STEAM fields are defined science, and technology, interpreted through engineering, and the arts, and based in mathematics. Variations of definitions for the "A" exist, but no other definition formally defines the arts with research or links the disciplines together as a whole with research. STEAM is designed to integrate all subjects with each other for a way to teach across the disciplines. These programs aim to teach students innovation, to think critically and use engineering or technology in imaginative designs or creative approaches to real-world problems framed in social studies. STEAM programs add art to STEM curriculum by drawing on reasoning, ethics and design principles and encouraging creative solutions, effectively removing the meaning of the STEM distinction as the term now includes nearly all academic fields, yet still oddly leaving some behind.
History
The founder of the STEAM initiative is Georgette Yakman, who in addition to raising the idea of adding the arts to the STEM acronym, has conducted research and practicum since 2006 based on researching the formal way that subjects work together and correspond to the global socioeconomic world: "Science and Technology, interpreted through Engineering and the Arts, all based in elements of Mathematics." She provides professional development training to individual educators and programs on how to use the STEAM framework. In 2009, Senator Mark Warner announced Yakman's nomination as NCTC’s STEAM Teacher of the Year 2009.
National STEAM Day
National STEM/STEAM Day is celebrated on November 8 and is intended to be a play on the word innovate. STEAM Day was established and made an official holiday by MGA Entertainment in 2015. "We want to show children that S.T.E.M. and S.T.E.A.M. are already all around them, and that their favorite hobbies are actually rooted in science, technology, engineering, art and math," said Isaac Larian, CEO of MGA Entertainment.
Sesame Streets 43rd season continues to focus on STEM but finds ways to integrate art. They state: "This helps make learning STEM concepts relevant and enticing to young children by highlighting how artists use STEM knowledge to enhance their art or solve problems. It also provides context for the importance of STEM knowledge in careers in the arts."
MGA Entertainment created a S.T.E.A.M. based franchise Project Mc2.
Other uses of the STEAM acronym
Other variations that have been promoted, include art, fine arts, agriculture, architecture and applied mathematics.
The Rhode Island School of Design has a STEM to STEAM program and maintains an interactive map that shows global STEAM initiatives. Relevant organizations are able to add themselves to the map. John Maeda, has been a champion in bringing the initiative to the political forums of educational policy.
Some programs offer STEAM from a base focus like mathematics and science.
SteamHead is a non-profit organization that promotes innovation and accessibility in education, focusing on STEAM fields.
Wolf Trap's Institute of Education, as part of a $1.5 million Department of Education grant, trains and places teaching artists into preschool and kindergarten classrooms. The artists collaborate with the teachers to integrate math and science into the arts.
American Lisa La Bonte, CEO of the Arab Youth Venture Foundation based in the United Arab Emirates, uses the STEAM acronym, but her work does not include arts integration. Starting in 2007, La Bonte created and ran high profile free public STEAM programs having added an A for "inspired STEM", with the A standing for Aeronautics, Aviation, Astronomy, Aerospace, Ad Astra! and using all things "air and space" as a hook for youth to embark on greater experimentation, studies, and careers in the region's burgeoning space related industries. One of AYVF's best-known programs, "STEAM@TheMall", served over 200,000 its first two years at the most popular shopping malls and provided free weekend activity stations such as Mars robotics, science experiments, SkyLab portable planetarium, art/design, and creative writing. In 2008, Sharjah Sheikha Maisa kicked off the "Design booth for youth for Al Ain Summer S.T.E.A.M. funded by the Foundation created by the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi". In 2010, the American Association of Arts & Sciences included a chapter on AYVF's most popular STEAM program in its book, Building Mathematical and Scientific Talent in the Broader Middle East and North Africa Region.
