What is the research?
This national project will develop a broad overview of how the sciences, technology, engineering, arts, math, and humanities (STEAM) intersections are being addressed in all out-of-school learning settings. It will serve as a basis for developing a national research-based foundation for the STEAM movement in out-of-school learning settings.
It will study
What do you mean by interdisciplinary learning?
In this project, interdisciplinary learning is the process of integrating disciplines and concepts in a variety of ways to promote creative and innovation thinking. Actions could include concepts’ interacting, blending, linking, synthesizing, or transforming. Examples of interdisciplinary learning could be:
What do you mean by creative and innovation thinking?
Based on extensive consultations with nationally-recognized experts in creative and innovation thinking and with national representatives from the arts, sciences, and humanities, the Collaborative’s copyrighted definitions are:
How will the research benefit me as a practitioner?
Who is eligible to submit?
All education practitioners in any out-of-school learning setting can submit.
How do I submit?
Out-of-School Effective Practices Survey
See above link to start the survey
Why is this research project important?
The Workforce and Innovation 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 Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts/humanities, Math (STEAM) movement is expanding exponentially in a variety of venues.
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 54 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/humanities learning applications.
Minimal Data on Effective Practices
However, research has demonstrated that there is a great need for significant data documenting the impact of these intersections in a variety of settings. (Root-Bernstein, 2016)
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 delivering a workforce that can innovate.
Deadline: June 30, 2017
Where do I go with questions?
Email: info@innovationcollaborative.org
This national project will develop a broad overview of how the sciences, technology, engineering, arts, math, and humanities (STEAM) intersections are being addressed in all out-of-school learning settings. It will serve as a basis for developing a national research-based foundation for the STEAM movement in out-of-school learning settings.
It will study
- How out-of-school institutions are designing and implementing interdisciplinary learning opportunities that promote creative and innovation thinking.
- The wide variety of out-of-school learning experiences. These experiences include school field trips, non-school-related group experiences (such as summer camps or scouting), or experiences in which an individual student participates outside of a group. That individual student could, however, be informally grouped with other individuals, as in an impromptu museum demonstration or as part of a family.
- Early childhood through higher education students
- The intersections of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) with the arts and of STEM with humanities
- In-person experiences that are a result of specific programming. For example, while an exhibit, contest, or performance alone would not be researched, the programming related to it could be an important part of the study.
- Be used to strengthen the STEAM movement and to develop further in-depth studies of the impact of these intersections on learning and thinking in out-of-school learning settings.
What do you mean by interdisciplinary learning?
In this project, interdisciplinary learning is the process of integrating disciplines and concepts in a variety of ways to promote creative and innovation thinking. Actions could include concepts’ interacting, blending, linking, synthesizing, or transforming. Examples of interdisciplinary learning could be:
- Using the iterative engineering design process to create kinetic sculptures in the art classroom
- Integrating the study of plants with an illustrated creative writing exercise, in addition to explorations of landscape architecture and irrigation engineering, in a science classroom.
What do you mean by creative and innovation thinking?
Based on extensive consultations with nationally-recognized experts in creative and innovation thinking and with national representatives from the arts, sciences, and humanities, the Collaborative’s copyrighted definitions are:
- Creative thinking is the process of generating novel and valuable ideas that can then be explored and/or expressed.
- Innovation thinking is the process of taking creative ideas to appropriate applications.
How will the research benefit me as a practitioner?
- You and your institution will be recognized on the Collaborative website as a part of this important broad look at STEAM in out-of-school learning settings.
- You will have access through the Collaborative, upon completion of the study, to other participating practitioners nationally who are doing exciting work at these intersections
- You will receive a free one-year membership to the Innovation Collaborative, which includes newsletters, STEAM updates, and important connections with leaders in this field.
- You will receive a certificate documenting your participation.
- You will have the opportunity to be named a Collaborative Innovation Fellow. The Fellows will comprise the Innovation Collaborative's planning team for the next phases of research, become STEAM exemplars, and receive a stipend.
The Fellows will be those practitioners whose submissions most effectively promote the creative and innovation thinking skills used as criteria.
Who is eligible to submit?
All education practitioners in any out-of-school learning setting can submit.
How do I submit?
- Download the Survey Questions pdf that has a list of the information that you will submit.
- As you can see, the responses are brief, and much of the information you give is through drop-down menus.
- Be sure to read the section on the pdf related to the thinking skills that are the focus of this research.
- Choose your lesson or experience that deeply promotes at least 3 of these thinking skills.
- Prepare your submission in Word or other such platform that can be saved on your computer.
- Click on the link below to begin your submission. The website will save your work for 2 weeks. After that, your work will be erased, so please be sure to complete your work in 2 weeks.
- When you have finished submitting your work, click “Submit”. After that, you will not be able to go back to your work.
- Once you submit, you will then receive a “Thank You for Submitting” acknowledgement that your work has been successfully submitted.
Out-of-School Effective Practices Survey
See above link to start the survey
Why is this research project important?
The Workforce and Innovation 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 Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts/humanities, Math (STEAM) movement is expanding exponentially in a variety of venues.
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 54 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/humanities learning applications.
Minimal Data on Effective Practices
However, research has demonstrated that there is a great need for significant data documenting the impact of these intersections in a variety of settings. (Root-Bernstein, 2016)
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 delivering a workforce that can innovate.
Deadline: June 30, 2017
Where do I go with questions?
Email: info@innovationcollaborative.org
