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STEM or STEAM or STREAM? Integrated or Interdisciplinary?

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Embedding STEAM in Early Childhood Education and Care

Abstract

There is a growing interest in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) education in the early years. We discuss two tendencies in this movement. The first is the addition of one or more domains, resulting in the acroynm STEAM (adding “Arts”) or STREAM (adding “Reading” as well). The second is the notion that the best approach to STEAM is fully integrating these and all other domains. We present arguments and evidence that these tendencies appear positive but may inadvertently negatively impact the critical increase of STEM in early education. We provide examples of an alternative approach that maintains the positive aspects of these tendencies and avoids the possible negatives.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    For example: “Mathematics is the alphabet with which God has written the universe” (Galileo). “How is it possible that mathematics, a product of human thought that is independent of experience, fits so excellently the objects of reality?” (Einstein).

  2. 2.

    Especially for our own children, except for possibly their concept of zero! They routinely brought home cups containing only very wet mud.

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Acknowledgment

This work was supported in part by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. DRL-1020118. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the NSF.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Denver, Denver, CO, USA

    Douglas H. Clements & Julie Sarama

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  1. Douglas H. Clements
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  2. Julie Sarama
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Correspondence to Douglas H. Clements .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Education, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China

    Caroline Cohrssen

  2. Department of Education, Swinburne University of Technology, Hawthorn, Australia

    Susanne Garvis

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Clements, D.H., Sarama, J. (2021). STEM or STEAM or STREAM? Integrated or Interdisciplinary?. In: Cohrssen, C., Garvis, S. (eds) Embedding STEAM in Early Childhood Education and Care. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-65624-9_13

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-65624-9_13

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-65623-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-65624-9

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