STEAM Education Logic Model

In preparing my logic model for this week’s module, I read through my board’s STEM executive summary for implementing the K-12 STEM Strategy. Sinay et al. (2016), identified that STEM education was valuable for: helping students develop the skills they needed for real-life application, the curriculum enhances their learning, and it helps students practice and solve real-world problems. As I was reading through the implementation of their research report, I thought that the board had made some fair considerations, however, I could not help but notice that the model was missing the implementation of Arts subjects.

I wanted to develop a STEAM Education Initiative Logic Model that expands on the STEM Logic Model by TDSB, and extends to making Arts curriculum connections. An initiative like this one has many constraints to consider; time, budget, and fostering collaboration among school stakeholders. Speaking to colleagues outside of the Arts department helped me to see the different perspectives on why STEAM education has been challenging to implement into the curriculum in a continuous, organic way. Some stated that The Arts is out of their expertise, and to find a correlation between the Arts and STEM education is intimidating, time-consuming and requires additional personal research. With these concerns in mind, I have drafted the following logic model for STEAM Education.

Inputs	Processes/Activities	Outputs	Outcomes
Staffing from all subject departments (Specifically Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) Administrator support Government funding/monetary support (such as: student transport) to community Appropriate classroom space Sufficient time for planning, organizing, collaboration Resources and supplies for experiments, technology, lessons, demonstrations, etc.	Providing instructional training with modeling and examples for educators Providing information sessions that emphasizes the significance of the curriculum to educators, community members, administrators Organization of events, (fundraisers, competitions, science fairs)	Weekly, continuous (over the course of the semester) instructional sessions Resource collection for educators Monthly community newsletters with learning highlights Support strategies for administrators to offer their staff Students who are enrolled in STEAM subjects receiving the curriculum	Students are able to make cross-curricular and real-life application connections to all subject strands Increased interest / course enrollment / applications to post-secondary programs for STEAM subjects These subjects are not seen as “separate” from one another, and instead, seen as correlated, connected and applicable to everyday life (global connections) Improved strategies for problem-solving skills Growth mindset (for students, but also for teachers, who may not have been comfortable with certain strands of STEAM before) Application of critical thinking, innovation and creative skills All stakeholders (students, administrators, community members) gain an appreciation and understanding for all subjects

My goals in creating this model were to integrate these five disciplines, promote creative, interdisciplinary thinking, involve all stakeholders to help understand the value of STEAM Education, and create meaningful learning experiences for students.

References

Sinay, E., Jaipal-Jamani, K., Nahornick, A., & Douglin, M. (2016, June). Stem Teaching and Learning in the Toronto District School Board. https://www.tdsb.on.ca/Portals/research/docs/reports/TDSBSTEMStrategyResearchRpt1.pdf

Toronto, December 2022