STEAM Education Evaluation

Importance of STEAM Education Evaluation

Author: Manuel R. CortezRodas

Definition of STEAM Education Evaluation

Evaluation places a value on the education that students have received.  To know the value of the education students have received, the students must be able to demonstrate what they know.  For students to demonstrate what they know, we, as educators, must rely upon, and use a variety of tools which help us determine the value of the knowledge the student has learned.

Purpose of STEAM Education Evaluation

Evaluation of STEAM Education serves two purposes: To give the student an opportunity to share the knowledge they have gained, and for the educator to have the chance to check for accuracy of knowledge and improve future presentations of such to other students.  it is not the purpose of STEAM Education evaluation to either correct the student's knowledge, or to place a value on the educator's presentation of the instruction of educational material.

Measuring STEAM Education Evaluation

Evaluation can be measured, as mentioned earlier, using a variety of tools.  Which measuring tool we use to evaluate STEAM education depends on the knowledge that students have received, and the student's ability to accurately demonstrate and communicate, the received knowledge.  The following three tools have proven to be reliable and dependable for measuring student's acquired knowledge.  These are: Assignments, Projects, and Tests.  When measuring STEAM Education Evaluation, we must keep present two factors: The quantity of time a student has to share their knowledge, and the environment and resources that the student has access to while preparing to share their knowledge.

Analyzing STEAM Education Evaluation

Evaluation of STEAM Education should be analyzed to acquire further understanding of the knowledge that educators have instructed to students, and how students demonstrate their knowledge.  The analysis we do of STEAM Education should be recorded, stored, and preserved, so that we may have a source of information when presenting justification for the value of the student's education.  We must also study the analysis of the evaluation, so that we may become aware of any patterns that may emerge over time.

Copyright 2013.  MRCR Educational Consulting Firm.  All Rights Reserved.

STEAM Education Lessons (Part 2)

Preparing STEAM Education Lessons

Author: Manuel R. CortezRodas

Ideas, Themes, and Concepts

What do you want to present to your students in this lesson?  This is the primary question that needs to be addressed as you prepare a STEAM education lesson.  The difficulty of the task is the wide range and availability of ideas, themes, and concepts that are out there, and are worth the time to be introduced to students.  This is why it is so important that the first step in developing a STEAM education lesson be choosing a primary idea, theme, or concept that we, as educators, can prepare and present to our students for their learning.

Language

Once you have chosen a central primary idea, theme or concept, comes the task of developing the necessary language with which to communicate the lesson to the students.  This task begins with the introduction of the necessary vocabulary.

Introducing the necessary vocabulary creates a base language which we need to be able to communicate the STEAM Education Lesson.  Creating a language based on necessary vocabulary allows educators and learners to communicate and exchange ideas, themes, and concepts with success.

Connections

A STEAM Education Lesson should be connected to present.  We should present students with current connections, to the lesson being presented, that are of importance today.  If a lesson is not connected to the present, the it becomes at danger, of falling outside of time, that students experience on a constant day to day basis.  Students are connected to present events of a diverse nature through more that just the strands of technology and arts.  The science, engineering, and mathematics, of STEAM must also become part of the connections that students be presented with.

Applications

What are the applications for the STEAM Education Lesson that we are preparing to present?  The applications for STEAM Education should be founded on the five stands of STEAM: Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics.  How is each strand of STEAM applied to the lesson, and how does that application to each strand connect to the others? Applications to our lessons should inspire our imagination.  Students should be able to apply STEAM education lessons in the present for what is important.

Required/Applied Knowledge

Knowledge should be required of the learners and applied by the educators.  Each student has a unique level of the required knowledge of the lesson, as well as a unique level of applied knowledge of the lesson, that will vary from learner to learner, and classroom to classroom.  It is for this reason that the educator measure the level of both required and applied knowledge that learners have. 

Copyright 2013.  MRCR Educational Consulting Firm.  All Rights Reserved.

STEAM Education Lessons

Introduction to STEAM Education Lessons

Author: Manuel R. CortezRodas

What is a STEAM education lesson?

A lesson is a prepared presentation on an educational topic that is based on the principal strands of STEAM education.  The presentation that is prepared as a STEAM education  lesson should present information in the best educational format that allows for the students of the lesson to best learn the STEAM educational topic.

What is the objective of a STEAM education lesson?

The objective of the STEAM education lesson should be for the students to learn the educational topic of the lesson.  The educator can reach the objective by presenting the lesson by using one or a combination of various methods like lectures, textbooks and resources, research and projects, video and audio clips, letters, experiments and demonstrations, field trips, assignments, homework, guest speakers, and many more.

How is the success of a STEAM education lesson measured?

The success of the STEAM education lesson can be measured using a variety of scales and tools, however, once the measure for success has been established, it must be implemented uniformly to the students as a whole.  The measurement of success must also be fair and balanced, and allow, with in a reasonable time frame, for the possibility of reaching success by ways of reevaluation and/or reassessment.

How is a STEAM education lesson implemented?

The implementation of a STEAM education lesson is to be decided by the creator of the lesson, or the educator who has been trained on how to present such lesson.  When implementing a STEAM lesson, the following factors should be taken into consideration: the students, the classroom, knowledge level, supplies and materials, age, grade, learning skills and abilities of those whom we expect to be learning the STEAM lesson that is presented.

 

Copyright 2013.  MRCR Educational Consulting Firm.  All Rights Reserved.

STEAM Education Curriculum (Part 2)

How to Develop a STEAM Education Curriculum

Author: Manuel R. CortezRodas

Beginning and Ending

Determine where the curriculum will begin, and where it will end.  Setting these two boundaries establishes a set limit for the curriculum.  These two boundaries can be from Kindergarten to 12th grade, from age 6 to age 18, even from Pre-Kindergarten to Post Secondary School.  Determining the beginning and the ending for you curriculum sets a point of origin from where the curriculum pathway will start, until the curriculum is successfully finished by the student.

Objectives

What do you want the student to achieve?  will they all be college ready?  will they be workplace ready? will they be able to achieve success in both college and the workplace after they have completed the required list of courses, classes, and subject material in the STEAM Curriculum?  These are some of the objectives that must be discussed and stated clearly.  It must also be planned where along the path of the curriculum these objectives must be met.

 

Pathways

Although the overall pathway of the STEAM Education Curriculum should be from beginning to ending, it must be taken into consideration that having only one path may cause delays and gridlock if it cannot accommodate all students.  Therefore it is recommended that the curriculum be composed of many different pathways (as many as needed by the students) to allow for the free flow of growth and development.  It should also be taken into consideration that there can be students who may join the STEAM curriculum at later times and at different stages in the development, as well as students who may need to be withdrawn when the need arises.

Success

Will success be measured by the number of students who complete the whole curriculum from beginning to end, or will it be measured by the number of students who reach only the ending stage of the process?  Perhaps the overall measure of success should be by the solutions that students reach to our present problems and the ones they will face.  If this last is to be the measure of success, the we must take into account that it will take time (in some cases many years) before any measure of success is obtained.

Copyright 2013.  MRCR Educational Consulting Firm.  All Rights Reserved.

STEAM Education Curriculum

STEAM Curriculum

Author: Manuel R. CortezRodas

A good curriculum must maintain balance throughout all of the parts that it is composed of.  A good curriculum has a defined beginning and end, and it allows for others to be able to join in throughout the different stages that take place between the beginning and the end.  The STEAM Education Curriculum is a good and useful tool which we can design for students to take on their journey from childhood to educated person.

Definition

The STEAM Education Curriculum is a pathway for students to take so they may become STEAM educated.  It has a beginning, an end, and when it is completed, it should start all over again.  The STEAM Education Curriculum should be like a cycle which flows constantly and efficiently for it to last and succeed.

The Five Strands

The STEAM Curriculum is founded on the five strands which are: Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics.  These five strands are the foundation of the STEAM curriculum.  By ensuring that the five strands are interconnected, balanced, and secured, we create a solid foundation upon which we can create a lasting STEAM curriculum.

Requirements

The STEAM Education Curriculum must require that the students: demonstrate their knowledge of the five strands, demonstrate how they can apply their knowledge to solve challenges, and demonstrate that they can argument their knowledge at a global level.  By demonstrating these three requirements the student earns the right to be certified as having been educated in Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics.

Educators are entrusted to educate students, as they journey from childhood, and into our schools, where they become educated people.  Students who become educated in STEAM and have access to a pathway that is based on a good STEAM Education Curriculum, will be able to develop the required skills that we will need to face the many challenges which the future may hold for us as a people.

Copyright 2013.  MRCR Educational Consulting Firm.  All Rights Reserved.

STEAM Education Introduction (Part 2)

Why is STEAM Education Important?

Author: Manuel R. CortezRodas

Becoming educated in STEAM is important for our students and our future.  STEAM Education is important because it can benefit students, teachers, schools and communities.  By becoming educated in STEAM, our students can become prepared to face futures challenges that may cross their path.  STEAM Education allows our students to diverse their way of thinking by developing a learning style based on multiple subjects that are interconnected.

STEAM Education can benefit our students.  Because it is based on a 5 strand education base, it requires that students develop the ability to each and all strands both individually and collectively.  The student should be able to meet a challenge with a diverse array of tools that will help them build the necessary solutions to those challenges.  Teachers benefit from STEAM Education by having the ability to collaborate in the presentation of education to students.  STEAM education encourages teachers to share knowledge in order for it to be presented to students.

The benefit to schools and communities from STEAM Education shows on the preparation for future challenges and adversities that could be faced by both.  Both schools and communities who develop a strong foundation on the strands of STEAM education demonstrate a level of readiness that allows them to weather difficulties as well as raise the level of awareness in case those difficulties arrive.

The importance of STEAM Education to the future of our schools and communities becomes clear when we become aware that it is our students who will have to face, live, and solve the challenges that lie ahead.  STEAM Education is important because it is beneficial for all who are involved in and participate in education.

Copyright 2013. MRCR Educational Consulting Firm. All Rights Reserved.

STEAM Education Introduction

What is STEAM Education?

Author: Manuel R. CortezRodas

The theme for the month of February at MRCR Education is STEAM Education.  This is a theme that has been addressed on the blog before, and at the end of this post there is a list of links to prior postings on this theme.  MRCR Education encourages all to further research this theme as it can be beneficial to those taking part in education.

Definition

STEAM Education is composed of five strands: Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Mathematics.  Each of the strands represents a cornerstone upon which education is founded.  STEAM education is a pentagonal approach to education that is beneficial for those who participate in it.

Interconnecting Strands

STEAM Education draws strength in the interconnecting of the five strands that define it.  Only by interconnecting the strands of STEAM education, can we build a foundation, that is strong enough to support a successful education.  To develop successful STEAM education, a plan that interconnects the strands that make up STEAM education must be developed.

Collaboration

STEAM Education depends on the collaboration of all who participate in it.  Just as the strands must be interconnected, so must the participants be willing to work in collaboration with each other.  Collaboration allows for STEAM education to grow and expand so that others can learn and become involved in it.

STEAM Education is beneficial to those who are taking part in education.  MRCR Education believes that STEAM Education is good and can be beneficial.  STEAM Education is worth pursuing, and should be pursued by educators, so that it may share its benefits with the community in the future.

Prior Posts on STEAM Education:

STEAM Education

Understanding STEAM Education

STEAM Education Curriculum

Benefits of STEAM Education

Copyright 2013. MRCR Educational Consulting Firm. All Rights Reserved.