Creative Minds

When we think about creativity, we often associate the term with people who are well-versed in the arts. This association isn’t without a good foundation. Experience with art, music, and verse by nature allows people to create something new for the world. They work with tangible things such as stone, wood, and paint to forge an artistic expression unique to them.
However, by integrating the arts into Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM Education), students can find themselves developing their creativity in ways they may never have imagined and to their benefit.

Most of the time, when people look at STEM subjects, they tend to focus on rote memorization. While a part of STEM does require memory work, it stretches far beyond those boundaries. When a team of students is told they have to build a robot, they need to be creative.

First, they must determine what purpose they want the robot to serve, which may be an entirely new approach to what could seem like a mundane chore. From there, the students can create a picture of what that robot should look like. They must collaborate and select the best materials for the job, and program the code to do exactly what it is designed to. Every step of the way in an experiment, STEAM students need to innovate and be creative to accomplish their goals.

Even amongst scientific circles, the recognition of STEAM as invaluable for deeper creativity is acknowledged as it promotes teamwork. STEAM subjects naturally push their participants to think outside the box and find new ways to get around the roadblocks that might otherwise slow them down.

Creativity has been fostered even more in STEAM with the innovation of 3-D printing technology and CGI rendering. Artists have found new mediums through these technologies that require some technical expertise. Young minds are encouraged to see creativity as something not just relegated to the arts, but as a practice that can be incorporated into every part of life. With a solid foundation in STEAM, we are effectively setting the stage for the next generation to create the pillars for a better world.