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The demand for professionals entering the labor market requires knowledge and disciplines in the areas of Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics (STEAM). Schools are the first link to train competent students for today’s society. However, the pandemic has conditioned the teaching–learning methodologies based on promoting STEAM in educational centers, which is the reason that leads us to carry out this study. The main objective of the research is to evaluate the STEAM dimensions in the sixth grade of primary education in times of pandemic. The study method is based on a quasi-experimental, descriptive and correlational design with an experimental group and a control group. The data are collected through a validated questionnaire, pre-test and post-test, which develops an assessment of student collaboration in STEAM activities. The sample is made up of 142 Spanish students, of which 68 belong to the control group and 74 to the experimental group. The conclusions of the study highlight that the active methodologies, based on computational thinking and on makerspaces of the future classroom, influenced the STEAM dimensions of the experimental group before the pandemic. However, the pandemic and the health restrictions in face-to-face classes led to a negative assessment of the experimental group in the STEAM dimensions.

Scratch is an educational software based on visual programming blocks. It was created in 2003 by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Lab (MIT) and it develops computational thinking (CT) skills from an early age in schools and allows STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) projects to be carried out. The aim of this research is to know the development of the scientific production of the Scratch programme in the educational field in scientific articles in WoS and its link with the STEM field. The methodology used in this study is of a bibliometric nature with an analysis of the development in the scientific literature and co-words. The Scratch in Education (Scratch-EDU) programme has been studied using the Web of Science (WoS) database. WoS, Vosviewer and SciMAT were used to extract the results and a total of 579 manuscripts were analysed. The results of the study show that the first scientific article on Scratch published in WoS dates back to 2004, although it is from 2011 when a considerable volume of studies began to appear in the scientific literature, and moreover, in recent years the scientific literature relates Scratch-EDU with topics and keywords related to the STEM field. The conclusions of the study are that the Scratch programme has had a progressive evolution in the scientific field related to education from 2012 to 2020, mainly in proceedings papers, with a decrease in manuscripts in the last two years. The emerging themes and keywords that have most influenced Scratch-EDU manuscripts in recent years are related to the terms “Implementation” and “Curriculum”, connected in turn, with terms such as “pedagogy”, “public school” or “students”. Another term that stands out in the development of scientific evolution is “Computational Thinking”, associated with topics such as “Primary Education”, “Learning” or “Problem Solving”. Finally, a discussion and conclusion of the results has been carried out, which can serve as a turning point for future lines of research on programming and CT in the STEM field from an early age in education.

The development of programming skills and computational thinking in the formal educational context is one of the most recent horizons set by many educational systems worldwide. Although the first computational thinking initiatives are being applied from the earliest school ages, this research focuses on the secondary education level. Specifically, the objective is the following: to analyse the implementation of Arduino, as well as the benefits and opportunities it brings to secondary school students. For this purpose, documentary research has been undertaken applying a systematic review according to the PRISMA 2020 framework following the PiCoS strategy. Atlas.ti 9 was used to analyse the information. Out of 316 papers identified, 37 were included in the research. In relation to the results, Arduino is primarily used in technology and physics subjects, although it is also used to develop interdisciplinary STEAM projects. As a rule, it is used to learn programming languages, but likewise as a resource to develop science experiments. LED lights, servomotors and breadboards are among the most commonly used resources together with the Arduino board. and Scratch was the most widely used software. The initiatives implemented have yielded both positive and negative results, for example, one drawback is that some projects are very difficult, and some achievements such as: increased motivation towards the contents addressed or also the development of some soft skills, such as problem solving.