A STE(A)M Professional Development Course
I had the privilege of teaching a STE(A)M graduate course for Antioch University [New England]. I thought other teachers might benefit from access to a few of my project assignments and resources as well as example projects that teachers in the course produced.
Course Description
What does it mean to teach and engage our students in our modern world? How might we use principles of STE(A)M to engage all students? How can we design and implement STEM education and design thinking strategies building on our professional priorities (ie., the Critical Skills Classroom, nature based education, arts integration, etc) as well as developmentally appropriate pedagogy? How cam we use technology to support student learning? What’s the difference between STEM, STEAM, and STREAM? These questions will be explored in this online course designed to deepen understanding and inspire teachers to a new level of practice. Students will work both on their own and collaboratively to explore learn about these various topics for practical classroom implementation. Focus will also be given to modern tools to support STE(A)M and learning both face-to-face and virtual environments. Participants will design powerful learning experiences for these classrooms as well as formative and summative assessments. Online course.
STE(A)M Elevator Pitch
Using the resources https://www.pearltrees.com/jackiegerstein/stem-steam-stream-resources/id25727284 as reference, post an “elevator pitch” recording that defines these concepts on Flipgrid – https://flipgrid.com/5ab9c3cb.
https://flipgrid.com/5ab9c3cb?embed=true
Collaboratively Curated Resources
Assignment Description
For the first part of this assignment. individually you are going to do a search for STEM/STEAM related resources from social media such as Twitter, Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram using hashtags (#STEM, #MakerEd, #STEAM, #edtech) to help identify them.
As a group, using a collaborative curation tool and collaborative process, create a curated list of resources that you discovered in the first part of this assignment and may prove useful to the beginning practitioner. Here is a resource to learn more about content curation: http://www.spencerauthor.com/content-curation/.
Here is a list of tools that can be used to collaborative curate your group’s resources. Your group will decide which one to use:
- Pearltrees – https://www.pearltrees.com/
- Tutorial including how to collaborate – https://youtu.be/icP6t-U8iOg
- Wakelet – https://wakelet.com/home
- Tutorial including how to collaborate – https://drive.google.com/file/d/15MPavRhnwSWyHbNucLPadzOXCl_YiIUY/view
Student Examples
- STEM/STEAM/STREAM resources with Wakelet – https://wke.lt/w/s/FQlmYH
- Team #STEM Resources with Pearltrees – http://www.pearltrees.com/t/stem-resources/id27215128
STE(A)M Lesson Plan
Assignment Description
Design a Lesson Plan or Unit that incorporates elements of STEAM. Review the following resources:
- STEM Lesson Plan Format – http://www.stem-by-design.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/15034-0026f_Design-Tool-8.1.pdf
- Maker Education Lesson Plan Format – https://usergeneratededucation.wordpress.com/2018/07/06/integrating-maker-education-into-the-curriculum/ and Learning in the Making.
Make sure to include the following elements plus any others you would like to include:
- Topic
- Vision for the Lesson
- Essential Questions
- Cross Curricular Standards Addressed
- Prerequisite Knowledge and Skills
- Vocabulary
- Needed Materials
- Instructional Activities
- The Hook (high impact activity to introduce the lesson to the students)
- Step-by-Step Procedures (needs to have enough details that any other teacher could implement it)
- Reflection (How will students reflect on their learning? See https://usergeneratededucation.wordpress.com/2018/03/10/reflecting-on-maker-experiences-with-reflection-cards/ and Learning in the Making for ideas.
- Any resources used.
Student Examples
STE(A)M Assessment
Assignment Description
Create a list possible strategies to assess students STEM/STEAM projects. It should be tailored to the (expected) age level of your learners, the focus of your learning activities (STEM, STEAM, or STREAM). Discuss several forms of formative and summative assessments that you can draw upon when you teach STEAM-based lessons.
Review the following:
- Documenting Learning: http://www.documenting4learning.com/
- Teaching Tools or STEM Education – Assessment: http://stemteachingtools.org/tgs/Assessment
- Assessing Maker Education Projects – https://usergeneratededucation.wordpress.com/2018/05/05/assessing-maker-education-projects/
- Beyond the Rubric – https://makered.org/beyondrubrics/toolkit/
- Pinterest Aggregate – Assessment Resources https://www.pinterest.com/criticalskills1/assessment/
- 75 Digital Tools and Apps Teachers Can Use to Support Formative Assessment in the Classroom https://www.nwea.org/blog/2019/75-digital-tools-apps-teachers-use-to-support-classroom-formative-assessment/
In developing your strategies and ideas include at least one strategy from each of the following:
- Documenting Learning Strategies (formative)
- Reflecting on Learning (formative)
- Strategies that Leverage Technology, e.g., blogs, podcasts, videos, online tools (formative and summative)
- Assessing the Cross-Curricular Standards and Goals Associated with STEAM Education (formative and summative)
- Going Beyond the Rubric (formative and summative)
You can share it in written form or create your version of assessment ideas using one of the following EdTech tools (they have free versions):
- Book Creator ebook – https://bookcreator.com/
- Piktochart Infographic (one of my favorites) – https://piktochart.com/
- Storyboard That Comic – https://www.storyboardthat.com/
- Google Site website – https://sites.google.com/
- A Podcast or Video
Student Examples
Final Course Reflection
Description
The goal of this reflective piece is the documentation of your understanding of the standards for this course, based in both your learning in class and in your experiences. The format of this piece is up to you but it must demonstrate that you understand the following:
- How do you define STE(A)M education within your context? (Please include specific examples of experiential learning: project, problem, place, and design challenge learning and any other relevant methodologies.)
- What are the key ideas that should guide you in making good choices about the selection, acquisition, organization, evaluation, and reconsideration of resources and activities related to STE(A)M?
- What are your next steps to support yourself and others in implementation of STE(A)M curriculum?
- What skills and knowledge do you need to further develop in order to develop your expertise in STE(A)M instruction?
Jackie Gerstein, Ed.D.
User Generated Education 
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