On the Horizon

Innovating with STEAM in middle school classrooms: remixing education

Danielle Herro Cassie Quigley
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 Innovating with STEAM in middle school
classrooms: remixing education
Danielle Herro and Cassie Quigley
Danielle Herro is an
Assistant Professor in the
Department of Education
and Human Development,
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Clemson University,
Clemson, South Carolina,
USA. Cassie Quigley is
an Associate Professor of
Science Education at
Clemson University,
Clemson, South Carolina,
USA.
PAGE 190 ON THE HORIZON VOL. 24 NO. 3 2016, pp. 190-204, © Emerald Group Publishing Limited, ISSN 1074-8121
Abstract
Purpose – This paper aims to broaden the conversation regarding STEAM by investigating the new
form of education. The novelty of science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics (STEAM)
instruction in K-12 classrooms means few cases of STEAM teaching are documented in depth.
Design/methodology/approach – As part of a larger multi-year study researching STEAM teaching
practices in 14 middle school classrooms in the southeastern USA, the article first summarizes prior
research findings and then presents ideas for higher education and K-12 researchers to consider when
incorporating STEAM teaching in pre-service education, professional development and in classrooms.
Then, the authors use a second-order narrative approach to describe three cases of teachers enacting
STEAM practices in classrooms.
Findings – Drawing on the notion of “remixing” education in the context of STEAM, the authors show
how each teacher alters existing practices, instead of offering entirely new instruction, as they
implement STEAM teaching.
Originality/value – With few cases of STEAM teaching detailed in the depth, this paper advances the
understanding of STEAM teaching practices in K-12 classrooms.
Keywords Case study, K-12 science and mathematics, Remixing education, STEAM teaching
Paper type Case study
Introduction
Researchers and educators in K-12 and higher education grapple with understanding and
explaining the move from STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) to
STEAM. This is, in part, due to the newness and lack of research in STEAM. In a recent
Education Week article, Jolly (2014) describes a tug-of-war between STEM and STEAM
advocates, arguing that both have merit, but that STEM focuses more heavily on math and
science for a particular purpose, while STEAM might consider design, computer graphics,
performing arts, creative thinking or even playful problem solving when exploring and
designing solutions. For instance, Glancy (2014) proposes a STEM framework for
integrating K-12 engineering challenges with science or math units, focusing on solving
specific issues related to authentic local or global problems. On the other hand, a STEAM
unit might be transdisciplinary (defined as moving beyond discipline-specific integration),
without a clear focus on math, science or engineering, but instead on the social practices
emulating concerns in the local community (Guyotte et al., 2015).
Despite the lack of research on STEAM teaching practices in K-12 classrooms (Kim and
Park, 2012a, 2012b), numerous schools have emerged supporting the inclusion of the “A”
in STEM as promoting the arts and humanities to assist in STEM learning (Delaney, 2014).
Supporters of STEAM suggest widely recognized STEM approaches are often so narrow
that they fail to emphasize student creativity and expression. Watson and Watson (2013,
p. 1) draw on a 1959 lecture from Charles P. Snow, an English chemist and novelist, to
argue the scientific and humanistic schism that has existed for centuries in Western culture
DOI 10.1108/OTH-03-2016-0008
 has failed to acknowledge the value of “art and imagination in the process of generation of
scientific knowledge”. They also discuss the emergence of Do-it-Yourself and Maker
Movement communities as evidence for mainstream acceptance and examples of informal
STEAM practices, concluding that K-12 should learn from what works in industry and higher
education. Kim and Park (2012a) similarly conclude STEM education in elementary and
middle school is rigidly focused on science and math and is missing the opportunity to
engage young learners through art and creativity. Bequette and Bequette (2012) discuss
the intersection of creative processes, when using mediums prolific in the art world to
represent concepts or object, and design thinking as ways to solve scientific problems.
Some argue that STEAM teaching, particularly in K-12, has already been represented in
strong STEM programs over the years through creativity and innovation in teaching
methods and presentation options (Williams, 2013). These educators suggest STEAM
learning is demonstrated, for example, in robotics challenges that might be solved and
demonstrated via student videos, or offering students elective courses in computer
programming or coding. Others have interpreted the acronym STEAM in ways to meet their
curricular goals, proposing the “A” might address architecture (Shaffer, 2013) or
agriculture (National Research Council, 2009). In general, these conversations have
resulted in predictive reports (Johnson et al., 2015), conceptualization of theoretical
frameworks for STEAM (Kim and Park, 2012b) and classroom examples focused on sharing
ideas (Edutopia, 2014); while important, the reports, models and ideas have included little
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empirical data.
The fact remains that relative novelty of STEAM means few cases of STEAM teaching are
documented in depth. This paper aims to broaden the conversation regarding STEAM
teaching by detailing three cases of teachers enacting STEAM practices in their
classrooms. We draw on results from a multi-year study researching STEAM teaching
practices with 43 teachers in 14 middle schools in the southeastern USA. First, we
summarize data and findings from two phases of the study, and then contextualize each
example while using the data to tell the teachers’ stories. We present ideas for higher
education and K-12 schools to consider when incorporating STEAM teaching in pre-service
education, professional development and in classrooms. Using a second-order narrative
approach (Crewell, 2007, p. 119) where “researchers construct a narrative about other
peoples’ experiences”, we focus on three teachers involved in the study. This recognizes
the importance of understanding participants’ different contexts as we examine issues of
enactment of this new form of education (i.e. STEAM teaching). Furthermore, we introduce
the idea of “remixing” education in the context of STEAM, as it is apparent each teacher
alters existing practices versus offering entirely new instruction when striving to improve
STEAM teaching. The term “remix” has been recognized in media culture (music, art, video
or narratives) for decades and was made popular again by scholars such as Jenkins (2008)
who describe remixes in artist work when people “apply their own variations to it, essentially
remixing it to suit their own style”.

Results of previous research

Over two years, 43 math and science teachers participated in a three-course sequence
of graduate classes entitled STEAM Digital Media and Learning, STEAM Problem-Based
Learning and STEAM Reflective Practice. The final course included a yearlong field
placement in which all teachers were observed twice enacting STEAM practices by the
course instructors, and each participant completed an additional peer observation of
other STEAM teachers enacting STEAM. Additionally the teachers completed unit plans
(see Appendix A1) and participated in a leadership activity provided by the district (e.g.
short on-site professional development or workshops, sharing STEAM units at regional
conferences) as a way to increase understanding of STEAM teaching among
colleagues. Overall, the research conducted in the first two courses yielded results as
follows:

VOL. 24 NO. 3 2016 ON THE HORIZON PAGE 191

  by taking the role of students during the first two courses and collaborating across
disciplines while solving a relevant problem, teachers improved their understanding of
how to approach transdisciplinary teaching;
 the teachers believed they had to slowly move toward teaching across disciplines; it
was difficult for them to simply begin working in a transdisciplinary manner;
 problem-based learning and collaborative technologies greatly assisted teachers in
understanding STEAM principles and learning content, an important step toward
STEAM teaching;
 it became clear that incorporating the “A” in STEAM required increased involvement by arts
and humanities educators, in both professional development and classroom settings;
 a one-week intensive course was not sufficient for teachers to feel prepared to fully
implement STEAM. Continued professional development, observations and feedback on
teaching and support adjusted to teachers’ classroom and school context helped teachers
to significantly shift teaching practices; and
 most teachers could successful teach STEAM units posing relevant, local problems using
problem-based instruction. They increased methods allowing for student inquiry and
choices. They also used technology integration in a manner that facilitated students’
collaboration and media creation, versus using technology solely as an instructional tool.
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Methods
For this paper, we draw on observations, reflective journals, interviews, discussion board
entries and survey data from three teachers involved in the prior studies who teach at
different schools within different contexts:

1. Sabrina, a teacher at a newly opened STEAM school.

2. Katie, a science and social studies teacher at a traditional school.
3. Theresa, an Instructional Support Specialist at progressive middle school (the school
was interested in moving toward school-wide STEAM practices).
Using a data analysis approach common to narrative methodology, we describe the set of
experiences, identify and classify stories and interpret the larger meaning (Crewell, 2007)
to understand and explain each situated experience.

Teacher and context

First, we present a lesson synopsis from Sabrina Craft (all names and schools are
pseudonyms), a 6th grade science teacher, at a newly opened school that was structurally
designed for STEAM learning. At Franklin Middle School, teachers work in learning pods,
or central, physical meeting spaces that promote disciplinary collaboration. The school
uses block scheduling with 90-minute classes, common planning time is built into the
weekly calendar and each student receives a touch-screen computer for academic work.
Instructional leaders encourage co-designed curricular units. For example, you might see
science, social studies, English/language arts and math teachers working together to
present students with an integrated unit on designing an ecosystem and proposing a plan
to accommodate a new animal habitat at the local zoo. The unit might involve designing
and presenting a plan for an ecosystem considered appropriate habitat for the species,
space and budgetary considerations, sustainability and historical significance to the local
area – drawing on all of the abovementioned disciplines.

The lesson
The lesson began with Ms Craft showing students an electronic book on the Promethean
Board, and reminding them to complete an assignment that involved watching a short
presentation and taking a quiz within a digital textbook on their laptops and reminders

PAGE 192 ON THE HORIZON VOL. 24 NO. 3 2016

 about how they could check their progress. Students were given 10 minutes to play a digital
board game with their group on classifying animals, followed by watching a 5-minute
BrainPop (www.brainpop.com/) video on vertebrates and invertebrates. Ms Craft reminded
students about an upcoming virtual zoo fieldtrip where they would be videoconferencing
with a zookeeper, before posing the problem they were to collaboratively solve:
A zoo expert suggested our class help out the [local] Zoo by creating a relevant fact sheet and
media to educate the public on vertebrates and invertebrates. Zoo media relations need your
expertise in presenting visitors with this information.

She discussed more specific requirements and distributed a criteria sheet on Google
Classroom outlining potential Internet research, images or use of plastic animal figurines for
their research and media presentation. Students began working in groups of three; they
were to choose specific animals for their research, not an entire classification. Ms Craft
circulated, reminding them what they needed to do to complete their research, while
students openly chatted about their tasks and, at times, asked Ms Craft for assistance with
information, clarification or to preview their presentation designs. On this particular day,
students were searching the internet and designing with paper and pencil, flip charts, video
and presentation software.
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Sabrina’s reflection on STEAM teaching

In all, Sabrina implemented three extensive STEAM units during the first semester of her
work at Franklin Middle School. She reflected on her successes and challenges and
provided advice to other teachers considering STEAM teaching. She talked about
integrating both new and old pedagogical practices in her teaching, altering what was
effective in the past to offer STEAM learning experiences. This included more attention to
student choice and directed efforts to get students to collaborate. She explained:
I jumped in feet first and students started by designing their own native plant garden based on
the school’s yard design. I found that giving students a variety of choices and using Google
Classroom and all of the related apps have increased collaboration. In some of my PBL units,
students were presented with a problem and had to find a way that was best to present their
idea or topic to the rest of the class. They could even choose drama, speech, or songs.
Dramatic role-play has been fun to use in the classroom and it has been helpful to see if
students understand the context and meaning of, say, science vocabulary. I have also tried to
develop stronger units with a focus on careers and jobs and connecting them with recent
events.

She further commented on incorporating methods she had effectively used in the past
saying:
Some teaching methods that I have used for years continue to be very effective. I check their
science notebooks for reflections and understanding of the day’s lesson, and I also continue to
use rubrics as a means of grading projects. Peer review is also used for student accountability,
I probably do that more now, but I have been using peer review for a long time.

Sabrina reflected on the challenges she encountered as she changed her teaching
approach:
Even with block scheduling, I feel some time constraints when trying to team with other teachers.
At times parents are concerned about projects with collaborative work, wondering if grades
represent the team or their son/daughter. Although our students have access to a lot of
technology, I wanted them to make an iMovie and we had limited iPads. And, I had to consider
training them to use the platform since some students are not use to movie editing. However, I
think iMovie is the best to use for quick, simple, and user-friendly movie making. Students who
would not normally want to complete an assignment or work willingly with a partner [they] loved
showing and their creativity by making a movie, even if it wasn’t their favorite topic.

When reflecting on her overall practice in journal and discussion board posts, Sabrina’s
biggest concerns involved appropriate use of technology, promoting inquiry skills in

VOL. 24 NO. 3 2016 ON THE HORIZON PAGE 193

 students versus providing them with too much information, and covering the requisite
content to meet 6th grade science standards.

Teacher and context

Second, we present the case of Katie Atwood, a 7th grade science and social studies
teacher at Phillips Middle School. Katie has been teaching for six years, although this is
only her second year in this district. Phillips Middle School is a traditional middle school in
that there is not a particular focus on STEAM curricula. Rather, three teachers from this
school attended the summer STEAM courses, and they are tasked with implementing
STEAM in their classes. While they have each other for support, Phillips Middle School has
not adopted STEAM as a school-wide implementation. Katie’s case provides context for
teachers who are interested in implementing STEAM practices but may not have a full
commitment (e.g. scheduling restraints, lack of school-wide STEAM adoption, inflexible
pacing) from their school.

The lesson
Katie designed the following problem scenario:
Just 8 days ago there was an earthquake of a 2.0 magnitude in a nearby city. In fact,
earthquakes happen all the time and are becoming more and more prevalent. While most are
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minor and we cannot even feel the earth shifting, major earthquakes cause serious damage and
have the potential to harm and kill people. Your task is to determine whether or not a major
earthquake (8.0 or greater) could ever take place in our state. You and your team will gather
your evidence to support and defend your answer to this question. Once you decide whether
or not an earthquake could occur locally, you will create a video, which will inform the public
about your decision and discuss implications of this.

In this lesson, students worked in teams to research about fault lines located in the state,
as well as learned about the reasons earthquakes happened. Some groups also spent time
researching where major earthquakes occurred and the implications of these devastating
events.

Katie’s reflection: STEAM teaching

As described above, Katie’s approach to STEAM often included a real world
problem-scenario that the students would solve, but instead of including all the disciplines,
it often included two or three disciplines. This problem scenario foregrounded the STEAM
unit, and incorporated science and technology readily, but also at times Katie integrated
other disciplines as well. Below Katie describes how she integrated math in her science
lesson about earthquakes:
This week, I was able to integrate math with science: a bit of a cross-disciplinary integration. The
lab we did was entitled “Voyage to the Center of the Earth”, and the requirement was for
students to make a model of Earth’s layers on a piece of ticker-tape. The students used scaled
measurements of the Earth’s layers and measured out these layers on ticker-tape.

Katie’s context was different from Sabrina’s in that she was one of three teachers from her
school that participated in any STEAM professional development. However, because she
worked with a different team of teachers to plan units, she attempted to train her teaching
partners (other science and social studies teachers) in STEAM. To make STEAM
manageable she commented:
This week in science I began planning for my team’s first full-blown PBL unit. I designed this unit
to be a shorter, more manageable unit in order to help myself, my team, and my students get
acclimated to this kind of instruction. It appears, from the first six weeks of class, that our
students are not accustomed to group work or independent learning, and so this project being
a transitioning step will likely be to their benefit.

The next week, a STEAM-related activity that the students participated in was the creation
of a topographic map model. Students were given Play Dough and were instructed to

PAGE 194 ON THE HORIZON VOL. 24 NO. 3 2016

 create their own mountain made of concentric layers. They were to draw the profile of the
mountain and then take the mountain apart to trace each layer, creating a topographic
map. They were instructed to include a river and a steep and sloped side of the mountain,
however other than that, they could make their mountain look however they wanted.
Observational logs by researchers noted that while this was a great engineering and
science activity, it was really divorced from any real-world connection. To really make this
a STEAM activity, there might be a challenge or purpose in developing a mountain that
serves a certain purpose or designing a model topographic map of a specific region in the
state that needs such a map for a certain purpose.

Teacher and context

The third case is of Theresa Walls, an instructional coach of Washington Middle School.
Theresa was a teacher for 10 years before becoming an instructional coach last year.
Washington Middle School adopted a STEAM approach to teaching in 2012-2013, and was
in fact the first official school in the district to do so. Prior to shifting toward STEAM
practices, the teachers underwent a district professional development wherein they
collaboratively planned a STEAM unit across multiple disciplines – science, technology,
engineering, arts and humanities and mathematics. These planning sessions occurred
during the school day and the district hired substitutes so that the teachers have time to
plan the unit together. In 2013-2014, they began implementing these planned units. In the
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summer of 2014, Theresa took the STEAM classes detailed in this research.
The difference between this school and the previously described cases is that the school
was not created with STEAM in mind, like Franklin Middle School, however, teachers
received supports such as common planning time and opportunities to change the
schedule so that students could have longer blocks of time to work on the STEAM projects.

The lesson
Washington Middle School’s entire 6th grade teaching team planned a STEAM unit wherein
the students were learning about food deserts and were asked to figure out what could help
local food banks provide fresh fruits and vegetables to people who do not have access to
these foods. The students decided to build a school garden. As a part of this project, they
planned, created and built an outdoor garden. The goal was to grow vegetables that could
be donated to a local food bank. The project included designing a garden with multiple
raised beds, compost bins, irrigation system, as well as crop rotation schedule. To design
the plans, the students created 3D models of the garden using Google Draw. Then they
presented the plans to a panel of experts, with one plan selected by a panel. After the plan
was chosen, the students implemented it by creating schedules for the classes, preparing
and planting all of the beds. Once the vegetables are harvested, students will donate them
to a local food bank. The teachers divided specific tasks into their subject areas (e.g. in
ELA they worked on the presentations for the panel. In science class, they learned about
the appropriate plants for the climate region and life cycle of plans. In math, they calculated
the surface area and volume of the spaces and created materials lists based on these
measurements).

Theresa’s reflection
As described above, the common planning time provided opportunities to integrate the
content in a variety of disciplines. Theresa discusses this in her reflection when she states:
Our whole 6th grade team met to work on our STEAM unit and everyone is on board with our
plan to have students create proposals to fix up the outdoor classroom. Our social studies
teachers came up with a better way to connect the unit to their content: they are going to have
some groups come up with a better plan for irrigation in the garden and connect these ideas of
irrigation to the ways in which historically farmers in the state had to work around issues of
drought and flooding. These common planning times really help to make sure the larger STEAM
project is being connected in each of the subject areas.

VOL. 24 NO. 3 2016 ON THE HORIZON PAGE 195

 Another strategy Washington Middle School employed was altering the schedule so
students and teachers would have longer blocks of time to work on the project. Below is
Theresa’s statement about the structure of these alternative scheduled days:
I took the Google survey results from a few weeks ago and placed the kids into a base
classroom based on their interest. The ELA classrooms will be working on classifying and caring
for the plants currently in the garden, social studies will work on a plan for irrigation, math
classes are trying to improve the pathways and gathering areas, and science classes are
coming up with plans for the raised beds. We had the students go to their homeroom
classrooms for 1st-2nd period and then return for 5th-6th period, that way they have large
chunks of time to work on the project. We plan to use this alternative schedule for 5 days total.

While not required to implement STEAM, this flexibility in schedule provided students with
opportunities to delve deeper into the content, begin to problem-solve ways to build the
school garden, and work in their collaborative groups for extended periods of time. This
recognizes that learning should move beyond discrete set of content or skills and that when
given longer chunks of time to work on projects, these contents and skills can be applied
in authentic ways, such as in the example above–to create a school garden. Additionally,
this flexibility allows for experts in the community to work with students providing a
real-world context to these STEAM projects. Theresa discusses ways in which they involved
experts in the field to help students’ draw deeper connections about the project:
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We introduced the project with a Powerpoint that showed pictures of the garden’s current state,
the project goals, and the driving question, “How can we make Falcon Falls a true outdoor
classroom for Washington Middle?” Mrs Bobbi Anderson, a retired teacher that originally started
the outdoor classroom, spoke to our kids about the history and creation of the garden. I’m
looking forward to seeing the kids’ final projects after we continue work on Monday and
Tuesday. We also had a horticulture expert from XX come in and talk to the kids. He gave them
tons of useful information. The kids were even more excited about their projects after he left
because he gave them so much more information to add. It was really amazing to watch how
excited the kids were about this project and hear them say at the end of the day: “I love school!”

These experts inform the curricula in multiple ways. In addition to providing real-world
connections, they also help the teachers see the importance of STEAM teaching. Theresa
describes this in her reflection:
One of the unique parts of my job is that I get to meet with members of the community and share
our STEAM experiences. We have a STEAM Advisory Committee that meets just about every
month. This group is members of the business community who come to find out what we are
doing and how they can work with us at XX. We keep hearing over and over how the processes
and skills that we are teaching students through STEAM are exactly what employers are looking
for.

Discussion: effective STEAM teaching through remixing education

Next, we discuss the three instances of teachers implementing STEAM teaching in their
classrooms drawing on their commonalities, successes and challenges within different
contexts to highlight what this might imply for teacher preparation, professional
development and classrooms wishing to integrate STEAM teaching. An underlying
constant between the instances was the idea that a STEAM teaching approach was not an
“add-on” to the curriculum, a new curriculum, a specialized program or an entirely new
pedagogical approach. Instead, the teachers “remixed education” to alter, appropriate or
shift existing curricula and pedagogy to enact new (STEAM) teaching with varying levels of
success. We use this frame in our discussion.

A school built for STEAM teaching and learning

Sabrina’s case demonstrates that even with the structural (learning pods, schedule,
collaborative furniture) and pedagogical support of STEAM-created school, the teacher
found it helpful to rely on tools, resources, current curricula and prior effective teaching

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 strategies. For example, while Sabrina stressed new (to her) instructional approaches such
as PBL, choice and collaborative work in the STEAM units, she typically began with direct
instruction. She used the Promethean Board and encouraged student responses having
them interact individually with digital quizzes or responding as a whole class to short video
clips. Her instructional units included topics she had explored numerous times within her
12 years of teaching and, similar to prior approaches, she rotated from group to group
while students worked collaboratively. Sabrina’s use of science notebooks, rubrics and
peer review may have looked slightly different in terms of content and expectations, but
they were a clear alteration of already existing approaches. She also used many of the
same digital tools she had been incorporating in student learning for a few years (e.g.
Powerpoint, Edmodo, Internet research and online videos).
Successes. Her journal reflections, interviews and discussion board responses pointed to
shifts in STEAM teaching to include a problem-based, holistic approach to exploring
STEAM topics, a greater emphasis on collaborative work throughout the entire unit,
directed efforts to tie each broad problem to a real-world issue (she used scenarios) and
a willingness to offer students greater choices to enhance creativity when demonstrating
learning as noted in the examples where students could use drama, speech, songs, iMovie
or various Google Apps. Similar to Williams (2013), assertions, Sabrina demonstrated
creativity in teaching methods and presentation options, however her authentic,
problem-based approach offering students open-ended inquiry versus a single challenge
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to solve was different than what students would likely experience in a robotics, computer
programming or STEM elective course.
Challenges. While Sabrina clearly altered her teaching practices, she continued to be
concerned about too much direct instruction, appropriate integration of technology and
whether requisite standards were being met. Despite block scheduling, she struggled with
time constraints and worried that parents might complain about collaborative projects and
grading.

STEAM teaching in a traditional classroom

Like Sabrina, Katie used problem scenarios to engage her students. Although her teaching
tenure was relatively short – just six years, and she was arguably less entrenched in the
“craft of teaching”, she still relied on past practice to guide her instruction. Her earthquake
unit and topographic map activity were not a marked departure from prior topics
addressed in her curricula, and she found cross-disciplinary (math and science or science
and engineering) relatively easy to enact. That said, she made shifts toward STEAM in her
teaching practice. For example, she was able to create real-world problem scenarios to
guide her teaching. Additionally, she discussed the importance of formative assessments
during the STEAM units and discussed how technology aided in being able to do this
quickly and make adjustments to her teaching based on this information.
Successes. Katie was also able to succeed in getting other colleagues to work with her
despite the fact that the school did not fully adopt STEAM teaching. Furthermore, Katie
purposely developed shorter STEAM activities and units to make shifting practice more
manageable, and recognized that students needed time to transition to increased
group work or even independent work that entailed less guided instruction. She noted
that she once stopped dictating every aspect of the lesson (i.e. allowing the students
choice in research questions and paths of study), the students were able to
demonstrate their learning in “new ways”. For example, she discussed how she saw
strengths in students who were previously disengaged from school and emerged as
leaders in their groups.
Challenges. As a science and social studies teacher, she admittedly struggled to offer
instruction that was not so tightly aligned to science and social studies skills and
content where students could not see the real-world relevance (i.e. it was not clear to
students how creating a topographical map might solve any real-world problems, or

VOL. 24 NO. 3 2016 ON THE HORIZON PAGE 197

 who might use them locally or what sort of solution might be designed based on their
intended use). Grouping students to offer collaborative opportunities and connecting
the topics to local issues were less intuitive and challenging. However, Katie asked for
assistance in developing these skills when the course instructors observed her STEAM
units. Not unlike Kim and Park’s (2012a, 2012b) findings, Katie, understandably, often
found herself extremely focused on ensuring content and standards were covered. She
was not yet fully comfortable beginning with a broad STEAM topic and relevant
problems and then considering ways to explore the disciplines, content and standards
through the problem. Moreover, because her school required common planning, a
practice common in US middle schools, to enact STEAM in her classroom, she taught
her teaching partners the basics of STEAM. However, this “training” occurred in spurts
as the team only had a few hours a week of common planning time. Additionally, as the
most novice teacher of her team, as challenges arose (i.e. difficulty with technology,
pacing and formatively assessing students), it became difficult for her to navigate the
situations. As Nettle (1998) states, it takes time and long-term support for teachers to
make significant changes to their teaching practice. Because Katie was not yet
comfortable with STEAM teaching in her classroom, it was difficult for her to help guide
other teachers who had not undergone any formal professional development.

Instructional approaches in a STEAM-themed school

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Theresa teaching context was unique in that she served as a support for other teachers in
the school, and she had administrative and school-wide support to assist in STEAM
implementations. The additional flexibility to alter current schedules, disrupt pacing and
modify current units of study allowed her to assist in bridging a number of disciplines. The
creation of a sustainable food garden was a transdisciplinary unit that addressed and
involved numerous disciplines naturally through the nature of the problem, which was
providing a sustainable food source. Theresa’s teaching teams were closely involved in the
planning of the unit and creation of an engaging problem, but they focused primarily on
supporting learning by modifying what they already had expertise in, in essence they
remixed content and strategies they were comfortable with to support the larger unit. This
was evident in the involvement of all the teachers at the school. For example, during the
garden project, the health teacher connected the project to her teaching and the ELA
teachers used debate as a way to help the students understand the complexity of food
deserts. The art teacher was also involved in that they created murals for the gardens that
depicted the strength of the community. In this way, the students were able to experience
connections beyond one classroom. The teachers remarked that they felt this was one way
the disciplinary lines could be blurred and students were able to experience authentic
problem solving.
Successes. Because of the support systems in place, the teachers were able to create
and implement a STEAM unit that extended beyond their classroom, which provided the
students with an opportunity to see how different disciplines work together to solve
problems. Additionally, during the days that they were able to change the schedule,
they were able to bring in community members, which provided expertise about the
project. Theresa commented on how this was formative for the students. It helped them
see the real-world connections and understand how the problems can be solved in
multiple ways. Moreover, the teachers were able to work collaboratively which provided
them with another level of support when challenges arose such as pacing or schedule
changes.
Challenges. While instructional time and pacing was flexible, testing schedules and
requisite standards created somewhat of a dichotomy between STEAM and non-STEAM
units. It wasn’t clear if all teachers would extend STEAM practices to other teaching.
Additionally, the amount of time to create an authentic unit that involved science, math,
ELA, social studies, arts and technology was inordinate and likely impossible without
administrative support. Similarly, because of the pacing guide, Theresa noted there

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 was likely not many times during the year that the curricula would line up in authentic
ways.

Implications and conclusion

Based on our research and the cases detailed in this paper, we propose that to
effectively shift teaching practices to embrace STEAM methods, teacher might draw on
and alter, or remix existing practices, instead of adopting entirely new curricula,
specialized programs or engaging in entirely new pedagogical practices. The cases
above illuminate how STEAM teaching can be implemented with some success whether
the context is a school built for STEAM teaching, a traditional setting or through
school-wide STEAM-themed activities. The cases acknowledge the difficulties and
challenges no matter what the context, and provide insight into what might be useful for
other educators moving forward in STEAM teaching, thus we conclude by drawing
implications for higher education and K-12.

Remixing standards and content through the use of scenarios

In all three cases the teachers typically focused on requisite content and then wrote
scenarios they believed would engage students. While the scenarios did not always
address transdisciplinary subject matter, they did address potential real-world
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problems, similar to what Glancy (2014) would expect to see in quality STEM lessons.
Akin to Guyotte et al., 2015, the problems to be solved were typically foregrounded and
purposely not focused heavily on integrated math and science skills, but instead on
presenting STEAM through the humanities, social sciences or creative disciplines (e.g.
helping animals and patrons at a zoo, assessing earthquake threats and impact on a
community, growing a garden for a food bank)[1]. This implies that STEAM professional
development might include ways to embed scenario writing aligned to social issues,
standards and existing content so teachers can practice, share and refine this skill.
Similarly, Schools of Education can model and integrate STEAM scenarios in
pre-service education classes where students participate in solving scenarios and then
write their own.

Remixing planning and pacing

Sabrina, Katie and Theresa found ways to alter their planning and pacing schedules in
contexts that clearly demonstrated varying levels of support. Whether implementing
shorter units, STEAM activities with one or two teaching partners or school-wide units,
the teachers believed flexibility in planning and pacing was paramount to success in
altering their practices. While the first case showcased a school built with STEAM in
mind, the other two teachers were able to adjust planning and pacing within their more
traditional contexts. This was demonstrated in Katie’s planning with smaller
collaborative teams, common planning time afforded to all three and in Theresa’s
case – the ability to alter the schedule during particular weeks each semester.
Regardless, all three teachers described concerns about staying “on pace” no matter
the context. This suggests that addressing challenges to planning and pacing by
providing context-specific solutions during school meetings, onsite professional
development and pre-service teacher education courses, may assist in overcoming
barriers to implementation and challenges before beginning STEAM units.

Remixing the learning environment

Even thought the teachers taught a variety of STEAM topics and units within different
contexts, they all changed the learning environment to afford students’ collaborative work,
learning and presentation choices and increased opportunities to learn with
technology-rich tools. Additionally, all found some degree of success whether the learning
environment was built for STEAM or modified for collaborative work. The teachers relied on,
and modified, strategies they found effective in the past such as:

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  Sabrina and Theresa’s efforts to shift student practices from group work towards
student collaboration;
 all three teachers attempts to integrate hands-on non-digital and digital tools using
both familiar and novel tools; and
 the teachers expanding their expertise to include community members and online experts.
To strengthen STEAM teaching, pre-service education and professional development
might include ways to identify the difference between group work and collaboration (e.g.
using rubrics to indicate and assess collaborative work per student), and offer examples of
ways to foster collaboration through non-digital and digital tools (e.g. flip-charts and team
notebooks, Google Apps for Education). Additionally, time spent identifying local
community members – parents, industry, non-profits – for mentorships may broaden
teacher and students’ perceptions of the learning environment.
Finally, we recognize that conceptualizing STEAM as remixing education is not entirely
novel, many innovations stand on the shoulders of prior effective practices and learning
environments; however, viewing STEAM through this lens whereby teachers implemented
STEAM practices to “suit their own style” (Jenkins, 2008), and providing reliable evidence
of its effectiveness, may offer educators a starting point to step into STEAM no matter their
context.
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Note
1. This is not to criticize STEM education which focuses on specific challenges, inarguably
worthwhile, but instead to point out the differences and suggest STEAM might be especially
appropriate for late elementary and middle school students.

References
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conversation”, Art Education, Vol. 65 No. 2, p. 40.

Crewell, J. (2007), Qualitative Inquiry & Research Design: Choosing Among Five Approaches, Sage
Publications, Thousand Oaks: CA.

Delaney, M. (2014), “Schools shift from STEM to STEAM”, Edtech, 2 April, pp. 1-4, available at:
www.edtechmagazine.com/k12/article/2014/04/schools-shift-stem-steam

Edutopia. (2014), “STEM to STEAM: resource roundup”, available at: www.edutopia.org/stem-to-

steam-resources

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engineering education (Research to Practice)”, Paper Presented at 121 ASEE Annual Conference and
Exposition, Indianapolis, IN, 15-18 June 2014.

Guyotte, K., Sochacka, N., Costantino, T., Walther, J. and Kellam, N. (2015), “STEAM as social
practice: cultivating creativity in transdisciplinary spaces”, Art Education, Vol. 67 No. 6, pp. 12-19.

Jenkins, H. (2008), “Confessions of an Aca-daca fan”, available at: henryjenkins.org/2008/06/

interview_with_total_recuts_ow.html

Johnson, L., Adams Becker, S., Estrada, V. and Freeman, A. (2015), NMC Horizon Report: 2015, K-12th
ed., The New Media Consortium, Austin, TX.

Jolly, A. (2014), “STEAM vs STEM: do the arts belong? Education week”, available at: www.edweek.
org/tm/articles/2014/11/18/ctq-jolly-stem-vs-steam.html

Kim, Y. and Park, N. (2012a), “Development and application of STEAM teaching model based on the
rube goldberg’s invention”, Computer Science and its Applications, Springer, pp. 693-698.

Kim, Y. and Park, N. (2012b), “The effect of STEAM education on elementary school student’s creativity
improvement”, Computer Applications for Security, Control and System Engineering, Springer, Berlin,
Heidelberg, pp. 115-121.

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 National Research Council (2009), “Transforming agricultural education for a changing world”, Report
prepared by the National Academies of Sciences, National Academies Press, Washington, DC,
available at: www.ncseonline.org/sites/default/files/ag_education_final%20(2).pdf

Nettle, E.B. (1998), “Stability and change in the beliefs of student teachers during practice teaching”,
Teaching and Teacher Education, Vol. 14 No. 2, pp. 193-204.

Watson, A.D. and Watson, G.H. (2013), “Bonus article: transitioning STEM to STEAM: reformation of
engineering education”, Journal for Quality and Participation, Vol. 36 No. 3.

Williams, L. (2013), “Should STEM become STEAM?”, District Administration, Vol. 49 No. 2, p. 22.

Appendix 1

Sample STEAM unit plan: waves – designing a concert venue

Project scenario. The city of Simonville is preparing to welcome another concert venue
into our community: one that caters to your age group. You and your team have been
hired by the Simonville City Planning Committee to design the venue. Since the opening
of the Charter Spectrum Amphitheater in 2010, thousands of concertgoers have been
drawn to Simonville. Unfortunately, the space is limited to seasonal concerts. Also, the
amphitheater tends to draw musical performances that cater to a more adult crowd. Not
far away, the Daniels Center in Redville provides a space for entertainment that also
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caters to adults. The Simonville City Planning Committee has decided it would be
economically advantageous to build a venue in Simonville that will appeal to a younger
crowd. The city has found a building for this venue. You will need to redesign the
building making it a space that:
1. is good for hosting concerts;
2. has excellent acoustics;
3. does not disrupt the neighboring community; and
4. and is appealing to your age group.
You will be creating and presenting a 3D model of the redesign to the Simonville City
Planning Committee for consideration. Your presentation must specifically explain how your
design has addressed each one of the above criteria. As part of your presentation, you will
also need to include an estimated cost of the project and how long it will take the city to pay
off the building.

Driving question. How can the existing structure be designed into an acoustically
sound music venue that will also not disrupt the surrounding community and will appeal
to teens?

Elements of STEAM (i.e. Transdisciplinary teaching; problem-based; authentic)

1. Science:
 analysis and interpretation of data related to varying materials and wave properties;
 exploration of wave properties and behaviors in relationship to the design space;
and
 representation of how waves are interacting in the space, including wave
intersection.
2. Mathematics:
 scale measurement of building.
3. Engineering:
 design of the space as functional for concertgoers and musicians; and
 3D model of the space in some form.
4. Art and Design:
 design of the space complete with furnishings.

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 5. English:
 reflective writing and research journal.

Content standards

Science standards. Standard 8.P.3 The student will demonstrate an understanding of the
properties and behaviors of waves.
8.P.3A.2 Develop and use models to exemplify the basic properties of waves (including
frequency, amplitude, wavelength and speed);
8.P.3A.3 Analyze and interpret data to describe the behavior of waves (including refraction,
reflection, transmission and absorption) as they interact with various materials; and
8.P.3A.4 Analyze and interpret data to describe the behavior of mechanical waves as they
intersect.

Engineering standards. 8.P.1A.6 Construct explanations of phenomena using; primary or

secondary scientific evidence and models; conclusions from scientific investigations;
predictions based on observations and measurements; and data communicated in graphs,
tables or diagrams.

Brief description of student activities

Daily outline/products.
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1. Day 1:
 Introduction of anchor and discussion of driving question:
– Teacher will play a Youtube clip of popular musician’s concert as students enter
the room.
 Carousel brainstorm of research questions:
– The four areas of consideration will be posted around the room (is good for
hosting concerts, has excellent acoustics, does not disrupt the neighboring
community, is appealing to your age group). Students will rotate in groups and
coming up with questions about each one of the topics. They will write their
questions on sticky notes and post them.
 Team assignments and teammate roles:
– Teams will be given team roles and will determine who will do what role.
 Assignment of required products:
– Teams will determine who will be responsible for required products.
 Report to the Teacher:
– Teams will complete a form that shows which team members are responsible for
what products and research questions.
2. Day 2-4:
 PHET simulation on Sound lab.
 Properties and behaviors of waves mini-lecture.
 Properties and behaviors of waves quiz.
 Question Development:
– Teams will come up with questions to ask the acoustic architect.
3. Day 5:
 Collaboration day with acoustic architect from the Daniels Center.
 Individual reflection: After hearing from the acoustic architect, what are the key
factors involved in designing an appropriate acoustic space for concerts?
4. Days 6-8:
 Division of labor: research:
– Teams will determine who will research what questions.

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  Research action plan:
– Teams will complete a Google form indicating a research action plan, including
who will be researching which questions.
 Research time:
– Students will use websites on Symbaloo and teacher provided content.
 Team report:
– Teams will briefly report to one another their research findings.
 Individual reflections:
– Students will write a guided reflection on what has been learned from their research
and from their teammates in their science notebook. They will take a picture of their
reflection and upload it to Google classroom (two reflections required).
 Team Evaluation:
– Students will evaluate their team members’ contributions using Google Forms.
 City Planning Committee question brainstorm; and
 Skype session with city planning committee person.
5. Day 9:
 Mini-lesson: what to consider when thinking about the cost to build the building and
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when/how the building will be paid off.

 Materials List:
– Teams will turn in an inventory of materials needed, amount of each and
estimated cost of materials.
 Cost Estimation and Pay-Off Proposal:
– Teams will create a report that has estimated values for the various aspects of
construction and a recommendation for how long it will take to pay off the
building given the number of seats, sold-out concerts, etc.
6. Day 10-12:
 Peer Evaluations:
– Students will evaluate their group members by using Google forms.
 SketchUp mini-lesson (day 7);
 SketchUp work day; and
 Google Slides work day.
7. Day 13:
 Presentation to the “City Planning Committee” (our principal and school support staff).

Resources needed. PHET Sound Simulation.

Symbaloo.
PHET simulation lab sheet.
Content Quiz.
SketchUp tutorial videos.
Material Pricing Guide.

Equipment needed. Computer lab/Google Chromebook access (days 2, 6-8 and 10-12)

Experts
 City Council representative to discuss community concerns that need to be considered
regarding such a project.
 Sound engineer and architect who designed the Daniels Center to gain an understanding
of the thought process required for designing a superior acoustic space.

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 Reflection methods/journal/learning log
Technology integration. SketchUp or Google Draw for creation of the models;
Symbaloo to scaffold web research;
Google Docs and Google Classroom for reflection pieces;
Google Slides for presentation;
3D projector presenter for presentation of project.

Assessment. Formative: PHET sound simulation, content quiz, individual reflections (3),
materials list and payoff proposal.
Summative: 3D model and presentation.

Corresponding author
Danielle Herro can be contacted at: dherro@g.clemson.edu
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