STEAM education integration for grade 4-6 classrooms through professional development workshops

Abstract

This project explores the benefits and challenges of STEAM education with the intent of helping teachers incorporate it into their own practices. The thesis aims to help grade 4 to 6 teachers who are less familiar with STEAM education integrate new teaching practices in their classrooms. To this end, two series of workshops were designed. These workshops are designed to build familiarity and confidence at basic levels before delving deeper into curricular applications and assessment. Workshop activities are scaffolded to ensure gradual and sustained educator capacity. The workshops are divided into two separate series. The first series, a low-level entry to STEAM, has participants experiencing simple ways of bringing STEAM activities into their classrooms. The second series delves deeper into the various curricular implications of STEAM including scaffolding, student management, and assessment.