Resources
publicationsComplicating STEAM: A Critical Look at the Arts in the STEAM Agenda
Complicating STEAM: A Critical Look at the Arts in the STEAM Agenda
This entry offers a critical perspective of the role of the arts within the popular STEAM agenda. Most loosely defined, STEAM can be understood as incorporating the arts into the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) acronym for the purpose of introducing a focus on art and design into these four subject areas. This entry first questions what the A in the STEAM acronym actually represents. The entry then argues that a focus on any discrete set of disciplines prioritizes some domains of practice, while overlooking others. The entry goes on to encourage a more distributed approach to pedagogical practice that is less about establishing catchy acronyms that privilege some disciplines over others – and more about supporting young people and adults in becoming multimodal learners capable of making connections between and beyond the disciplines.
activities and practicesTake Apart
Take Apart
Mechanical dissections are a practice that allows learners to discover the often hidden design of objects.
thinking routinesParts, Purposes, Complexities
Parts, Purposes, Complexities
This thinking routine helps learners slow down and make careful, detailed observations by encouraging them to look beyond the obvious features of an object or system. This thinking routine helps stimulate curiosity, raises questions, and surfaces areas for further inquiry.
documentation and assessment toolsAbD Framework: A Guide for Educators
AbD Framework: A Guide for Educators
A resource for educators to explore the ways you can use the Agency by Design Framework and Making Moves/Indicators.
thinking routines“联系互动” 的思考模式 (简体版）
“联系互动” 的思考模式 (简体版）
这个思考模式鼓励学生能够慢下来，仔细观察其中一个系统。通过这样帮助学生更好地认识具体系统里无论是直接或间接相关的人物，学生也会注意到系统里任何一点变化，也许都会有意无意地影响到系统的其它方面。
thinking routinesThink, Feel, Care - Adapted for Early Childhood Education
Think, Feel, Care - Adapted for Early Childhood Education
This routine encourages students to consider the diverse perspectives that different people within a particular system may have based on their role in the system. This routine fosters perspective taking and can help children generate new questions and/or ideas about the system, how it works, and how it might be improved.
Field NoteDeveloping a Sensitivity to the Design of Teacher Learning Communities
Developing a Sensitivity to the Design of Teacher Learning Communities
A community of teachers and researchers work together in Cambridge, MA and Temescal, CA to learn more about how students understand design in the world.