EDUC06028 2022 Steam 2
Early Childhood Educators play an important role in supporting the development of young children’s curiosity, exploration, and wonder, which are key for engagement in STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Mathematics) education. Through engaging with children’s natural ability to explore and ask questions, observe and create, STEAM activities can be integrated in ECEC by providing play-based opportunities to experience, experiment and engage in problem-based learning. This module will focus on how Early Childhood Educators can enrich children's learning, through the use of STEAM concepts within a holistic and integrated child-led approach. Field trips to The Ark, Ireland's Cultural Centre for 2-12 year olds; Imaginosity, The Children's Museum, and the National Children's Science Centre in Dublin will play a role in this. Students will also identify challenges in delivering STEAM concepts in an ECEC setting and explore some of the tensions with adopting the STEAM approach in early education.
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this module the learner will/should be able to;
Identify opportunities for a STEAM lens to be applied when partnering with young children and articulate the benefits of engagement with STEAM principles and practices.
Develop experiences and environments that support STEAM exploration in ECEC environments using an integrated, play-based curriculum
Utilise and evaluate pedagogical and assessment practices that support children’s engagement with STEAM principles and practices.
Critique the concept of STEAM in ECEC.
Reflect upon and document their attitudes, experiences, hopes and fears in relation to implementing a broad range of contemporary and potential approaches to STEAM as ECEC Educators.
Teaching and Learning Strategies
2 hours lecture/1 hour tutorial/3 hours independent learning
This module will build on STEAM 1, Children's Play and Pedagogy, Quality Frameworks and Curriculum, Assessment and Documentation modules. It will also build on experiences that students have engaged in with children and their Science Week/Engineering Week experiences. There will be collaboration with the local community, for example, The Model Arts Centre, Sligo.
Module Assessment Strategies
Over the semester students will explore, research, design and develop early-years STEAM learning opportunities that will be demonstrated to fellow students. They will also design the continuous provision in the setting to include STEAM as a key component. As part of this project, students will document and reflect upon their experiences and demonstrate an understanding of the key concepts of ECEC pedagogy in the delivery of STEAM learning opportunities.
Students will receive formative feedback for learning from both peers and the teaching team at different points in the module and will be provided with clear and timely notification of assessment requirements. Criteria for success will be shared when the assessment brief is published.
Repeat Assessments
Repeat assessments are determined by the decision of the exam board with the input of the lecturer.
Indicative Syllabus
LO 1) Identify opportunities for a STEAM lens to be applied when partnering with young children and articulate the benefits of engagement with STEAM principles and practices
- Discuss the potential to build a STEAM approach in an ECEC context involves a holistic and integrated understanding of early childhood education and care
- Consider how concepts from the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts and Maths can be understood through an integrated approach
- Explore how experiences such as baking, planting, shadow exploration, working with tools, block play, water play, etc. can be understood through a STEAM lens
- Explore how aesthetic awareness, meaning making, imagination, observation, critical thinking, collaboration, creativity, problem-solving and scientific inquiry can be supported through STEAM experiences
LO 2) Develop experiences and environments that support STEAM exploration in ECEC environments
- Demonstrate design provocations or invitations to explore opportunities which take an integrated and cross disciplinary approach to the STEAM subjects. They will consider the resources, layout, and the environment conducive to learning and play.
- Design integrated STEAM learning experiences that are play-based and child-led.
- Co-constuct pedagogical knowledge with children and encourage their expression through different languages (painting, dancing, story-telling).
- Discuss links to the principals and themes of Aistear and principles and standards of Siolta as well as the curriculum pillars of the Aistear Siolta practice guide when designing for STEAM experiences.
LO 3) Explore and evaluate pedagogical and assessment practices that support children’s engagement with STEAM principles and practices.
- Explore and critique developmentally effective teaching/learning approaches that support the interests, abilities and needs of diverse children and families. This can include strategies such as playing, positioning, modelling, listening, questioning, empowering, explaining, demonstrating, scaffolding weaving, proximal guided interaction and sustained shared thinking.
- Express their values relating to developing a child-centred approach that views children as competent, active agents and as protagonists of their own learning and will understand learning as a co-constructed and open-ended process.
- Discuss how to work with parents and carers to support their children in STEAM activities and scaffold their children’ learning
- Critically explore and evaluate the relevance and applicability of social robotics pedagogies in early years settings
LO 4) Critique the concept of STEAM in EEC
- Identify and discuss the challenges to STEAM in ECEC in practice
- Examine ideas of children as creators of content vs consumers of (digital technology)
- Explore process v product based learning experiences
- Identify issues with the implementation of STEAM (fragmentation of disciplines, contrived learning experiences, teacher-led, etc.)
- Investigate the "schoolification" of early childhood debate
- Debate the imbalance/discordance of STEAM ('hard skills') and humanities ('soft skills')
LO 5) Reflect upon and document their attitudes, experiences, hopes and fears in relation to implementing a broad range of contemporary and potential approaches to STEAM as ECEC Educators.
- Students will reflect on their engagement with the module and their personal and professional development in relation to STEAM.
- Critically review and access the user-centredness of social robotic tinkering kits and evaluate their pedagogic value in early years contexts.
Coursework & Assessment Breakdown
Coursework Assessment
Title | Type | Form | Percent | Week | Learning Outcomes Assessed | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Early Year STEAM Project | Project | Project | 100 % | OnGoing | 1,2,3,4,5 |
Full Time Mode Workload
Type | Location | Description | Hours | Frequency | Avg Workload |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Lecture | Flat Classroom | Lecture | 2 | Weekly | 2.00 |
Tutorial | Flat Classroom | Tutorial | 1 | Weekly | 1.00 |
Independent Learning | Not Specified | Independent Learning | 3 | Weekly | 3.00 |
Required & Recommended Book List
2019-04-26 Teaching STEM in the Preschool Classroom Teachers College Press
ISBN 9780807761366 ISBN-13 0807761362
This book is designed to build educators confidence and competence so they can bring STEM to life with young children. The authors encourage pre-K teachers to discover the value of engaging preschoolers in scientific inquiry, technological explorations, engineering challenges, and math experiences based on learning trajectories. They explain the big ideas in STEM, emphasizing teaching strategies that support these activities (such as language-rich STEM interactions), and describe ways to integrate concepts across disciplines. The text features research-based resources, examples of field-tested activities, and highlights from the classroom. Drawing from a professional development model that was developed with funding from the National Science Foundation, this book is an essential resource for anyone who wants to support preschool children to be STEM thinkers and doers. Book Features: An introduction to current thinking in early STEM teaching and learning. Best practice strategies for including STEM in the pre-K classroom. An in-depth look at the key concepts in each STEM area, including short activity descriptions, illustrations, and explanations. Resources and models co-developed with educators and used in successful professional development. Testimonials from educators explaining how the model connects with their curriculum.
2016-02-19 Handbook of Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) for Educators Routledge
ISBN 1138779393 ISBN-13 9781138779396
The 2nd edition of the "Handbook of Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) for Educators" addresses the concept and implementation of technological pedagogical content knowledge the knowledge and skills that teachers need in order to integrate technology meaningfully into instruction in specific content areas. Driven by the growing influence of TPACK on research and practice in both K-12 and higher education, the 2nd edition updates current thinking about theory, research, and practice. Offering a series of chapters by scholars in different content areas who apply the technological pedagogical content knowledge framework to their individual content areas, the volume is structured around three themes: Current thoughts on TPACK Theory Research on Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge in Specific Subject Areas Integrating Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge into Teacher Education and Professional Development The "Handbook of Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) for Educators "is simultaneously a mandate and a manifesto on the engagement of technology in classrooms. "
2019-08-27 Smart Learning with Educational Robotics Springer
ISBN 3030199126 ISBN-13 9783030199128
This book will offer ideas on how robots can be used as teachers' assistants to scaffold learning outcomes, where the robot is a learning agent in self-directed learning who can contribute to the development of key competences for today's world through targeted learning - such as engineering thinking, math, physics, computational thinking, etc. starting from pre-school and continuing to a higher education level. Robotization is speeding up at the moment in a variety of dimensions, both through the automation of work, by performing intellectual duties, and by providing support for people in everyday situations. There is increasing political attention, especially in Europe, on educational systems not being able to keep up with such emerging technologies, and efforts to rectify this. This edited volume responds to this attention, and seeks to explore which pedagogical and educational concepts should be included in the learning process so that the use of robots is meaningful from the point of view of knowledge construction, and so that it is safe from the technological and cybersecurity perspective.
Module Resources
Baumgart, N. A. and L. R. Kroll (2018) STEAM Concepts for Infants and Toddlers. St. Paul, MN: Redleaf Press
Cohrssen, C. and Garvis, S. (2021) Embedding STEAM in Early Childhood Education and Care. Palgrave MacMillan
Kelly, S. E. (ND) Creative Arts for Early Childhood. Art In Early Childhood. Available at: https://earlyarts.co.uk/
Sakr, M. (2017) Digital Technologies in Early Childhood Art : Enabling Playful Experiences. London: Bloomsbury Academic. Available at: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip,sso&db=nlebk&AN=1423149&site=eds-live&scope=site
Saracho, O. (2021) An Integrated Play-Based Curriculum for Young Children. New York Routledge
Selly, P. B. (2017) Teaching STEM Outdoors: Activities for Young Children. St. Paul, MN: Redleaf Press.
Bulman, G. and R. W. Fairlie, “Technology and Education: Computers, Software, and the Internet,” NBER Working Paper no. 22237, May 2016.
Chesky, N. & Goldstein, R. (2018). Packaging girls for STEM or STEM for girls? A critique on the perceived crisis of increasing female representation in STEM education, Critical Education, 9(16), 98-126
Department of Education (2020) STEM Education 2020: Reporting on Practice in Early Learning and Care, Primary and Post-Primary Contexts. Available at: https://www.education.ie/en/Publications/Inspection-Reports-Publications/Evaluation-Reports-Guidelines/stem-education-2020.pdf
Hunter-Doniger, T. (2018) ‘Art Infusion: Ideal Conditions for STEAM’, Art Education, 71(2), pp. 22–27. Available at: http://search.ebscohost.com.queens.ezp1.qub.ac.uk/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ1195201&site=eds-live&scope=site
Jarrett, O. S. et al. (2020) ‘Teaching with Toys: Scientific Inquiry through Play’, Online Submission. Available at: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip,sso&db=eric&AN=ED607851&site=eds-live&scope=site&custid=s7813921
Jamil, F. M., Linder, S. M. and Stegelin, D. A. (2018) ‘Early Childhood Teacher Beliefs about STEAM Education after a Professional Development Conference’, Early Childhood Education Journal, 46(4), pp. 409–417. Available at: http://search.ebscohost.com.queens.ezp1.qub.ac.uk/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ1181423&site=eds-live&scope=site
Kathy Hytten & Kurt Stemhagen (2020) When STEM and STEAM Really mean ABC: A Democratic Critique of “Anything but Civics” Schools, Educational Studies, 56:1, 18-36
Kiefer, M. et al., “Handwriting or Typewriting? The Influence of Pen- or Keyboard-Based Writing Training on Reading and Writing Performance in Preschool Children,” Advances in Cognitive Psychology 11, no. 4 (December 2015)
Kim, D. and Bolger, M. (2017) ‘Analysis of Korean Elementary Pre-Service Teachers’ Changing Attitudes about Integrated STEAM Pedagogy through Developing Lesson Plans’, International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, 15(4), pp. 587–605. Available at: http://search.ebscohost.com.queens.ezp1.qub.ac.uk/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ1130912&site=eds-live&scope=site
Stegelin, D. A. (2003) 'Application of the Reggio Emilia approach to early childhood science curriculum', Early Childhood Education Journal, 30, 163-169.
Tanaka Fumihide, Cicourel Aaron and Movellan Javier R. (2007) ‘Socialization between Toddlers and Robots at an Early Childhood Education Center’, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 104(46), pp. 17954–17958. doi: 10.1073/pnas.0707769104.
Zhi Hong Wan, Yushan Jiang & Ying Zhan (2020) STEM Education in Early Childhood: A Review of Empirical Studies, Early Education and Development
STEM Education Policy - Department of Education and Skills
STEM Partnerships - Department of Education and Skills
Breaking Down STEAM for Young Children | NAEYC
Outdoor Education Collective. Available at: https://sites.google.com/view/outdooreducationcollective/home
Early Childhood Arts: Three Perspectives (PDF, 1.08 MB). Early Childhood Arts http://www.artscouncil.ie/Arts-in-Ireland/Young-people--children-and[1]education/Early-childhood-arts/ https://abcdoes.typepad.com/files/eyfs_ep_creativ_cri_think-1.pdf
Monkeviciene, O. and B. Autukeviciene (2019) European Educational Research Association Conference 2019: Implementing STEAM in Early Childhood Education: Practices and Factors (paper). Available at: https://eera-ecer.de/ecer-programmes/conference/24/contribution/48435/