Alane Robinson

Article Review
Learning Together: A Collaborative Autoethnographic Exploration of
STEAM (STEM + the Arts) Education
I chose to review this article because it was asking many of the same

questions I ask myself when I think of STEAM. Is adding art to STEM just

adding aesthetics to the final product? Is there more to adding art to STEM

than just adding creativity? Isnt there creativity in science and engineering

already? The authors of this article had these same concerns. They had read

how art brings creativity and innovation to the sciences which supports job

growth and a positive economic future. But they ask the question, isnt art

more than that?

The authors, Sochacka, Guyotte and Walther had the opportunity to co-

teach an interdisciplinary design studio for engineering and art students. To

do their research on how the arts affect STEM they used the

autoethnographic exploration design. This allowed the authors to focus on

moments in the class that transformed their thinking and how the culture

they were in helped with that transformation. Since the authors used a

collaboration model this allowed for different viewpoints of the same

moment. One viewpoint was from an engineering point of view and the

other was from an art perspective. This helped them to experience how

engineering and the arts can come together and create something bigger

than either field could by themselves.

 One of the best examples the authors used to explain how when

engineering and arts are combine understanding deepens, was when they

discussed how four students (2 art students, 1 environmental engineer and a

landscape architecture) worked together to solve Mission Zero Waste by

2030. The mission was for students to comprehend the complexity of waste

from multiple perspectives. The goal was not to find a solution but to fully

understand the environmental, economic, multiple culture and the technical

dimensions of waste.

These four students each brought their own expertise and

deepen the scope of the project by listening and working together. The

landscape architecture went out to the stream behind the building a picked

up many different examples of waste found by the stream. The artists used

this waste to create sculptures out of chicken wire of human and a blue

heron. They filled these sculptures with the waste. The engineer placed the

sculptures in the environment, where we could experience how this waste

affected us all.

But it wasnt until the students used an art critique did they fully

understand the depth their sculptures conveyed. As they questions were

being asked, using the art critique, people began to feel ashamed of what

their actions caused. People began to understand our actions dont just

affect our selves but every living thing around us. That we are all

interconnected and our actions and our inactions affect everything in the

world. By using the art critique the students made the personal connection
on why this was relevant to society and the environment. The critique helped

people to stop and reflect to deepen the meaning of their work.

The article went on to give a couple more examples of how art can

increase understanding and the connectivity of engineering with the cultures

of earth. To me it showed how art help people to reflect on what they are

doing. Using these reflections people can see how their actions will affect the

world over time. So adding the arts to STEM is not just about creativity and

innovation but also to help people to deepen their understanding of

whatever topic they are studying.

Reference:

Sochacka, N., Guyotte, K., Walther, W. Learning together: a collaborative

autoethnographic exploration of STEAM (STEM + the Arts) Education. Journal
of Engineering Education. Jan 2016, Vol. 105. Issue 1. P 15-42.