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IntroductionIn recent years, STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and math) education has become an increasingly popular tool to promote student learning and engagement across disciplines. However, researchers and practitioners continue to note the lack of clarity around definitions of STEAM, its intended purpose, and the nature of discipline integration. In this paper, we explore teachers' understandings and implementation of STEAM as they participated in a teacher professional learning program.MethodsUsing a mixed-methods approach, we analyzed data from 4 years of program implementation with K-12 teachers across multiple schools and districts (n = 61).ResultsParticipants' understanding of STEAM was deepened through their involvement in the professional learning program, with many reflecting on their initial, often shallow, (mis)conceptualizations of STEAM. Using an integration continuum developed by the authors, we identified ways in which integration varied across the STEAM lessons teachers developed, contextualizing these findings within the changing educational landscape of the COVID-19 pandemic, as teachers transitioned between remote, hybrid, and in-person instruction. Participants shared their reflections on the personal, professional, and contextual factors that supported and hindered successful STEAM integration.DiscussionWe found that, when provided with sustained, collaborative pedagogical and material support, teachers could successfully improve their understanding of STEAM and implement STEAM lessons tailored to their grade-level and disciplinary context. Our findings reinforce that teachers need support, autonomy, and flexibility to adopt an approach to STEAM integration that best fits their classroom and school context. We discuss the implications of these findings for researchers and practitioners working to provide effective STEAM teacher professional learning.

K-12 teacher professional development in STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) is often utilized to enhance teachers’ abilities to use STEAM pedagogical methods in the classroom. One such program is GoSTEAM, a five-year initiative centered on K-12 teacher professional development in STEAM. Teachers participating in GoSTEAM collaborate on the implementation of STEAM lessons and activities with an Innovator-in-Residence, who is an individual with experience in a STEAM field, often from a local community organization or university. This study analyzes focus group findings from teachers and school administrators to assess how the partnership with the Innovator-in-Residence impacts teachers’ professional development in STEAM. The findings suggest teachers and administrators perceived there to be several impacts on teachers’ professional development as a result of the partnership, such as the development of STEAM skills and making connections between STEAM, district standards, and real-world concepts. As such, the results of this study indicate that a teacher’s professional development in STEAM can be impacted by an ongoing partnership and collaboration with community partners and those experienced in STEAM fields.

Evidence-centered design (ECD) is an assessment framework tailored to provide structure and rigor to the assessment development process, and also to generate evidence of assessment validity by tightly coupling assessment tasks with focal knowledge, skills, and abilities (FKSAs). This framework is particularly well-suited to FKSAs that are complex and multi-part (Mislevy and Haertel, 2006), as is the case with much of the focal content within the computer science (CS) domain. This paper presents an applied case of ECD used to guide assessment development in the context of a redesigned introductory CS curriculum. In order to measure student learning of CS skills and content taught through the curriculum, knowledge assessments were written and piloted. The use of ECD provided an organizational framework for assessment development efforts, offering assessment developers a clear set of steps with accompanying documentation and decision points, as well as providing robust validity evidence for the assessment. The description of an application of ECD for assessment development within the context of an introductory CS course illustrates its utility and effectiveness, and also provides a guide for researchers carrying out related work.

Data Saves the Whales! was developed as part of the Advanced Manufacturing and Prototyping Integrated to Unlock Potential (AMP-IT-UP) project, funded by the National Science Foundation through its Math and Science Partnership program. A central outcome of the AMP-IT-UP project was the development of 1-week modules for core middle school math and science courses that were aligned with best practices as put forth in the Next Generation Science Standards and Standards of Mathematical Practice. Data Saves the Whales! is a middle school mathematics module that is set within a marine ecosystem. It focuses on independent and dependent variables and Cartesian coordinate graphing, and on math practices related to data representation—i.e. how data can be represented in different ways to communicate various messages to an audience. Students engage in a simulated investigation to collect oceanographic data, meant to mimic the experimental procedures used by marine scientists when collecting samples, and learn different methods of graphing the data to effectively communicate their findings. This module features work conducted by the research team of Dr. Ellery Ingall, Professor of Earth and Atmospheric Science at Georgia Tech, and integrates math skills with marine science and the concepts of food webs and the interdependence of organisms.

There is growing enthusiasm for STEAM education in preparing students for an increasingly complex world. However, implementing STEAM in the classroom can be challenging for educators, as it may require collaboration across disciplines, increased workload, and understanding the nature of STEAM integration. This paper details a mixed-methods evaluation of a year-long STEAM teacher training program, in which a STEM teacher and an arts teacher collaborated to design and implement integrated STEAM lessons at each of the nine participating schools (n = 17). The training program consisted of a 5-week summer professional development experience, followed by ongoing financial, material, and pedagogical support during the school year, made possible by the partnership of the schools, a university, and community organizations. Findings from surveys, focus groups, and written reflections suggest that, despite certain challenges, aspects of the training program supported teacher implementation of STEAM. Participation in the program impacted teachers’ collaboration, pedagogy, self-efficacy, and arts integration practices. The findings offer insight into the forms of support that teachers deem important in STEAM teacher training programs and the benefits of such a program for teachers’ professional development.

Objectives: The goal of this paper is to introduce and describe a new introductory computer science course. Research results from the implementation of this curriculum will be presented to demonstrate the nature of teachers' experiences with the curriculum. Participants: Participants are teachers implementing the new curriculum at two schools in the metro Atlanta area. Study Method: This paper is partly descriptive, presenting the theory underlying the newly developed curriculum as well as its various features. An organizing framework, the Teacher Accessibility, Equity, and Content (TEC) rubric from Weintrop et al. (2019) [1], is used to structure the curriculum description. Teacher perceptions were gathered via both structured interviews and short online enactment surveys. These perceptions are summarized and presented thematically, corresponding to the features of the curriculum. Findings: A newly developed introductory computer science (CS) curriculum, Student-Centered Computing (SCC), utilizes project-based learning (PBL) and culturally authentic practices (CAPs) to help promote a sense of belonging and intent to persist within computer science among all students. Teachers successfully implemented the curriculum and generally found it to be beneficial for their students, though they struggled with some of the pedagogical demands of project-based learning as well as some of the most advanced technical content associated with the music coding and app development platforms. Conclusions: This paper provides a detailed overview of a year-long introductory computer science curriculum focused on the creation of culturally relevant digital artifacts. The curriculum represents a strong effort to make CS content relevant and appealing to the full range of students by relating it to their lives and experiences. Teacher surveys and interviews revealed that both teachers and students had positive views of the course. However, teaching using inclusive PBL pedagogy and culturally authentic practices takes skill and practice by teachers, supporting the need for CS teachers to have good pedagogical training as well as a strong knowledge of computer science to create a classroom environment that promotes success for all students.

This study explores student agency in the context of a culturally authentic computer science (CS) curriculum implemented in an introductory CS course in two high schools. Drawing on focus group and interview data, the study utilizes qualitative research methods to examine how students exercise critical agency as they engage in the course and how the curriculum supports student agency. Findings suggest three ways in which the curriculum served as a context for student agency: (1) gaining CS knowledge and skills that students then apply to address real-world needs and problems, (2) creating opportunities to "try-on" or improvise new identities and/or envision "future selves" in CS, and (3) engaging in personally relevant project work that leverages assets students brought to their experience with the curriculum. Implications for CS education research and practice are discussed.