Elementary Students’ STEAM Perceptions

Abstract

The inclusion of the arts into science, technology, engineering, the arts, and mathematics (STEAM) has recently gained much national attention. The purpose of this qualitative study was to conduct a thematic analysis of student STEAM survey open responses to provide the field with an examination of grades 3–5 elementary students’ perceptions of their STEAM learning experiences. Grounded in transformative learning theory, a systematic and iterative thematic analysis of 1,572 student-written open responses to six prompts by 262 student participants revealed three primary themes: (1) extent of identification of science and mathematics learning in STEAM; (2) STEAM progression of activities, authentic problems, and empathetic problem solving; and (3) the presence of metacognition in STEAM. Our findings revealed that students’ STEAM perceptions provide strong support for STEAM learning experiences as a space for implementing the instructional practices important and central to reform efforts in science and mathematics education in the elementary grades.