The STEAM education curriculum is the buzz word in the education industry. STEAM is simply an advancement of the STEM curriculum of education, where schools impart knowledge to students in the streams of Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics. STEM education focuses on a practical rather than theoretical approach and includes education by hands-on learning, model building, and simple science experiments. It provides space for students to raise questions and have a healthy discussion.
This concept of learning is extended to STEAM education, which is a more holistic learning approach.
So, what is STEAM education?
STEAM is short for Science Technology Engineering Art and Mathematics. The Art discipline in STEAM adds to the existing set of disciplines in STEM education. This discipline encompasses all forms of arts education such as social studies, liberal arts, and music among others.
Educational institutes adopting the STEAM mode of education focus more on creative learning and experiential learning. This mode of learning environment allows space for students to try things out, make mistakes, and learn from them. While the STEM education focused on bridging the gap between theory and reality in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, STEAM is focused on integrating Arts stream for the benefit of students to gain a more expansive understanding of the world.
The need for STEAM education
Hiring companies are on the look-out for industry ready graduates. STEAM mode of learning equips a student with all the skills necessary to start working on Day 1. With STEAM, students will be more focused, goal-oriented and follow a project-type approach rather than monotonous rote form of learning. This will pique the interest of the student, motivate them to study as well as better prepare them for life after college.
Introducing Art into STEM education brings in a whole new perspective to learning – Creativity. This new aspect allows students to integrate creativity into their problem-solving and reasoning approaches. Such a rounded approach where students can inculcate all skills necessary to enter the workplace will surely benefit the child in the future.
With STEAM education comes a lot of new opportunities. The demand for job roles in the various disciplines in STEAM is rapidly increasing and companies are looking for new skill sets in candidates. STEAM education provides an opportunity for students to equip themselves with new skills and stand out amongst their peers.
The conventional mode of learning is not suitable to the needs of today’s colleges and workplaces. Students are hungry for more knowledge and are eager to try out things on their own. Recruiters do not want to waste their resources on training their new recruits. Rather, they want them to start working. STEAM education matches the student with the workplace. With STEAM, students will be exposed to a set of disciplines that together will help them evolve and offer personal growth.
How to select a school with STEAM education
Now that you know what STEAM education is and why it is important in today’s world, the next burning is which school offers STEAM and how do you select the right school.
Usually, STEAM education schools in Hyderabad are well-known across the city. Along with checking for the usual parameters such as proximity, student-teacher ratio, there are few more things to keep in mind when selecting the right STEAM school.
1. Check the curriculum
STEAM education schools in Hyderabad have a well laid-out curriculum integrating all the 5 disciplines of STEAM. Ensure that the curriculum is versatile, inculcates different modes of teaching such as model building, hands-on activities, and experimenting.
2. Space to apply STEAM knowledge
Simply learning the 5 disciplines and not understanding it by doing is no different than non-STEAM education mode. Schools offering STEAM education should have research-based activities and practical modes of learning integrated in their day-to-day classes.
3. Activities to engage students
The aim of STEAM education is to allow holistic and all-round development of students. This can be supported by the right syllabus and providing co-curricular activities. Check if the STEAM education offering schools have co-curricular activities for students to participate in. This could be after-school sports, dance, literary club, dance club, etc. These will aid in the overall development of the students.
STEAM education is an expansion of STEM education to integrate Arts in the current teaching methodology. This new form of education is soon to be the trend in the education sector and allow students to better prepare themselves for life after studies.
