Editorial: Developing Creativity through STEM Subjects Integrated with the Arts

This issue of the Journal of STEM Arts, Crafts, and Constructions is focused on creativity - one of the most highly-desirable 21st Century skills on personal and global levels. Time, pedagogical knowledge, and resource constraints limit the number of opportunities for teachers to develop creativity in students. In this editorial, creativity development steps and strategies are illuminated along with specific roles of STEM subjects and the arts in development of student creativity. The processes of creativity development used in STEM and the arts are compared to each other and to the non-subject-specific creative process model of Root-Bernstein and Root- Bernstein; correlating steps are highlighted. The role of integration of the arts and STEM subjects for creativity development is also analyzed in this editorial, followed by the summaries and key findings of three practical and three research articles, which introduce arts-integrated projects fostering creativity development

A mixed-methods research study comparing observations during integrated curriculum lessons with traditional single-subject lessons for primary-age students

This study examined teacher talk and actions under two conditions: ( 1) subject-integrated lessons of an integrated curriculum unit on African culture ( experimental condition); and (2) single subject-focused lessons of a traditional separate subject curriculum on mathematics time and money measurement (control condition). The study sought to define and compare characteristics of both curriculum approaches. Although the study was primarily qualitative with observations being recorded by the researcher that were subsequently sorted into categories through a constant comparison method, counts of frequency of observations in categories were recorded, resulting in a mixed-methods design. The observations were collected in two stages. In stage 1, preservice teachers instructed first and second graders in making authentic papier-mache masks during an integrated African unit. In stage 2, two teachers conducted the mathematics lessons in the same classroom at the same school. Fourteen hours of observations were collected in each phase. In the integrated curriculum setting, the teacher was a facilitator of teamwork, offering choices, and giving praise; students made choices, decisions, and worked collaboratively. In the traditional setting, the teacher role delivered direct instruction and controlled behavior; students followed directions, recalled knowledge, and worked individually. Less teacher energy was expended for behavior management in the integrated curriculum setting, indicating intrinsic motivation of students. Implementation of integrated curricula is recommended because of the student-centered focus that results in greater motivation, ownership, and teamwork, along with deeper knowledge connections. Because many factors hinder implementation, teachers need support when first teaching with this approach

Science through Art: Motivating Gifted and Talented Students

Gifted and talented students have unique characteristics and needs. Arts Integration is an effective differentiation strategy that helps meeting these students’ needs. STEM subjects are easily and organically integrated with the Arts because scientific and artistic inquiry are very similar. This practical article describes an arts-integrated project that provided the gifted and talented participants with an increased level of challenge, an opportunity for self-expression and for building social skills, amplified motivation, and a chance to deepen and demonstrate their knowledge of science, technology, engineering, mathematics, social studies and English Language Arts. In this project, identified gifted students completed figural transformations (creation of a new image by adding lines or shading to a given squiggle or geometric figure) related to one of these subject areas and learned a set of creative skills identified by E. Paul Torrance. The final stage of the project included students analyzing and reflecting on the progress they had made over the course of the semester in content knowledge and creativity

Comparing sixth grade students\u27 creativity in word play to spatial construction with integrated academic content eliciting a distal or proximal perspective

Pressing global problems require solutions from innovative ideas that depend upon educating a new generation to think creatively. The current study aimed at assisting 24 sixth grade students in a summer program develop their creativity skills in two different areas while integrating academic content. Student performance was examined for transfer of skills across domains and for support of Construal Level Theory, which holds that addressing topics distant in space, time, probability or experience leads to abstract thought supporting greater creativity. The study was a counterbalanced, repeated measures, two-experimental condition study with students divided into two groups of 12 each. In one experimental condition, students learned about creative word play (e.g., hink-pinks, alliteration, homophones) and wrote short compositions, while in the other condition, they learned about creative spatial constructions (given a set of 12 recycled or craft items, students used glue to create a three-dimensional scene that represented specified academic concepts). Each group completed identical pretest-posttests addressing both conditions. Both groups discussed a given sheet of content information (changing daily, alternating between proximal and distal topics) to incorporate into work and daily instruction on creativity skills. Written and constructed products were scored for creativity skills including fluency, originality, and elaboration, among others. Both groups scored similarly on the pretest. The group participating in construction lessons the first two weeks performed better in the ensuing daily wordplay lessons than the group who had first engaged in wordplay, indicating possible transfer of creativity across domains. However, such transfer was not seen to occur from the group first learning wordplay and continuing into construction. This implies that the hands-on, spatial activity of construction may positively enhance the creative mindset of students. Little evidence was found in scoring of the wordplay and construction products to support Construal Level Theory. Instead, many creative traits, along with student attitudes, were enhanced under the proximal condition, often with large effect sizes. Perhaps the fact-and-drill-oriented school experiences of participants affected their creative performance on unfamiliar (distal) topics. Conversely, the observed effects may have been due to integration of proximal or distal content rather than priming as in other studies

How the Arts Standards Support STEM Concepts: A Journey from STEM to STEAM

This issue of the Journal of STEM Arts, Crafts, and Constructions is focused on the effects of integrating arts with STEM areas, an important and widely-considered topic in education today. This editorial provides an overview of the current state of the arts and STEM areas integration paradigm, an analysis of the benefits of the arts integration with the STEM subjects, and an overview of the history of the arts anchor standards. Comparison and connections between the National Arts Core anchor arts standards, the scientific method, engineering design process, and the 5E learning cycle are also illuminated. Summaries of the practical and research articles of this issue, highlighting the arts standards addressed, are included in this editorial

Spotlight on Edward de Bono Thinking Skills and Twice-Exceptional Gifted Learners Applied to Mars Mysteries in NASA Photographs

This editorial provides background information concerning the lessons presented in the eight practical articles of this issue. All of these lessons address Mars Mysteries, anomalous features found in NASA photographs of the Martian surface. These unusual and thought-provoking features are explored by using Edward de Bono CoRT thinking skills to broaden perceptions enhancing critical and creative thinking. The lessons are intended to explore possibilities, but not to provide a definite final answer as to what the anomalies represent. These lessons were designed as enrichment lessons for gifted learners and support Renzulli’s Type I general exploratory experiences that expose students to a variety of issues not usually addressed by the school curriculum. These lessons also fit with Type II skill lessons because they focus on the de Bono thinking skills. Additionally, individual lessons are each designed to meet the needs of twice-exceptional gifted learners, containing lesson design features that assist gifted learners with specific disabilities or exceptionalities. Finally, each lesson includes a brief integrated arts project to synthesize the concepts discussed, expressing individual conclusions. Arts were integrated to foster engagement, increased level of attention, joy, and self-expression

Editorial: Arts Integration Allows Students the Opportunity to be Original

This editorial explores the other six articles in this issue 2 of volume 3 of the Journal of STEM Arts, Crafts, and Constructions to examine how originality is displayed and supported by art projects. Originality, is a quality or a characteristic of an idea, approach or product. Originality can be defined as newness or novelty. To be classified as original, an idea must be new. It does not have to have a utilitarian value, which is a requirement for an idea to be categorized as creative. Helping students develop originality is important because it allows the freedom to make any connections, even nonsensical ones, which can result in bursts of unusual, and even creative ideas that may have been rejected, had the requirement of a value for a particular field been present. The editorial provides examples of projects from the literature that focused on originality and a diversity of responses. The articles in this issue are examined for originality examples. All articles showed evidence of student originality in the accompanying art projects. The editors suggest that art projects integrated with STEM subjects are an effective way to provide motivating self-affirming opportunities for expression of originality in the classroom

Ocean Underwater Scene Dioramas of First Graders with Submarine Porthole Views

Ecology education of the younger generations is vital for worldwide change of people’s attitudes toward nature warranted by the current global ecological crisis. Yet, this goal needs to be addressed through age-appropriate activities that are educational and engaging. This practical article focuses on dioramas of ocean reef life made by first graders. This arts-integrated project served two main purposes: 1) education of primary students about ocean ecology and helping students realize their roles in saving nature 2) increasing student science content knowledge. Additionally, several other benefits of making dioramas emerged during this project, including highly creative student products, genuine interest in the topic of ocean ecology, and heightened levels of motivation and concentration displayed by the students during the project

Hands-On Russian Culture Lessons

The global diverse society necessitates that teachers develop cultural competency and use authentic resources for teaching. This article presents classroom-tested materials for teaching elementary students about aspects of Russian culture, developed by a native Russian and two education professors. Multiage, multi-racial American Midwestern students from a homeschooling cooperative learned vocabulary and concepts with statistically significant increases from pretest to posttest and a large effect size. The lessons began with recognition of human commonalities between Russian people and Americans, in accordance with omniculturalism theory. Lessons then highlighted and celebrated cultural differences through an exploration of Russian literature and culture. Culminating creative craft-making activities included simulating a Gzhel porcelain statue in white air-dry clay with blue markings, making a pop-up version of a matryoshka nesting doll set, constructing a papier-maché building with onion-domed towers and a Maslenitsa holiday scene, and decorating a paper-covered plastic egg with gems to make a Faberge-style jewelry box. The lessons, greeted with enthusiasm from students, included classification tasks, observation activities, and a Bingo-type game. Students evidenced deeper learning by continuing to connect their lives to Russian cultural content after the lesson unit had concluded

Changing Kindergarten Readiness Perceptions in the Rural South

This qualitative study examined the perceptions and understandings of various stakeholders in the early childhood sector of the Southeastern United States about kindergarten readiness in response to the implementation of more rigorous academic standards in kindergarten. The study combined interviews, observations, and documents to assess experiences, expectations, and challenges in meeting the strong accountability standards imposed by accountability measures and the implementation of new standards. The qualitative analysis showed that as more rigorous standards are implemented in kindergarten, all stakeholder groups are experiencing high levels of pressure related to the testing and accountability requirements related to the standards. The study further revealed that the stakeholder groups did not share a common understanding of the level of school readiness necessary for the children to reach by first grade and that early communication with parents is necessary for a successful transition of children into the school environment. The results of the study provide insight into the perceptions and understandings of the participants as they experience the readiness process from preschool through participation in kindergarten