd39af09&mc_eid=c1418e8265  By Juliana Texley, Innovation Collaborative Board Member and former President, National Science Teachers Association
It often takes a major event to upset the status quo and for real change to occur. The U.S. Department of Education issued its first Star Schools grants to improve and evaluate online education in 2000. While the potential of online systems was clear twenty years ago, very little innovation occurred in the pedagogy until this year. In March 2020, schools across the nation were suddenly shut down and teachers had to adopt new methods almost overnight. Educators across the globe reached for skills and methods that they never thought they would need. Best practice couldn’t simply involve readings and worksheets or lectures via Zoom. Innovation happened! For this issue of the Innovation newsletter, we surveyed to find suggestions and links for a program near you. Talk Isn’t Cheap At the most basic level, nurturing innovation online begins with communication skills. That original Department of Education study twenty years ago emphasized two important elements of online interactions—open collaboration and creativity. Those elements are being reintroduced today in the best programs. One of the key ideas that teachers then and now recognize is summarized by Sharon O’Malley¹. Online discussions should be between students, not teachers and individual learners, she points out. What seems logical is, in truth, a tremendous challenge when a teacher moves from face-to-face to asynchronous online dialogue. Learning to “stop talking” online was one of the first changes teachers had to make as the transition occurred. Spatial Reasoning A second key principle of good online learning also included in O’Malley’s review, the intersection of science and the arts, is often spatial reasoning and how it is a skill that is both innate and learned. The online environment can be just as effective in discovering, manipulating, and developing spatial reasoning skills. Deborah Kris² shows that very specific methods can be incorporated to decrease gender gaps as well. Incorporating spatial reasoning tests, games, and building experiences into standard online courses can bring them to a level that could not be achieved in any other way. Unfortunately, it is awkward to incorporate spatial learning, art, and graphical analysis in many traditional online learning platforms. Therefore, the teacher may find it necessary to juggle not one but several learning management systems simultaneously. While these platforms may not be compatible, in the past several months teachers across multiple subject areas have demonstrated it is possible to deliver effective instruction through these strategies. Great Examples from the Arts and Physical Education Students today find online arts a motivational dimension of their shared experience. But it is still rare to see these skills woven into the fabric of science and social studies courses online. This is partially true due to the limited imagination of the programmers who develop the platforms. They might remember education as it was when they were students themselves, but they haven’t necessarily considered sites and apps that can be adapted for blended learning. When teachers make the effort, innovation enriches the at-home experience. Here are just a few examples of innovative resources:
______________________________ 1. O’Malley, Sharon. (2017). Effective Teaching Online. https://www.insidehighered.com/digital-learning/article/2017/07/12/7-guidelines-effective-teaching-online 2. Kris, Deborah Farmer. (2015). Can Teaching Spatial Skills Help Bridge the STEM Gender Gap? https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/43802/can-teaching-spatial-skills-help-bridge-the-stem-gender-gap |
