STEM and STEAM

It seems that Einstein had it right all along.  There is a place and a relationship between art and science.  Thus, the education trend which seems to be causing a paradigm shift in STEM education is adding the A for Art(s) into STEM which would now be STEAM education.  Why the integration?  From what I have read, two words that help answer that question are CREATIVITY and INNOVATION.  Both creativity and innovation are critical parts of both STEM and the arts.   “Creativity is a function of knowledge, curiosity, imagination, and evaluation.  Three important levels of creativity are discovery, invention, and creation”. 1  “STEM lessons naturally involve art (for example, product design), language arts (communication), and social studies and history (setting the context for engineering challenges)”.2   As the shift from STEM to STEAM picks up momentum,  the classroom teacher must be creative and innovative in the application of the arts to the classroom lessons and remember that “it’s not STEM vs. STEAM—it’s about making every student a fully-literate 21st-century citizen”.3

 1 "Creativity and Innovation: Your Keys to a Successful ..." 2013. 14 Apr. 2015 <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/daniel-burrus/creativity-and-innovation_b_4149993.html>

 2 "STEM vs. STEAM: Why The "A" Makes a Difference ..." 2015. 14 Apr. 2015 <http://www.edudemic.com/stem-vs-steam-why-the-a-makes-all-the-difference/>

 3 "STEM vs. STEAM: Do the Arts Belong? - Education Week ..." 2014. 14 Apr. 2015 <http://www.edweek.org/tm/articles/2014/11/18/ctq-jolly-stem-vs-steam.html>