by Often, science and art are described as very different things. That narrative can start early, and children are encouraged to undertake STEM – science, technology, engineering and maths education – which may or may not include arts education.
As an acting professor, I didn’t think much about the STEM fields until I received a fellowship to integrate the arts into STEM education models. I took the opportunity to write and direct a play for primary school students that showed how the arts can enhance and expand work in STEM fields when properly integrated – but it was not an easy process.
STEM or STEAM?
Whether STEM should be expanded to STEAM – science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics – along with the arts is still a matter of debate.
The origins of STEM education can be traced as early as the Morrill Act of 1862, which promoted agricultural science and later engineering in land-grant universities. In 2001, the National Science Foundation pushed for a focus on STEM education to make the US more competitive in the world.
A Biden-Harris initiative launched in December 2022 called You Belong in STEM offers support of more than US$120 billion for K-12 STEM education through the year 2025. But, starting in 2012, an audit conducted by the United States Research Council on the idea of STEAM Education.
Researchers have found that the arts create space for curiosity and innovation when integrated into STEM education. Why, then, the lack of agreement and consistency as to whether it should be STEM or STEAM?
The trend toward an emphasis on STEM education may be due to the higher salaries of future STEM majors or the significant funding tied more to STEM-based research and grants than to the arts. STEAM education takes more time and is more complex than the traditional STEM education model.
Or it could simply be that many academics in STEM fields lack the incentive to engage in interdisciplinary work that brings in the arts, and vice versa. In fact, that was exactly the situation I was in as an arts-based researcher trying to create something about STEM disciplines that I knew little about.
Putting on the drama
It took me several efforts and a lot of research to get the script of my STEAM-centric drama to its current form.
First, I made basic discoveries. I learned that there is an ongoing debate about whether the arts should be included in STEM education. I learned that many STEM education models do not include “soft sciences” like psychology. I did not have a background in most of the disciplines that comprised STEM. And I was struggling to find a project that inspired me.
But in the end I started working on five one-act plays, entitled “The STEAM Plays: Using the Arts to Talk about STEM”. Each focused on the STEAM education category. I wrote the first draft of the show with a chip on my shoulder, trying to prove that the arts were indeed related to STEM education.
The tone was defensive and encouraging – and not entirely appropriate for the original age range I was aiming for.
The new, revised version that toured Michigan elementary schools in the Fall of 2023 features 20 comedic scenes and songs that dramatize how the arts are central to many STEM fields. These include how engineering skills go into designing a celebrity’s evening gown, how bakers need to know basic chemistry, and how TikTok’s mathematical algorithms find new videos for each user.
In each of the scenes, students can see how artistic imagination and creative thinking expand STEM education.
Over the stage
These themes stem from a broader scholarly understanding that STEM is not done in a vacuum of creativity, and encouraging students’ artistic thinking will help them in both the science classroom and the art studio.
One plot point of the show involves an evil genius who thinks the arts are less important trying to keep the arts away from STEM. He alternates the bodies of scientist and actor, as well as engineer and creative writer. In each physical exchange, the STEM professional and the artist recognize how similar their work is. In the final scene, the evil genius tries to change the bodies of Pythagoras and Taylor Swift, only to realize that music is about mathematics.
This article is part of Art & Science Collidea series that explores the intersections between art and science.
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Many teachers have provided excellent reviews. “The plays did an excellent job of emphasizing the importance and value of the arts in our education system,” noted one. “The students walked away beaming with a deeper understanding of how all the different aspects of STEAM could work together.
STEAM education in which students learn soft skills such as empathy, collaboration, emotional intelligence and creativity through the arts helps prepare students for the job market. And these discussions are not limited to K-12 education – many research grants encourage interdisciplinary work.
My understanding of the STEM and STEAM debate and my experience writing, performing and watching how people respond to my show helped me understand how the arts are essential to every student’s education. I learned that STEM students’ big-picture thinking skills can be wasted without artistic imagination.
It only took writing a children’s play for me to get it.
This article is republished from The Conversation, a non-profit, independent news organization that brings you facts and analysis to help you make sense of our complex world.
It was written by Rob Roznowski Michigan State University.
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Rob Roznowski received Michigan State University funding from two sources. As part of the $10,000 STEAMpower Fellowship https://grad.msu.edu/news/steampower-facultystaff-fellows and the Humanities and Arts Grant Proposal System. https://research.msu.edu/humanities-and-arts-research-program The first fellowship covered writing and research. The HARP was awarded to tour and design the play. $7000
