THE FUTURE IS FEMALE STEAM EDUCATION ANALYSIS
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS, 2020), science, technology,
engineering, and math (STEM) are fields that, historically, have been dominated by
males, mainly White males. Despite recent major increases in access to education, gender
inequalities persist, particularly in the academic areas of math, science, engineering, and
technology. Marcus and Page (2016) stressed that while many beneficial developments
have taken place in the area of education, females and their families continue to lose
significant opportunities leading to inequalities in the workplace as well as in the wider
society. This gender inequity calls for the continuous development of skills and
capabilities of females in these areas of education. There is a need to increase females’
awareness of their own power to learn, to actively participate in their own learning, to
build more self-confidence in their abilities to succeed in these areas of study, and to
engage both, girls and boys equally to combat gender stereotypes.
In an effort to engage more pupils in the fields of math, science, engineering, and
technology, a new program named STEM was created by the U.S. government to
advocate for teachers and schools to begin actively teaching these subjects in more
creative and inclusive ways to enhance equity for female and students of color as well
(Handelsman & Smith, 2016). In 2009 with President Obama’s “Educate to Innovate”
Campaign, the goals of STEM were defined and made public for educators and schools to
begin implementing policy towards improving STEM participation by students in the
United States.
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Unfortunately, a problem of practice (PoP) arose when young female students
found themselves lacking success in the STEM classroom. As a result, the Next
Generation Science Standards (NGSS) created A Framework for K-12 Science Education
(2011), which included a new conceptual framework for science in grades K-12. STEAM
was an update to STEM and now included Science, Technology, Engineering, Math, and
the Arts. The philosophy behind this new framework was that students who were taught
STEAM in the science classroom were more likely to combat implicit bias and stereotype
threats that persisted in STEM subjects for decades (Parker, 2018). However, a review of
the PoP literature uncovered an overarching theme in STEAM education: The lack of
data on the effectiveness of STEAM curriculum and the effectiveness of interventions
on the engagement of young female students in elementary school.
English Language Arts (ELA) and mathematics comprise the Common Core State
Standards (CCSS) required for students in schools across the nation. However, social
studies and science have their own set of standards and are not part of the CCSS (Drake,
2012; Lambert, 2019; O’Connor, 2014). Nevertheless, science is one of the core
academic subjects as outlined by individual state standard boards and the National
Science Teaching Association (NSTA), which define science and STEAM as critical for
students to make sense of the world through informed decision making processes. The
problem in education is that subjects, such as math, ELA, science, and social studies, are
usually taught independently from one another when the best way students learn is by
combining concepts through real-world context. Hence, the creation of STEAM. The
concept of teaching the core academic subjects together is associated with terms such as
multidisciplinary, transdisciplinary, and interdisciplinary learning.
In the most recent Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA)
rankings, the United States placed 38th in math and 24th in science out of a total of 71
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countries. As a result of these low rankings, it became important for the United States to
find ways to strengthen education in science and math and, subsequently, student
confidence and participation in STEAM fields (Funk & Parker, 2018; Human, 2012).
Success in education generates a stronger future workforce (Mace, 2018). The notion is
that strengthening science and math education in schools will result in more students
pursuing degrees and jobs in those same fields.
Since science and math are oftentimes joined together in interdisciplinary
learning, it became a natural place for engineering and technology to integrate into the
curriculum and become STEM. When the NSTA released the NGSS Lead States (2013),
they included engineering as part of the science education curriculum. This development
resulted in many high schools and middle schools implementing STEM programs and as
schools further developed existing STEM programs, some transitioned into STEAM to
increase student diversity of ideas and engagement (Allina, 2018; Long & Davis, 2017).
STEAM programs developed to incorporate holistic education and integrate the arts and
promoted creativity and innovation in education (Long & Davis, 2017).
Research on STEAM education found an increased in creativity and problem
solving among students, which concomitantly increased students’ participation in
STEAM: specifically the people who benefit the most from arts integration into STEM
were marginalized groups in society, such as females, students of color, and nonbinary
students (Heinecke, 2018; Killerman, 2017; Perignat & Katz-Buonincontro, 2019;
Pitrone, 2019; Quigley & Herro, 2019).
This dissertation studies STEAM curriculum and integration in science education
at the elementary level. As further research develops on STEAM, programs are beginning
to integrate into science and STEM programs in schools, many programs shifted from
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STEM to STEAM because the curriculum focused on encouraging students to take risks,
collaborate, and work creatively on solutions (Allina, 2018; Perignat & Katz-
Buonincontro, 2019; Weber, 2014). The main difference is the inclusion of the arts into
STEM as STEAM provides interdisciplinary art and design so students to apply
creativity, design, and innovation into STEM (Allina, 2018; Catterall, 2017; Dangelmaier
& Hermann, 2017; Jolly, 2014; Mukherjee, 2018).
The overall goal of the presidential administrations (i.e., Bush, Obama, and
Trump) in launching initiatives to address science, technology, engineering, and math in
schools has been to better prepare students with the skills required for STEM degrees and
the workforce (Department of Education [DOE], 2017, 2018; Eger, 2010; Handelsman &
Smith, 2016; Holdren, 2013; Mukherjee, 2018). National policy created an opportunity
for schools to improve traditional science education with STEM and STEAM programs
(Mukherjee, 2018). An outcome of STEAM education was an increase the number of
participants in STEM fields (Handelsman & Smith, 2016; Holdren, 2013). Allina (2018)
studied Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) and their work with Rhode Island’s U.S.
House of Representatives to implement STEAM policy. Questions from policy makers
wondered if STEAM was to increase the arts, or to promote science, technology,
engineering, and math (Allina, 2018). The Rhode Island U.S. House of Representatives
formed a committee to review the purpose of STEAM policy and found that STEAM
education increased student engagement, innovation, and better prepared students for a
changing world (Allina, 2018).
Rhode Island School of Design applied a STEAM curriculum and found that
students began to excel in the field of art or applying the arts to nontraditional fields
(Allina, 2018). Through a partnership between the RISD and the U.S House of
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Representatives, STEAM policy developed sought to center the arts and design in STEM,
influence implementation in K-20 schools, and encourage artists and designers in the
workforces for innovation outcomes (Allina, 2018).
In 2009, the Florida Department of Education (FLDOE) wrote Education from
STEM to STEAM Preparing Florida’s Students to Thrive in the 21st Century to educating
the whole child through STEAM and arts integration. This was the first time educational
policy was passed by any state to include STEAM. FLDOE (2009) applied STEAM in
educational policy to encourage better quality public schools through arts integration in
curriculum. The FLDOE (2009) argued that STEAM education crossed socioeconomic
and racial barriers. However, as a practice many educators and administrators seek to
understand what a STEAM curriculum is and how to design instruction that will engage
an increasing number of learners (Casteel, 2018; Mukherjee, 2018; Negreiros, 2017).
Statement of the Problem of Practice
Courey (2016) explained that females as young as 6 years old internalize the
stereotype threat that girls are bad at math and science. The effects of this stereotype
threat are that women make up less than 25% of the STEM workforce (Beede, Julian,
Langdon, McKittrick, & Doms, 2011). To address the gender gap in STEM, Weist (2014)
recommended educators to use gender neutral teaching strategies (e.g., rotating who is
called on, equal mixed-gender groupings, incorporate role models, fostering student
independence). One reason STEM programs develop into STEAM programs, Catterall
(2017) found, was to increase student creativity, empathy, and happiness.
The Every Student Succeed Acts (2015) signed by President Obama wrote a law
to mandate funding for public schools PK-12 to provide STEAM education in schools.
Catterall (2017) worked with four teachers at STEAM schools and none of them knew
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how to write or teach STEAM. As STEAM policy from the government began to
mandate STEAM curriculum in schools, there is very little data on how a STEAM
curriculum should be designed by educators and what framework to use for
implementation (Catterall, 2017). The academic research on the impact of STEAM
curriculum on engagement and achievement, specifically of young female students in
elementary school is minimal. Conversely, there are numerous articles that encourage the
use of STEAM as a practice for young females to increase engagement over the use of
STEM alone (Dangelmaier & Hermann, 2017; DeJarnette, 2018; Eger, 2010). This study
was designed to address these problems and sought to understand the impact of a STEAM
curriculum on elementary-aged females.
The PoP sought to address the engagement of females in STEAM using a
transdisciplinary STEAM curriculum designed to incorporate female role models and
cultural representation of women in these fields. A limitation of the study and a
contribution to the PoP was the outbreak of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Schools closed, which transitioned all educators to online professionals for Spring 2020
and in many places Summer 2020. Students learned remotely from home through
distance learning methods. The COVID-19 outbreak resulted in students learning on
laptops, tablets, and cell phones. The researcher of this study works in K-6 elementary
education and learned through the pandemic that many families did not have a device for
their youngest children. The researcher witnessed families scrambling to purchase
equipment for their students to attend school virtually. This dissertation was conducted
using distance learning and adds to the PoP for this study.
Research Question
Given these problems, this action research study was designed to understand:
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1) What impact did an empowerment curriculum, utilizing transdisciplinary
curriculum, challenge-based learning and cultural, gender-specific role
models have on elementary-aged females’ participation and engagement in
STEAM education?
The development of the STEAM summer program evolved into a remote, digital
summer camp experience due to the outbreak of the coronavirus. Parents and participants
were offered to join the program for free and learn about cultural, gender-specific role
models in STEAM and conduct interactive synchronous experiments with a group of
their peers.
Theoretical Framework
The theoretical frameworks of this study were grounded in empowerment and
feminist theories. The literature on empowerment theory came primarily from the fields
of education, community psychology, social work practice, and diversity, equity, and
inclusion (DEI) work (Kieffer, 1981; Lo, 2005). The literature stressed that power could
not be given but rather can encourage individuals, such as teachers, to emphasize
competence building and help students recognize their strengths and achieve their fullest
potential to be able to control their own life and learning outcomes (Lord & Hutchison,
1993). Empowerment theory focuses on the developmental process through which
individuals that possess less access to resources were able to attain education, access, and
power through knowledge acquisition (Krajewski et al., 2010). Scholars stressed that this
power gave people the ability to influence life outcomes and shape future society,
specifically as it applies to this study (Freire, 1970; Gutierrez, Parsons & Cox, 1998;
Kieffer, 1981; Krajewski et al., 2010; Rappaport & Hess, 1984).
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Empowerment theory was important for this study because, in terms of education
and curriculum design, it involved efforts from teachers and administrators alike, to
promote gender responsiveness and ensure equitable attention to girls and boys (and the
spectrum). Additionally, empowerment theory as a curriculum design in practice
encourages active learning among students and the individual perspective that success is a
result of effort and not luck (Marcus & Page, 2018; Sterns, Bottia, Savalos, Mickelson,
Moller & Valentino, 2016; Turner & Maschi, 2015). The literature on empowerment was
appropriate for this study as it also indicates that challenging gender stereotypes through
gender-inclusive curriculum and discourse has led to improved learning outcomes for
females (Berwick, 2019; Fink, 2015; Weist, 2014).
Similar to empowerment theory, feminist theory aimed to understand gender
inequality focusing on gender power relations and the promotion of women’s rights and
interests (Marcus & Page, 2018; Poorman, 2003; Turner & Maschi, 2015). Beauvoir, in
her book The Second Sex (1949), wrote that throughout history, the man had been
considered the “Default,” while the woman had been considered the “Other.” Therefore,
women have been defined not as themselves, but as relative to men. As a result, women
have internalized their position in society as subordinated to the male gender. The
argument is that motherhood left women pinned to their body and to the household,
leading to their gradual domination based on physiology (Beauvoir, 1949). It was not
until the Industrial Revolution of the 19th century and the suffrage movement that women
began to demonstrate that it is not inferiority that has determined their historical
insignificance, but their historical insignificance that has determined them to be inferior.
Feminist theory was important to this study to understand the societal construct of gender
as females are taught to be feminine while males are taught to be masculine. Slowly,
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females at a very young age begin to believe that there are some fields that are only for
men (AAUW, 2010; Beauvoir, 1949; Lord & Hutchison, 1993).
Both empowerment theory and feminist theory were ideal as a theoretical
framework for this study as they emphasize assets and strengths instead of deficits. These
theories inform the academic discourse around reducing gender stereotyping of women in
education and society. Additionally, these theories support curriculum focused around a
design to increase the engagement of young female students, which encourage rigor,
problem solving, forming supportive relationships, and relevance to the real-world
(American Association of University Women [AAUW], 2017; Drake, 2012; Katz-
Buonincontro, 2018; Krajewski et al., 2010).
Given these basic theoretical tenets, this study aimed to offer young females the
opportunity to participate in a free 2-week STEAM program. The program aimed to teach
participants the skills to solve STEAM challenges using a transdisciplinary approach,
challenge-based learning (CBL) curriculum and encouraged gender-inclusive practices,
such as integrating female professionals into the curriculum. In this online learning
environment, students were asked to solve problems (i.e., STEAM challenges) using
items they could find around the house. Additionally, parents were asked to purchase a
few minimal items only if they did not already have them around the house (see
Appendix C).
Empowerment theory aims to teach students to trust their strengths instead of
focusing on their weaknesses (Perkins & Zimmerman, 1995; Pitrone, 2019). Additionally,
the notion of empowerment encouraged young females to trust their instincts, test out a
hypotheses, and persist even after failing. Female students learn that the concept of
failure is part of STEAM education and not due to their sex or level of ability (Berwick,
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2019; Casteel, 2018; Quinton, 2014). Students develop iterations of ideas as a practice in
STEAM education and the message to persist occurs with the application of
empowerment theory (Pitrone, 2019). Fink (2015) recommended elementary STEAM
educators teach students to learn to believe in themselves, which results in students’
ability to ideate, reiterate, and persist (Catterall, 2017; Cimpian, 2018; Fink, 2015).
Education for women historically began as something available for the privileged.
In the 17th century, Ford (2010) explained women were educated in the arts to keep them
in their place instead of empowering them. When women are taught science, technology,
engineering, and math in addition to the arts, the dominant structure where women’s
principal role was to take care of the house and the children was challenged (Ford, 2010)
Empowerment theory applied in this study as a curriculum and taught participants
to trust in their own voice and feel confident in STEAM subjects. The application of
feminist theory was based on the participant demographics in the program. The researcher
worked to understand the impact of a transdisciplinary STEAM-based curriculum on
young females. This study was designed to understand the effects young females to
determine if curriculum design affected participation and engagement in STEAM. If the
data reflected in practice suggested the themes from empowerment and feminist theories,
then these results could help other educators and administrators who are working to
create transdisciplinary elementary education. Additionally, this study could be used to
benefit the STEAM curriculum, pedagogy, and policy to provide greater equity, access,
and engagement for all learners, including males and nonbinary students.
Purpose of the Study
The goal of this study was to improve science, technology, engineering, art, and
math education for all students through defining and testing a STEAM curriculum for
elementary-aged females in an online learning environment. The purpose of this study
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was to understand the impact of teacher curriculum design on young females’
engagement and participation in STEAM. Historically, STEAM subject fields have been
male-dominated (Courey, 2016; Weist, 2014). Therefore, this study used the lens of
gender-inclusive practices in curriculum design for STEAM education to examine how
the interventions impacted young females’ engagement and future goals to pursuit
science, technology, engineering, art, and math education and potential careers.
This action research study was designed to understand the impact of a
transdisciplinary STEAM curriculum on learners, specifically young female participation
and engagement. The design aimed to know what impact teacher instructional methods
have on involvement in STEAM education. Additionally, this study looked at the effect of
STEAM curriculum strategies by designing a 2-week long STEAM program that
included a transdisciplinary CBL and gender-specific, cultural, instructional practice, and
instructional design methodology. It also explored the correlation between the level of
participation and motivation experienced by young female learners ages 7 to 10 years old.
In conclusion, the data collected were analyzed to determine how a STEAM program
impacted young females’ opinions, thoughts, and beliefs about the fields of STEAM.
Overview of Methodology
This study was conducted by a practicing science and STEAM teacher for
students ages 7 to 10. Therefore, the researcher applied action research methodology. The
methodology design is based on practices designed for working teachers. Efron and
Ravid (2013) explained that action research studies include identifying a problem,
collecting research, analyzing, implementing, and sharing data. Furthermore, action
research studies encourage teacher-researcher studies based on problems in their own
community because studies of this type provide immediate feedback and solutions for
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implementation (Efron & Ravid, 2013). To complete this study, the researcher worked
with the University of South Carolina (USC), the Institutional Review Board (IRB),
parents, and student participants in an online learning community.
The goal of assessing teacher instructional interventions using an online
STEAMbased curriculum was to determine which strategies enhance engagement and
mindsets for young females. With this goal in mind, the researcher designed an online
learning summer camp 2-week module. The module included a STEAM-based
curriculum that incorporated CBL methodology as a teacher instructional strategy to
foster engagement and participation. The 2-week module was 16 hours long, which is
equivalent to one semester of STEAM classes. At the researcher’s school, students attend
STEAM one time a week for 16 weeks over the course of one semester.
The study’s design used mixed-methods methodology to incorporate both
quantitative and qualitative measures to assess the effectiveness of a STEAM program.
Student and parent data were collected using Google form surveys. The quantitative
methods analyzed student initial and follow-up surveys to identify patterns in the
responses. The qualitative measures analyzed parent answers to open response questions
on the observation forms and also identified patterns and similarities in participants’
responses. Triangulation was used to cross-analyze the patterns in the responses and
compare them to one another (Efron & Ravid, 2013).
Student surveys were distributed online to complete the initial and follow-up
survey (see Appendix A & B). The study took place in a STEAM program called
Inventor’s Camp - STEAM Themed where students participated in a curriculum that used
empowerment curriculum and transdisciplinary CBL methodology as a strategy designed
to engage young females in the fields of science, technology, engineering, art, and math.
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Researcher interventions were evaluated using parent observation forms,
participant surveys, researcher reflections, and transcriptions of the lessons to analyze
effectiveness of the STEAM program. The data analysis method is outlined below. The
STEAM program took place over a 2-week period for 2 hours a day for a total of 16
hours. This is equivalent to 1 semester of STEAM classes that meets 1 time each week for
16 weeks. This STEAM program was offered to parents for free and was sponsored by
the USC as part of a doctoral dissertation action research study.
The researcher applied open coding analysis to define emerging themes in the
qualitative data. Burnard (1991) explained that open coding is when a researcher reads
through their material repeatedly and groups together common themes. Initially, the
researcher worked with Tetra Insights Software to code the data using the playback
feature to watch videotapes of lessons alongside transcriptions repeatedly and color code
similar word groupings. Next, the researcher loaded the transcripts into NVivo software,
which allowed the researcher to run a word frequency query that autogenerated a list of
the most frequently used words from the parent observations, participant surveys,
researcher reflections, and the video transcriptions. The researcher classified words,
sentences and phrases into similar groupings based on word frequencies to develop
emerging themes. This action research study was designed to understand thoughts and
perceptions around science, technology, engineering, art, and math and how teachers can
impact learners through designing transdisciplinary STEAM curricula, especially those
that are designed as cultural, gender-inclusive interventions for young females.
Significance of the Study
This study explored the impact of a STEAM program and its effectiveness on
increasing participation in these subjects. Few research studies existed on the
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effectiveness of researcher instructional interventions and transdisciplinary STEAM
curriculum for elementary-aged females. Grant and Patterson (2016) conducted a review
of literature published on STEAM to understand arts integration into STEM. Over a
25year period, they found 38 total publications on STEAM-related papers in PK-20
formal, informal, and unknown educational settings. Only 12 of those articles were based
on elementary education and just two of these publications focused on STEAM education
in an informal setting (Grant & Patterson, 2016). Informal education was described as
museum education, afterschool activities, and summer camp programs.
Using this same approach, the researcher searched the PASCAL Catalog USC
Libraries Collection between the 2014-2020 using the keywords STEAM, elementary,
education, and informal, which resulted in 38 publications. Upon further review, three of
the articles related to STEAM and only two took place in informal settings. One of the
articles featured STEAM curricula designed for museum educators, another was a PK
program in an early childhood learning center, and the remaining article described
STEAM curricula an integration into elementary school classrooms.
Quigley, Herro, King, and Plank (2020) acknowledged that STEAM education for
elementary educators is on the rise, but the research and the curricula in this field are
lacking. Their goal was to describe authentic problem-based learning units (PBL), also
referenced in this study as CBL, to engage students in the process of inquiry through a
transdisciplinary approach (Quigley et al., 2020). “In this way, students move beyond one
correct way to solve a problem, towards an approach that integrates different solutions
and perspectives,” (Quigley et al., 2020, p. 500).
This action research study specifically focused on elementary-aged females
learning STEAM in an informal setting described as an online summer camp program.
The STEAM curricula implemented in this program used a transdisciplinary and CBL
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design to cultivate creative thinking, multiple solutions, and focus on the process of
problem solving. While many studies demonstrate young females initially stop
participating in science and math during elementary schools, research studies mainly
focused on the effects of STEAM education at the college, middle, and high school level
(Damour, 2019; Khazan, 2018; Venditto, 2018). This study aimed to contribute to the
academic research narrative, development, and evolution of STEAM from the perspective
of an action researcher. This study is classified as phenomenological research, which is
when participants all shared a similar lived experience (Creswell & Creswell, 2018). The
shared experience was learning during quarantine.
There is a national movement for schools across the nation to implement STEAM
programs to provide better quality education for students in schools PK-college (NGSS,
2013; Quigley et al., 2020; Smith, 2016). However, studies indicated that in elementary
school boys continue to outperform girls in science and math on standardized assessments
(Clewell & Ginorio, 2002). Data have demonstrated that the first noticeable differences in
science based on gender appear in the third grade and then again in the eighth and 12th
grade, and that progressively, more females lose interest the older they become (Anthony
& Ogg, 2019; Clewell & Ginorio, 2002; Digiovanni & Liston, 2004; Huhman, 2012).
The outcome of COVID-19 left many students home in social isolation learning
from a distance. In 2020, the school year ended online for many students across the
United States. Additionally, summer camps were canceled across the nation, and many
parents were looking for activities for their children. Given this situation, this action
research study aimed to offer a STEAM program to engage and educate young females
about this field. As a result, the researcher worked to understand how an online STEAM
program using transdisciplinary, CBL, and cultural, gender-specific practices impacted
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young females. Phenomenological research aimed to identify the statements participants
make that support or debunk the stereotype that boys are better than girls (Creswell &
Creswell, 2018).
Limitations of the Study
The study was limited in terms of student sample size (N = 10) and time
constraints (2 weeks for a total of 16 hours). While 15 females attended the program, 10
came to every session. These participants and parents surveys were gathered and analyzed
for this dissertation. The study took place with elementary students ages 7 to 10 years old.
The sample size reflected results aimed at young females studying STEAM in an online
summer program.
These limitations explain the purposeful intent of the study and ask that
researchers using this information avoid overgeneralizing results for college-aged
students as an example. Efron and Ravid (2013) explained that action researchers create
effects on the given sample participating in the study, and in this case, the sample is
limited by age, gender, and subject. This study, therefore, provided a starting point for
researchers wishing to conduct more rigorous future studies in these areas.
Another limitation was the outbreak of a pandemic resulting in the shutdown of
in-person learning for many students. The outcome was a pivot from an in-person
program over the course of a semester (16 weeks for a total of 16 hours) to an online
program that met for the same amount of time (16 hours). The online component limited
the researcher’s ability to gather student data, such as, work samples from every child.
A further limitation was the limited availability of research on STEAM programs,
curricula, and workforce data. Specifically, research that focused on elementary STEAM
education in informal settings limited the researcher’s ability to document STEAM alone.
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Consequently, this dissertation in practice (DiP) includes related information, facts, and
statistics on science and STEM education, programming, policy, and workforce data.
Lastly, the researcher was limited by her perspective as a science educator. Her
own bias to engage and increase the amount of women in science, STEM, and STEAM
influenced the research, curriculum design, and outcome of this program. The STEAM
program at the researcher’s school was implemented within an elementary science
department. The focus for funding and parent support has been to engage students in
STEM through arts-integration. The perspective of a scientist-teacher-researcher
influenced this study.
Dissertation Overview
This dissertation is divided into five chapters to address the application of
STEAM as an area of pedagogy where students are presented with challenges and are
engaged in intentional play and risk using a transdisciplinary approach to learning. It also
addresses the issue of PoP that emerged in the effectiveness of this area of study by
failing to attract female students; therefore, the further development of STEAM, which
includes the arts, to encourage student participation and empowerment (Allina, 2018).
This research study assessed the effectiveness of CBL and cultural, gender-inclusive
practices as two major components of a STEAM curriculum. The study evaluated the
impact on females ages 7 to 10 participating in an online summer camp called Inventor’s
Camp – STEAM Themed.
Chapter 1 provides the nature and significance of this problem. Important
information is provided about the need for and the purpose of this study. It also provides
an overview of the historical gender inequalities concerning the participation of females
in the areas of STEM. This chapter also emphasizes the need to contribute to the body of
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academic research on STEAM, to offer an effective, online teacher curriculum for
implementing STEAM using a transdisciplinary approach. This chapter presents a
theoretical framework, STEAM-based instructional interventions, such as CBL and
gender-inclusive practices, and research in support of the curriculum.
Chapter 2 presents the literature review and key findings that indicate why the
pattern persists where women avoid STEAM fields. Specifically, from early childhood,
many women internalize the perception, and thus the stereotype threat, that STEAM jobs
are for the men. Therefore, this study used empowerment and feminist theories to ground
this work. These theories provide a research-based context to inquire and study the
reasons and concerns for gender stereotypes. Additionally, theories explore interventions
that may improve learning outcomes in access to education in STEAM fields.
Chapter 3 explains the action research methodology designed for this
mixedmethods study. It describes the data collection instruments and discusses how the
theoretical frameworks guided this study. It provides descriptions of the instruments used
to collect data and the development of these tools. Finally, this chapter ensures the
methodology is in accordance with IRB research standards for the safety of the human
subjects (i.e., children that participated in the study).
Chapter 4 presents the analysis of the data collected in this study, an overview of
the effectiveness of the STEAM curriculum, and the effects of the interventions on the
participants in this study ages 7 to 10. It presents an explanation of the STEAM
curriculum and interventions designed for this study. Detailed analysis and description of
the results are shared in Chapter 4.
Chapter 5 ends with a conclusion, implications, and recommendations for further
studies. It also includes recommended practices for STEAM educators, administrators,
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museums with STEAM/Makerspaces, and any individuals who design curriculum for
elementary-aged children.
Definition of Terms
For purposes of this study on STEAM education and student participation and
motivation, the following terms are defined as follows:
Action Research: Practice-based research by an educator in the field of pedagogy aimed
to improve student learning (Efron & Ravid, 2013).
Challenge-Based Learning: A problem presented by a teacher to the class, whereby,
together students develop possible solutions and outcomes. Students are given time to
collectively problem solve, test, and redesign solutions (Johnson et al., 2009).
Dual Coding Theory: Presenting information to learners using a variety of methods such
as, verbal, visual, kinesthetic, or engaging senses (Driscoll, 2005).
Empowerment Theory: Study and explanation of oppression through the lens of status
and power, and finding ways to combat the oppressive forces (Turner & Maschi, 2015).
Engagement: Student investment and participation to learn the content of a given lesson
(Bender, 2017).
Feminist Theory: Study and explanation addressing the inequality and oppression
between males and females, not limited to education, but also including the workforce,
society, and voting (Hekman, 1997).
Gender Equity: Practices used to close the gender gap and ensure equal educational
outcomes for both men and women (UNESCO, 2015).
Measures of Gender Equity in Education: Classification of measures of educational
equity into five categories: Meritocracy, minimum standards, impartiality, equality of
condition, and redistribution (UNESCO, 2018).
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Mixed-Methods Research: Researchers using both quantitative and qualitative data
collection methods in their study (Mertler, 2017).
STEAM-Minded: The disposition to be curious, ask questions, take educated risks, and
enjoy experimenting and trying different solutions to problems (Lockwood, 2020).
Transdisciplinary Curriculum: An approach to ground the curriculum in real-life
contexts, PBL, and engage students to ask questions and conduct research (Beane, 1993,
1997; Drake, 2012).
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CHAPTER 2
LITERATURE REVIEW ON SCIENCE, STEM, & STEAM
Overview of Study
This action research study explored STEAM curriculum strategies to understand
the impact on engagement and participation in these subjects. Studies have found
successful curriculum design for gender-inclusion incorporate presenting students with
challenges or problems to try to solve and provide students the opportunity to share their
ideas and possible solutions (Bryk, 2014; Bulls, 2018; Casteel, 2018; Courey, 2016;
Quigley et al., 2020; Snow, 2014; Weist, 2014; Yager, 2014). Therefore, this study
combined these interventions into transdisciplinary STEAM curriculum design to
increase engagement and achievement.
Many researchers focused on STEAM are working to understand the
transdisciplinary nature of the approach and the ways it motivates girls (Casteel, 2018;
Courey, 2016; Damour, 2019; Hand, 2017; Khazan, 2018; Noonan, 2017; Quigley et al.,
2020; Venditto, 2018; Wiest, 2014; Wyss, Huelskamp, & Siebert, 2012). This study aimed
to contribute to the body of research in STEAM education by developing curriculum and
instruction that engages female students to pursue science, technology, engineering, art,
and math education and related jobs as a result of early interventions of a STEAM
program designed for young females. Data collected in this study were analyzed to
determine the correlation between gender-specific STEAM-based transdisciplinary
interventions and the effects on perceptions and engagement.
This chapter demonstrates the effects of STEAM integration into educational
settings. The literature review explores existing research surrounding STEAM education
as it relates to engaging students in learning science, technology, engineering, art, and
21
math. Additionally, this research details the historical importance of closing the gender
gap in science and what steps educators could take to advocate for equity and access
using a gender-specific transdisciplinary STEAM curriculum design. Given these
findings, the goal of this study was to understand the impact of instructional design on
engagement and participation in STEAM.
Literature Review
This literature review examined the historical patterns of participation in science,
technology, engineering, art, and math. To begin, the literature review applied the theories
used in this study that explain gender and empowerment. A historical perspective was
provided, including the development of educational standards and government policy.
Also, data on women in STEAM education and the workforce were gathered and shared
to understand the pattern and persistence of a gender gap. The movement from STEM to
STEAM was detailed to demonstrate the importance of the preference for STEAM
education when addressing gender-inclusive practices. The STEAM curriculum includes,
CBL, project-based learning, PBL, and maker-centered learning (MCL). Finally, the
literature review concluded with information about the importance of role models, early
intervention, growth mindset, and gender questions (i.e., boys and STEAM, and gender as
a spectrum versus binary).
Below is a list of the topics included in this theoretical framework:
1) Historical Significance
2) Standards and U.S. Government Policy
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3) Education and Workforce Data
4) The Gender Equity Gap
5) Equity in Science and STEAM
6) STEM vs. STEAM: What is the Difference?
7) Why is STEAM Important?
8) STEAM Curriculum Design: Transdisciplinary CBL
9) CBL Integrated with Peer-to-Peer Learning
10) Project-Based Learning (PBL) and MCL
11) Gender-Specific Role Models
12) Early Intervention
13) Growth Mindset
14) Gender-Inclusivity: What About the Boys?
15) Nonbinary: Gender as a Spectrum
Historical Significance
Data on females in education and the workforce in STEM reveal that men
continue to dominate these fields (Beede et al., 2011; Ignotofsky, 2016; Noonan, 2017).
Year after year, the data show slow, incremental progress for women in science. Women
who pursued careers in STEM fields continue to remain a minority in the workforce and
educational settings, such as K-12+ schools (Beede et al., 2011; Ignotofsky, 2016;
Marcus & Page, 2016; Noonan, 2017). At the same time, for the past 20 years, the United
States has scored mediocre on global science and math assessments. The National
Assessment of Educational Progress reports that since 1990, the United States
consistently scored below 20 other countries on science, math, and reading tests. The
measurement used to gather this data is called the Programme for International Student
23
Assessment (PISA) and is applied globally every three years to participating countries
around the world. National policy and state policy in the United States began to address
this achievement gap by providing funding for STEAM education (Allina, 2018;
Cunningham & Berger, 2014; Harrell & Harrell, 2010). Based on these initiatives, school
administrators in individual schools, entire districts, and some states began to implement
STEAM-based practices in their schools versus science, or STEM (Cunningham &
Berger, 2014).
Due to this creativity, these instructional strategies and design in student learning
engaged more students, specifically females and minorities, to participate in class
(Cimpian, 2018; Heinecke, 2018; Jamalian, 2018; Jolly, 2014; Quigley et al., 2020). Jolly
(2014) described the A in STEAM as a focus on design, performing arts, and creative
planning as it applies to solve a science problem or challenge. Jolly (2014) reported on
the experience of Ruth Catchen, a STEAM teacher in Colorado, who found that when she
incorporated the arts as a design approach for student communication of their ideas and
iterations, she witnessed a growth in engagement from her underrepresented students
(females). Ruth Catchen embodied empowerment theory as a curriculum by
demonstrating to students their ability to attain education, access, and power through
knowledge acquisition (Krajewski et al., 2010).
In order for underrepresented students to overcome such barriers, government
policy began to change and incrementally, schools changed too (Carmichael, 2017;
Holdren, 2013; Tanenbaum et al., 2016). Former President Barack Obama generated
many initiatives to address the gender equity gap in the sciences. As the keynote speaker
at the National Academy of Sciences on April 2013, President Obama said, We want to
make sure that those who historically have not participated in the sciences as robustly –
females, members of minority groups here in this country – that they are encouraged as
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well. Feminist theorists aim to understand gender inequality and promote women’s rights
and interests (Marcus & Page, 2018).
His efforts and policies were integrated into schools across the nation. Under the
president’s administration, Tanenbaum et al. (2016) listed initiatives that impacted
science education, such as Race to the Top (RTTT), Change the Equation, Educate to
Innovate, Committee on STEM Education (CoSTEM), Computer Science for All (CSA),
Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), and Every Student Succeeds Act
(ESSA). The Office of Science and Technology Policy issued a press release on
December 4th, 2018 stating that the current president planned to spend $200 million
dollars on STEAM education specifically, including the support of initiatives for women.
The past three presidents released major initiatives to increase science,
technology, engineering, and math education in our nation, which resulted in 68% of
states passing policy focused on STEAM and STEM education (Carmichael, 2017; Eger,
2010). No Child Left Behind (NCLB) under President George W. Bush declared math and
reading were the subjects to be tested on standardized assessments (Lee, 2019). Science,
STEM, and STEAM were not subjects federally mandated for standardized testing in
elementary education. This distinction between subjects to be tested meant that teachers
were given the freedom to design STEAM curriculum without worrying about
standardized test results.
In 2009, Florida became the first state to acknowledge STEAM and the impact on
elementary-aged students. Duval Elementary School in Florida implemented a STEAM
program on limited resources and improved student achievement (FLDOE, 2009). Prior
to the start of the program, the school ranked F and after 1 year of operating as an
elementary STEAM school, the school ranked A (FLDOE, 2009). Duval Elementary
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School described their implementation of STEAM as “infusing the arts into math and
science and technology to improve student learning” (Gainesville, FLDOE, 2009).
This study aimed to understand the impact of implementing a STEAM program
similar to Duval Elementary School that fosters the arts into STEM as “a balanced
curriculum that educates the whole child” (Gainesville, FLDOE, 2009). While STEAM
curricula evolves, empowerment theory and feminist theory connect through educational
practices that inspire marginalized students to participate, solve challenges, and reclaim
power over their own education (Turner & Maschi, 2015).
Standards and U.S. Government Policy
According to the CCSS website, these standards only applied to ELA, Literacy
(Reading), and Mathematics for students in grades K-12. The CCSS were developed as
part of NCLB (2001) under President George W. Bush and implemented in schools to
determine success and funding (Lee, 2019). O’Malley (2012) explained that the NCLB
administered tests to schools to determine ranks for each student as basic, passing,
proficient, or advanced. O’Connor (2014) shared that the CCSS did not include science,
STEM, or STEAM in terms of outcomes or assessments but did emphasize writing as part
of the science curriculum. When the CCSS were first published, 45 of the 50 states
adopted the CCSS to receive additional funding for their schools (Turano, 2018).
While NCLB exempted science, STEM, or STEAM from being subject to
standardized assessments, it acknowledged the importance of formative instruction in
schools. Since schools, teachers, and districts did not have a nationwide assessment like
math and English, many science teachers and programs experienced more freedom in
developing curriculum and instruction. Payo and John (2016) shared that state-by-state
policies on science standards were largely individualized until the development of A
Framework for K-12 Science Education in 2011 and revised in 2012 and 2013. The
26
framework was published by the NSTA. This framework included a conceptual guideline
of science learning objectives and outcomes for teachers and schools.
According to the NGSS website (2019), the framework emphasized science,
engineering, and technology education for students from kindergarten through high
school. Next Generation Science Standards website (2019) re-released the NGSS Lead
States (2013) to include engineering design for grades K-12 with direct links to the
Common Core Standards in Math, Literacy, and supported the integration of
STEAMbased, transdisciplinary curriculum into education.
The development of the NGSS stated the importance of integrating engineering
into grades K-12. The NGSS published standards that encouraged schools to start
teaching STEAM-based practices and curriculum in grades as young as kindergarten.
Hand (2017) explained that the importance of early intervention of STEAM-based
teaching strategies made a larger impact on student achievement and engagement. The
historical significance of the NGSS update, was that it made engineering part of
STEAMbased standards of instruction in schools K-12. These actions declared
engineering under the umbrella of science education. The NGSS Lead States (2013)
update provided teachers with a framework for teaching science and the STEAM
curricula (Payo & John,
2016). The evolution of the standards in science education demonstrated an
interconnection between policy and curriculum. Teaching standards changed when the
government-mandated change through policy (Payo & John, 2016).
Another example of science and art integration and transition into STEAM
developed out of a collaboration between the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA)
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and the National Science Foundation (NSF) and their work to understand the
intersectionality between science, art, computer science, and engineering (Harrell &
Harrell, 2010). The NEA and NSF findings supported the increasing use of STEAM in
K20 education through integration of the arts into science education. Additionally, they
recommended the practice of iterative evaluation models for assessment in STEAM
(Harrell & Harrell, 2010).
As states worked to develop and implement new policy, NSTA (2019) found the
implementation of new programs and standards, such as the NGSS Lead States (2013),
were slowly integrated into schools. According to the NSTA (2019), the NGSS Lead
States (2013) was implemented in 20 of the United States. Turano (2018) explained that
not all of the United States updated NGSS because of two main reasons that had nothing
to do with the engineering, but that other updates in the standards deterred certain states:
First, schools did not receive money to update their NGSS, unlike when the CCSS were
implemented, and schools received funding for implementation. Second, controversial
topics, such as evolution and climate change, kept certain states from adopting the new
science standards. Researchers found that many states wrote their own version of the
NGSS and updated their own version of science state standards (Turano, 2018).
Lambert (2019) described how the state of Maine adopted the NGSS Lead States
(2013) and gave schools transition time and offered teachers the summer to adopt the new
standards and curriculum. Additionally, the state of Maine offered professional
development and online resources for teachers and schools to use while transitioning and
continuing into the school year (Lambert, 2019). Maine explained one of the reasons they
chose to implement the NGSS Lead States (2013) was because of the three-dimensional
nature of the standards that promoted students doing science over passively listening to
lectures (Lambert, 2019). The state of Maine set a precedent for states to adopt the NGSS.
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They allowed teachers and schools time and resources to transition. ESSA was updated in
2015 to include STEAM and the integration of arts into STEM, which resulted in states’
ability to provide funding and resources for STEAM education (Tanenbaum et al., 2016).
These were necessary action steps for schools to ensure the resources for implementing
STEAM-based education.
The Race to the Top Initiative (RTTT, 2010) aimed to pair local businesses,
museums, and institutions with schools to develop collaborative, localized learning
opportunities for students. In order to help the government define STEAM education
practices and policies, partnerships were formed between the DOE, the National Science
Foundation (NSF), NEA, and the Smithsonian Institution (Harrell & Harrell, 2010;
Holdren, 2013).
Agencies across the nation joined together to understand and develop STEAM
education. Holdren (2013) called these back-and-forth between institutions, foundations,
governments, and schools communities of practice (CoP). CoP was becoming
increasingly important in STEAM education to provide mentors and examples for
students to meet role models, specifically women, minorities, and those traditionally
disenfranchised in the sciences (Tanenbaum et al., 2016). Casteel (2018) and HmeloSilver
(2004) found that using female role models yielded a great amount of success to reinforce
understanding through transdisciplinary STEAM curricula. Harrell and Harrell (2010)
described STEAM as a gamechanger in the ability to provide access and participation for
students to create innovations beyond rote classroom exercises. STEAM curricula used
empowerment theory and feminist theory in educational practice as a means to inspire
and engage marginalized students to participate, solve challenges, and reclaim power of
their own education (Turner & Maschi, 2015).
29
Under President Obama’s Administration and continuing on into the Trump
administration, the success of women and minorities through STEAM programs,
encouraged more states to integrate STEAM into curriculum. Florida, Ohio, and New
York were among the first states to implement STEAM (FLDOE, 2009). Carmichael
(2017) directly linked the government initiative RTTT (2010) with the increase of
STEAM in public schools across the nation. Many states after RTTT began to implement
this initiative with different teacher instructional methodologies that taught science,
technology, engineering, and math with arts integration to create STEAM (FLDOE,
2009). Carmichael (2017) explained that Rhode Island passed legislation after their
collaboration, research, and findings on STEAM. Together they defined the A in STEAM
as art and design (Allina, 2018). Other states followed suit, such as Maryland, North
Dakota, Washington State, and incrementally, K-20 education began to update their
curriculum to include STEAM (Allina, 2018; Carmichael, 2017). As a state, North
Dakota also defined STEAM in its educational policy documents as science, including
creative problem solving, project-based learning, integrated curriculum, and
studentcentered learning (Carmichael, 2017). Historically, Florida, Rhode Island, and
North Dakota were among the first states to legislate STEAM and mandate statewide
change in science curriculum (Allina, 2018; Carmichael, 2017).
The state of South Carolina’s DOE promoted STEM and STEAM, but did not
distinguish between the two for educational purposes or implementation (Carmichael,
2017). At the time this study was conducted, states determined how to implement better
quality elementary education, whether that meant adding STEAM or STEM through state
policy; however, research studies on how to implement STEAM curricula are sparse
(Quigley et al., 2020). National policy encouraged STEM or STEAM to update
30
elementary education, but it was not nationally mandated (Carmichael, 2017). It was up
to each state to decide how to improve their existing elementary education programs.
Negreiros (2017) explained that teachers in STEAM schools believed in policy
reform, out-of-the-box curriculum, and transdisciplinary teaching. STEAM strayed from
the traditional approaches to education that taught subjects in isolation (Harrell & Harrell,
2010). Concordia University (2017) published findings that the STEAM-based
curriculum broke away from the traditional approaches in science education to foster
innovative education and better prepare students for the real world. For a curriculum to be
considered STEAM-based and integrated, Tanenbaum et al. (2016) explained that the
curriculum should connect science, technology, engineering, art, and math through
transdisciplinary learning.
Teachers implementing STEAM curriculum reported student gains in their ability
to problem solve and collaborate (Casteel, 2018; Negreiros, 2017; Quigley et al., 2020).
In order for schools to provide better quality STEAM education, Cornell and Hartmann
(2007) recommended social change and advocacy work to implement a new plan of
action in education. In support of this claim, Negreiros (2017) found that teachers
working in STEAM schools began to promote policy reform and advocate for funding.
They lived and experienced the positive side effects of teaching STEAM: higher quality
science education through arts integration (Negreiros, 2017). Additional researchers
found that STEAM education resulted in increased engagement, motivation, and handson
learning (Casteel, 2018; Handelsman & Smith, 2016; Harrell & Harrell, 2010; Quigley et
al., 2020; Yager, 2014).
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Education and Workforce Data
Holdren (2013) reported research from a PISA study found 12 countries that
scored higher than the United States in science, and 17 countries scored higher in math.
Women overall were largely underrepresented in STEM education and the workforce.
Women made up almost half of the overall workforce and less than 1 in 5 graduates
(Holdren, 2013). Negreiros (2017) found that science and math teachers reported the
lowest retention rate in K-12 schools. Further data gathered from Ignotofsky (2016)
detailed the gender gap in science and STEM as follows:
1) 2011 total workforce by gender: 48% women, 52% men = 4% gender gap.
2) 2011 science and engineering graduates: 39% women, 61% men = 22%
gender gap.
3) 2011 STEM workforce: 24% women, 76% men = 52% gender gap (p. 84).
The largest gain women made in the STEAM workforce between 2011-2019 was
in the field of life, physical, and social sciences. The BLS (2019) reported that women
comprised 46.7% of the workforce in these fields. However, the BLS (2019) found that
jobs dominated by women were nursing, elementary and middle school educators,
administrative assistants, and cashiers; none of which classify as part of the STEAM
workforce.
Noonan (2017) explained that even when women graduated with a STEM degree,
there was no guarantee that they would actively pursue a job in this field. Researchers
reported that there was no change between 2011 and 2017 in the gender equity gap in
traditional science education in the United States (Noonan, 2017). Educational policy in
Florida, Rhode Island, and North Dakota explored the notion that STEAM education
would directly impact the workforce and retention rate, but Beede et al. (2011) and
32
Noonan (2017) pointed to data that reported a holding pattern in the gender equity gap
(Allina, 2018; Carmichael, 2017). Rhode Island STEAM policy advocated for
encouraging companies to employ artists and designers as a direct result of the
governments’ partnership with RISD (Allina, 2018). This is one reason why this study
was designed: to determine the impact of the STEAM-based curriculum on student
engagement and participation in order to understand the effects on the gender equity gap
in elementary education.
The Gender Equity Gap
Ralph W. Tyler, researcher and teacher, found that designing and writing
curriculum based on the learner helped to close achievement gaps (as cited in Flinders &
Thornton, 2018). Tyler explained that education is a process of changing the behavior
patterns of people (Flinders & Thornton, 2018). This notion of changing behavior held
true during this study. Clewell and Ginorio (2002) reported that many science texts
continued to portray a male-dominated curriculum. The practice of teaching about male
scientists and the absence of female scientists continued in schools and curriculum across
the nation (AAUW, 1997, 2017). Tyler argued that to improve schools and set educational
objectives, behavior patterns that maintain a male-dominated scientific society had to
change in order to close the gender equity gap in STEAM (Flinders & Thornton, 2018).
Beede et al. (2011) determined that gender stereotyping, combined with the lack
of female role models resulted in a gender equity gap in science. Year after year, women
continued to make up less than one-quarter of the STEM workforce (Beede et al., 2011;
Noonan, 2017). Even when women graduate with STEM degrees, they were more likely
to take jobs as educators and social scientists, which were not considered part of the
33
STEM workforce in the U.S. Census Data reported (Beede et al., 2011; Noonan, 2017).
Researchers explained that many women choose to leave the STEM workforce because of
the lack of flexibility in the field for working mothers. Many women preferred to take
jobs that offered them flexible hours and the ability to set their own schedules (Beede et
al., 2011). Feminist theorists work to address inequality and oppression of women in the
workforce (Hekman, 1997).
STEAM education encourages students to pursue innovative careers in this field
(Allina, 2018; Harrell & Harrell, 2010). However, at a very young age, Anthony and Ogg
(2019) found that female participation decreased in STEAM education beginning in
elementary school. Advocates of gender equity practices argued that the introduction of a
STEAM curriculum encouraged student participation and engagement for marginalized
groups, such as females (Anthony & Ogg, 2019; DeJarnette, 2018; Hunter-Doniger,
2018).
Cimpian (2018) found numerous data on achievement gaps for females in science
education. Government policies and initiatives attempted to impact the gender equity gap
by implementing a STEAM-based curriculum in schools (Beghetto & Baxter, 2012). The
AAUW (1992, 2017) explained that while policies ensure schools work towards closing
the gender equity gap in male-dominated fields, such as science. Stearns et al. (2016)
found that female teachers have the strongest impact on young females choosing to
pursue STEAM education.
Tuner and Maschi (2015) defined feminist theory as a woman’s experience within
society and Stearns et al. (2015) demonstrated the power of feminist theory in relation to
STEAM when the teacher is female. The researcher in this study was female and a led a
group of elementary-aged females through a STEAM program in hopes to increase their
engagement and participation in this field.
34
Venditto (2018) also discovered that starting as young as 6 years old, girls began
to vocalize that boys were better in science and math. The research has repeatedly
demonstrated how starting at an early age, young children internalized stereotypes and
believed that males were better in science than females. One solution Venditto (2018),
Fink (2015), and Tomlinson (2018) found to address stereotype threat was that early
intervention allowed teachers to encourage excitement and creativity in students.
Empowerment theory and feminist theory were applied in this study to understand the
role of cultural, gender-specific role models in to address engagement and systemic
oppression of women in STEAM (Turner & Maschi, 2015).
No data existed that demonstrated a gender equity gap in grades K-2; however,
females began to develop a drop-in self-esteem around 2nd and 3rd grade, which
impacted achievement and engagement in school (AAUW, 1992, 2017; Cimpian, 2018).
Female students internalized stereotypes and implicit bias within society when science
curriculum and textbooks deliver the message that their lives and contributions are less
than men (AAUW, 1992, 2017). As young females transitioned through K-12th education
and progress to college, at each sequential level, females participate less in STEAM
education (Beede et al., 2011; Noonan, 2017; Venditto, 2018). Researchers explained that
young women are more likely to choose fields where they did not have to combat
stereotypes and implicit bias. Instead, they opted for jobs and education where female
role models were primarily portrayed (Venditto, 2018). Feminist theorists would argue
this is a systemic oppression of women in STEAM education and the workforce
(Digiovanni & Liston, 2004).
35
Equity in Science and STEAM
Casteel (2018) and Berwick (2019) shared a study in the 60s and 70s, revealing
that when students were asked to draw a scientist the majority of students drew pictures
of male scientists (not a single boy drew a woman scientist). When the study was
repeated in 2009, 35% of kids drew women (Casteel, 2018). The increase of students
recognizing women as scientists were attributed to STEAM education that incorporated
female role models, collaborative learning, and CBL transdisciplinary approach
(Berwick, 2019; Casteel, 2018; Courey, 2016; Holdren, 2013; Quigley et al., 2020). This
research stressed the need to address the gender equity gap in the sciences in order to
increase the presence of women, and their recognition, in STEAM (Mace, 2018).
Thornton Dill (1994) explained that feminist theorists advocate for all-inclusive practices
in education, such as including women in the text.
Cameron, Daga, and Outhred (2018) authored a historical account of equity in
education from around the globe on behalf of the United Nations Educational, Scientific,
and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and titled their work, The Conceptual Framework
for Measuring Equity in Education. Overall, the goal of the report was to globally impact
gender equity in both formal and/or informal educational settings. Researchers
recommended that measures of educational equity can be classified into five categories:
meritocracy, minimum standards, impartiality, equality of condition, and redistribution
(Cameron et al., 2018). The report described inequity from varying standpoints: input,
process, outcome, and context. Cameron et al. (2018) expanded the idea of the curriculum
from what was taught to include the outcome of how students applied what was being
learned in school. This action was relevant to ensure that females and males were
afforded equal opportunities in education; in other words, the why equity of opportunities
was a necessity in education. As it applied to this study, UNESCO’s equity defined an
36
educational curriculum as the how, the what, the why, and the effects of the curriculum to
aid in the development of closing the gender gap in the sciences.
Dangelmaier and Hermann (2017) argued that the language around science as a
male-dominated field should change to demonstrate that science without women was
more dangerous. “If we wish to advance our evolutionary journey as a species, a shift
from feeling sorry for the disadvantaged to STEAM without their perspective is
imperative,” (Dangelmaier & Hermann, 2017, p. 1). One such example of an invention
without the input of a female perspective was the invention of the airbag. Automotive
engineers were predominantly male and the invention of the airbag did not take into
account the size of a female or a child when first created, tested, and put into use in cars
across the world (Nietner, 2017). As a result, females were injured 47-71% more than
males in the same type of car accident (Nietner, 2017).
It took 20 years after the airbag was invented before female crash test dummies
were instituted as policy mandated usage to test cars in the United States (Nietner, 2017).
Asked by ABC News why car makers did not take the female physiology into account
when testing vehicles, Dr. David Lawrence, director of the Center for Injury Prevention
Policy and Practice at San Diego State University, replied, “Manufacturers and designers
used to be all men. It did not occur to them that they should design for people, unlike
themselves,” (Nietner, 2017). The lack of a female perspective in automotive engineering
resulted in the injury of many women and children over 2 decades until policy mandated
the testing with female crash test dummies. This anecdote demonstrates the importance of
taking into account the perspective of women in STEAM as significant to the creation of
new inventions that benefit all individuals in society, and not just males. The lack of a
37
female presence in the field of engineering revealed what happens when women were not
present in the design process.
Dangelmaier and Hermann (2017) explained the discourse from keeping up with
the boys needed to change to “What happens to our society when the voices of women
and girls are absent?” The former statement placed females in a position of the oppressed
and the disenfranchised, whereas the latter statement placed women in an empowered
stance. This study used empowerment and feminist theory to address the discourse in
STEAM and argued for the inclusion of equitable teaching practices as a means to
address systemic oppression of those marginalized in the workforce (Quigley & Herro,
2019).
STEM vs. STEAM: What is the Difference?
STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math, and STEAM
includes the arts, creativity, design, and the performing arts (Jolly, 2014). Since states are
slowly introducing STEAM policies, many schools are taking independent action to
implement programs and curriculum. Heinecke (2018) explained that the way teachers
used art in STEAM varies based on the interpretation of each teacher. The interpretation
is varied and vague because the NGSS Lead States (2013) detail what students are to
achieve, but do not detail how. As schools transition from science and STEM to STEAM,
many teachers are encouraged to use hands-on activities, CBL, arts integration, and
collaborative learning opportunities for all students (Harrell & Harrell, 2010; Quigley et
al., 2020). The curriculum designed in this study aimed to inspire females in STEAM
grounding this work in feminist and empowerment theory (Digiovanni & Liston, 2005;
Parker, 2018).
Jamalian (2018) explained that many educators choose to implement STEAM
because it fostered arts-based pedagogy to teach science, which engaged more females
38
and minorities in science. STEAM pedagogy taught students problem-solving skills in
collaborative settings. Introducing a STEAM-based curriculum encourages meaningful
learning and fosters students to make connections to the world around them (Quigley &
Herro, 2019). When schools change the type of science curriculum provided to students
by integrating STEAM education, teachers report improvements in student engagement
and achievement (Gopal & Pastor, 2015). The AAUW (2017) stated the effects of
increasing student collaboration time with other classmates and allowing them time to
build connections to resulted in an increase in empathy towards one another. The benefits
of shifting from science to STEM to STEAM result in an increase in engagement and
empathy.
Why is STEAM Important?
Long and Davis (2017) found that STEAM education was important in society
because of the innovation and creative problem-solving skills it promoted in students.
Anthony and Ogg (2019) demonstrated that STEAM fostered understanding of science in
terms of real-world applications. The use of A in STEM, including the arts, creates
empowerment for the learner through the act of problem solving and creativity (Jamalian,
2018). Additionally, research that suggested STEAM encourages collaboration, a broad
interpretation of the arts, and an increase in female participation and engagement (Mace,
2018). STEAM education incrementally impacted the gender equity gap in the STEM
workforce by changing the way women perceive subjects such as science, technology,
engineering, art, and math (Mace, 2018). An outcome of the RISD implementing STEAM
at the college level resulted in graduates that excelled in traditional arts practices or in
nontraditional fields applying their artist perspective (Allina, 2018). The RISD STEAM
curriculum fostered innovation through use of an empowerment curriculum that taught
39
learners skills to recognize and use choice, ownership of ideas, and accountability for
their education (Allina, 2018; Collins, 1991).
Collins (1991) explained that oppression was an interlocking system, or a matrix,
whereby people moved in and out of roles and, in some situations, individuals were in the
dominant role and at other times, they were the subordinates. The fluidity of the roles
created a matrix. Collins (1991) framed empowerment theory as an inclusive model
because of the opportunity to switch roles. Additionally, Collins (1991) described the
fluidity as an opening for empowerment. The RISD example fostered agency within each
individual to recognize their own creative and critical thinking perspective (Allina, 2018).
STEAM Curriculum Design: Transdisciplinary Challenge-Based Learning
Jamalian (2018) explained that the STEAM-based curriculum included learning
through play and risk and providing students with opportunities to test the designs they
created. STEAM-based curriculum encouraged teachers to challenge students to solve
science-based problems (Tanenbaum et al., 2016). Drake (2012) defined this type of PBL
as CBL, which included introducing students to a big idea, asking an essential question
(EQ) on the topic, and presenting students with a challenge. Based on findings from this
literature, the STEAM-based curriculum interventions developed in this study followed a
CBL framework. Challenged-based learning encouraged young females to problem solve,
test out ideas, brainstorm solutions, and share findings with one another (Berwick, 2019;
Drake, 2012; Jamalian, 2018).
Inclusive CBL STEAM curriculum included both transdisciplinary and
interdisciplinary pedagogical approaches. Each subject in STEAM was integrated into
hands-on challenges for the participants in solve using STEAM skills in this online
learning platform. John Dewey in 1929 described interdisciplinary education as he wrote
about progressive education, integrated curriculum, and learner-centered approaches to
40
teaching and learning (as cited in Flinders and Thornton, 2017). For almost 100 years,
U.S. education researchers encouraged interdisciplinary curricula, yet schools continued
to subjects in silos (Harrell & Harrell, 2010). Education researchers continued to argue
for interdisciplinary curriculum to improve student learning and understanding (Casteel,
2018; Drake, 2012). STEAM-based curricula fostered transdisciplinary learning and
developing student problem-solving skills (Harrell & Harrell, 2010; Quigley et al., 2020).
Participants demonstrated success through iterations of ideas and proving there was more
than one way to solve challenges by offering many right answers (Tanenbaum et al.,
2016).
Teachers using STEAM-based pedagogy incorporated problem solving and
application of skills into real-world, meaningful learning experiences—even through an
online learning environment (Courey, 2016; Drake, 2012; Weist, 2014). The research
demonstrated that flexibility offered in CBL and curriculum design motivated more of the
students since there was more than one way to solve the problems posed in the
challenges.
This study, therefore, was designed to inform teachers, administrators, school
districts, and policy advocates about teacher instructional STEAM curriculum and to
evaluate and assess progress in online STEAM education. The need to better understand
ways to implement a STEAM-based curriculum came to exist because standardized
testing did not evaluate science or STEAM-based education. Standardized testing
measures were linked to CCS in English language arts and mathematics (Turano, 2018).
However, the NGSS Lead States (2013, 2017) were written as performance standards, not
assessment standards like CCSS, where students demonstrate the use of their knowledge
learned in science class. Since standardized assessment measures did not apply to
41
STEAM curricula, so researchers recommended gathering formative assessments based
on performative or collective active use of student knowledge, such as documenting
student learning with demonstrations, journals, portfolios, plays, presentations, and
rubrics (Berwick, 2019; Drake, 2012; Quigley et al., 2020; Tanenbaum et al., 2016).
These assessments asked students to demonstrate their understanding of STEAM
principles and share their knowledge on the concept.
STEAM-based curriculum encouraged transdisciplinary learning that fostered
innovation, creativity, and empathy in students (Long & Davis, 2017). As schools and
educational policy began to change to incorporate the NGSS and STEAM programs,
Catterall (2017) and Quigley et al. (2020) found that many teachers did not know what
instructional strategies were recommended for STEAM education yet worked in schools
where STEAM education was required. The NGSS (2013/2017) encouraged science
educators to incorporate engineering into STEAM but did not include how or the methods
teachers could use to implement these new science standards. Other researchers
recommended the importance of early interventions and beginning programs as early as
kindergarten (Holdren, 2013; Jamalian, 2018; Tanenbaum et al., 2016).
Researchers found that early intervention was key to engaging and motivating
students to participate in STEAM education (Holdren, 2013; Jamalian, 2018; Tanenbaum
et al., 2016; Venditto, 2018). Early intervention means integrating programs beginning in
pre-kindergarten and kindergarten programs. Exposing children to STEAM in elementary
school sets a foundation for learning that lasts throughout a learning career. Venditto
(2018) explained that early intervention enabled teachers to spread excitement in students
and foster creativity. The material becomes increasingly more difficult as students
progress through K-12 education. They were more likely to stay involved in STEAM
educational programming, if they had a foundation and were presented with the
42
opportunity to problem solve in creative ways (Cunningham & Berger, 2014; Tanenbaum
et al., 2016; Venditto, 2018).
Cunningham and Berger (2014) developed and tested a curriculum integrating
engineering in the elementary classroom. The curriculum included physical, life, and
earth science for grades K-5 grade levels. In their research, they found that at first many
students were unclear about the role of an engineer in society, but, with the
implementation of their curriculum, students gained a better understanding by solving
problems together. Additionally, students increased the number of communication skills
used in the classroom and improved collaboration and sharing skills (Cunningham &
Berger, 2014). The use of a STEAM-based curriculum, like the example above,
encouraged student participation, hands-on learning, and collaborative small group
learning, which fostered student engagement and motivation (Berwick, 2019; Drake,
2012; Jamalian, 2018; Quigley et al., 2020).
Challenge-Based Learning Integrated with Peer-to-Peer Learning
When students were introduced to role models and provided with the opportunity
to collaborate with their peers, Weist (2014) found that students increased engagement.
Quigley and Herro (2019) recommended teachers design a STEAM-based curriculum that
presents students with challenges to solve. When students used CBL, they collectively
worked to determine and test possibilities. Group problem solving is a recommended
practice for STEAM educators (Harrell & Harrell, 2010).
This collaboration fostered peer-to-peer interactions, even in an online educational
setting, and an overall shared collaborative learning experience. Teachers reported that
they found a STEAM curriculum motivating to students (Cifaldi, 2018; DeJarnette,
2018). In a study by Johnson, Smith, Smythe, and Varon (2009), peer-to-peer interactions
43
and CBL curriculum allowed the students to learn from one another and teach each other
simultaneously.
Additional findings included students reporting increased positive attitudes and
practice using a growth mindset. Peer-to-peer learning and CBL were implemented as
teacher instructional strategies to understand the impact on engagement and participation
in STEAM. The program was designed to use peer-to-peer cooperative learning and CBL
to promote student empowerment.
Project-Based Learning and MCL
The emergence of curricula like STEAM, project-based learning, and MCL were
changing the notion that academic subjects were taught in isolation and instead were
developing curricula that blended subjects in schools. Rather than teaching subjects as
individual concepts, teachers engaged students in transdisciplinary lessons. Solis, Larmer,
and Olabuenaga (2017) and Clapp, Ross, Ryan, and Tishman (2017) explained that
project-based learning and MCL were two interdisciplinary theories for an educational
curriculum that blends core academic subjects. Project-based learning curriculum asked
students to work on a project for a long period of time using interdisciplinary subjects
and share their findings with the community as the conclusion for their work (Solis et al.,
2017).
Formal education was beginning to change in order to reach underrepresented and
marginalized learners, and this was not limited to students of color or females. It also
included students with learning disabilities like attention deficit disorder. Project-based
learning, MCL, and STEAM-based curriculum encouraged out-of-the-box thinking.
Nentwig (2019) found that varying from traditional education practices and towards
curriculum, like STEAM, better prepared a wide variety of learners for the future.
44
One example of a STEAM and MCL curriculum designed for an informal learning
environment at Braithwaite Fine Arts Gallery and Garth and Jerri Frehner Museum of
Natural History. Grant and Patterson (2016) described the partnership between the two
informal education settings with the help of Southern Utah University students
implementing the curriculum. The goal was to increase middle and high school
participation through an art-science integration curriculum using MCL with the aim to
increase student participation (Grant & Patterson, 2016). The result of the program
yielded higher student participation, engagement, and creativity (Grant & Patterson,
2016). Other researchers agreed that arts integration into science curriculum empowered
learners through the act of problem solving, collaboration, and creativity. Empowerment
theory as curriculum taught students to persist through shared group goals and group
success through an interdisciplinary arts, science, and MCL STEAM curriculum (Grant
& Patterson, 2016; Turner & Maschi, 2015).
Gender-Specific Role Models
Researchers argued that there is a lack of a female presence in the science
curriculum perpetuated the gender equity gap (AAUW, 1992, 2017; Berwick, 2019; Fink,
2015). Kohli and Burbules (2012) explained that feminist theory explores themes of
dominance, oppression, and works to find ways to address these inequities. The AAUW
stressed that the curriculum can strengthen or decrease student motivation for
engagement, effort, growth, and development through the messages it delivers to students
about themselves and the world (AAUW, 1992, 2017). Noonan (2017) explained that
females were less likely to go into male-dominated fields when they faced stereotypes
and bias. While textbook publishers have established guidelines ensuring nonsexist
45
language, these guidelines were oftentimes not enforced (AAUW, 1992, 2017). Teachers
recalled their own education and stated the lack of females present in the science classes,
and many reported only remembering Marie Curie (AAUW, 1992, 2017). Students
internalized the lack of a female presence in the sciences as a message that their lives
count for less than men (AAUW, 1992, 2017).
Children developed an understanding of stereotypes and self-identity in school
(Tomlinson, 2018). Additionally, parents, media, and society influenced stereotypes and
self-identity development as well (Fink, 2015; Tomlinson, 2018). Researchers argued that
in order to reimagine identities and stereotypes, the learning needs to begin in schools,
specifically with a gender inclusive curriculum (Berwick, 2019; Fink, 2015; Jamalian,
2018; Tomlinson, 2018). They also suggested using role models as examples of
successful women in science to combat stereotypes (Berwick, 2019; Casteel, 2018;
Courey, 2016; Espy, 2016; Fink, 2015; Halper, Aronson, Relmer, Simpkins, Star &
Wentzel, 2007; Jamalian, 2018; Tomlinson, 2018; Weist, 2014).
Books such as Little Feminist: Celebrating 25 Amazing Women Throughout
History, STEM Gems: 44 Women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics,
And How You Can Too!, and Women in Science: 50 Fearless Pioneers Who Changed the
World were published featuring successful women in the STEAM field (Alpert, 2019;
Espy, 2016; Ignotofsky, 2016). This literature provides teachers and parents with
literature to make role models tangible and to invite female scientists, artists, astronauts,
activists, artists, mathematicians, and more into the classroom through literature to
engage students with stories, foster discussion, and learn about women in STEAM
(Alpert, 2019; Courey, 2016; Espy, 2016; Weist, 2014).
If young students became aware of STEAM professionals in male-dominated
careers, then culture would begin to change and the younger generation would be inspired
46
by role models (Casteel, 2018). Through identifying with a role model, female students
were more likely to pursue a degree in STEAM, see an increase in their grades, and feel a
sense of belonging in a traditionally male-dominated field (Espy, 2016; Gilbert, 2015).
Women who participated in STEAM associations and role model programs in school or
the workplace were more likely to succeed (Casteel 2018; Courey, 2016; Espy, 2016;
Gilbert, 2015; Weist, 2014). Feminist theory impacts policy as it calls for a
transformation in society to improve and make the world a better place for women to
exist within (Kohli & Burbules, 2012).
Educators that engaged students with STEAM literature featuring female, cultural
professionals in the field, formed a back-and-forth relationship from school to the
workforce, and female students began to see the possibility of becoming part of the field.
This relates back to Collins (1991) who described empowerment theory as the ability to
unlock from the matrix of stereotype threat and switch roles. Through collaborative
partnerships with community members, mentors, and real-life role models in literature,
the gender equity gap increasingly closes as more young females participate and engage
in STEAM.
Early Intervention
Researchers across the board published findings of the importance of early
intervention to engage and motivate elementary-aged students to participate in STEAM
education (Holdren, 2013; Jamalian, 2018; Tanenbaum et al., 2016; Venditto, 2018).
Holdren, the CoSTEM, and the National Science and Technology Council (2013) found
that exposing children to STEAM-based curriculum elementary schools set a foundation
for learning. The importance of early intervention allowed teachers to encourage
excitement in students and to foster their creativity (Venditto, 2018). As students
47
advanced through school and curriculum content became increasingly difficult, students
continued to stay engaged in STEAM with a foundation from their early learning years
when they were presented with the opportunity to problem solve in creative ways
(Cunningham & Berger, 2014; Tanenbaum et al., 2016; Venditto, 2018). Similarly based
on empowerment theory and that instead of learning to survive in school, students were
encouraged to thrive (Collins, 1991).
Growth Mindset
Traditional STEM subject education gave praise to students based on the correct
outcomes of being able to perform a given science experiment. This practice leads many
females to shy away from the field of science, including STEAM, because it promoted
right and wrong answers (Weist, 2014). Instead, researchers found that when teachers
praised students based on effort and logical reasoning, females performed better in
STEAM education (Casteel, 2018; Courey, 2016; Jamalian, 2018; Quigley et al., 2020;
Weist, 2014). The work of Dweck (2010) established this practice in education as
teaching students to develop a growth mindset. The application of a growth mindset
teaches students that with hard work and dedication, they could learn anything and this
practice connected to empowerment theory and an individual’s ownership over their own
learning (Collins, 1991; Dweck, 2010; Jamalian, 2018).
Quinton (2014) suggested interventions for STEAM educators to close the gender
equity gap focus on teaching students to develop a growth mindset to work past existing
stereotype threats. The researcher explained how a growth mindset gave students the
ability to reflect on their own learning so that students cultivate a growth mindset that
they can learn difficult concepts, and they can overcome challenges. Dweck (2010)
recommended that teachers place the emphasis on the challenge, or the process, rather
than the outcome.
48
Many young girls in education believed that what they learn in school was based
on luck, while boys felt in control of their learning and attributed skills to natural ability
(AAUW, 2017, 1992). At a very young age, females experienced learned helplessness in
schools and were dropping out of subjects where perseverance was required (AAUW,
2017, 1992; Berwick, 2019; Noonan, 2017). The research demonstrated that more
females than males expected to fail in school, which resulted in a lower sense of
selfconfidence (AAUW, 1992, 2017). As a result, increasingly, more female students
dropped out of subjects where failure was likely to occur (AAUW, 1992, 2017). Feminist
theorists seek to address the preconceived gender stereotypes that exist within society
(Quinton, 2014).
Gretchen Brinza (2019), a fifth- and sixth-grade teacher in Chicago Public
Schools, explained that without failure, her students would have missed a learning
opportunity and the chance to write their own success stories. Failure and iteration
became a natural part of STEAM-mindsets and growth mindsets allowed students to
understand their own ability to overcome obstacles (Weist, 2014). Therefore, Brinza’s
STEAM curriculum empowered students to take agency over their own learning (Turner
& Maschi, 2015; Weist, 2014).
In early elementary school, young females scored higher on tests, but they still
shied away from subjects like science as the content became increasingly difficult and
failure was a norm (AAUW, 1992, 2017; Beede et al., 2011, Brinza, 2019; Damour, 2019;
Noonan, 2017). As they began to pursue STEAM education, a growth mindset helped
young females combat gender bias and understand that school was about ability and not
luck (AAUW, 1992, 2017; Weist, 2014). Buoncristiani and Buoncristiani (2012)
encouraged educators to provide students with the opportunity to be risk-takers and
49
occasionally fail. This taught students grit, determination, and perseverance to stick with
subjects like STEAM where failure often occurred (Buoncristiani & Buoncristiani, 2012;
Quinton, 2014). This action research study developed a STEAM curriculum focused on
presenting participants with CBL, where there were no right answers to the problems.
This curriculum design moved away from the traditional structure of STEM education
with a scripted lab report and right answers, to a STEAM model, which fostered student
empowerment, creativity, engagement, and motivation (Allina, 2018; Weist, 2014). The
research found that this change in curriculum, combined with a growth mindset, resulted
in more females in male-dominated fields (Barack, 2018).
Gender-Inclusivity: What About the Boys?
The STEAM-based curriculum was integrated into schools because it strove to
encourage all students to learn in engaging ways and to become creative risk-takers
(Barack, 2018; Bulls, 2018; Jamalian, 2018; Mukherjee, 2018; Quigley et al., 2020).
Supporting females in STEAM was not at the expense of the males. Rather, the
movement to close the gender equity gap in STEAM education was to benefit all learners
(Bulls, 2018). STEAM-based curriculum fostered a level playing field for students of all
genders and backgrounds (Bulls, 2018; Venditto, 2018). The misconception that helping
the females meant the males were being ignored was a myth that needed to be debunked.
Educating all students about gender equity benefits all sexes (Grant & Patterson, 2016).
Damour (2019) argued that schools, even now, are set up to benefit males even
when they put in less effort than females in the same classes. Boys were more likely to
feel confident, see, and read about male role models in all fields, and put in the minimal
effort with maximum gain (AAUW, 1992, 2017; Courey, 2016; Damour, 2019). Young
boys were oftentimes taught that they would succeed, while females continued to feel
pressured, less confident, and underrepresented (AAUW, 1992, 2017; Beede et al., 2011;
50
Damour, 2019; Holdren, 2013; Noonan, 2017; Tanenbaum et al., 2016). Feminist theory
applied in this study aimed to equip the females in the program with the confident skillset
demonstrated by boys. When educators worked to provide strategies to support and
engage females in STEAM, males benefited too (Bulls, 2018; Weist, 2014). Bulls (2018)
argued that the STEM gender gap was not just a women problem, but rather a societal
problem that requires the work of the collective.
Nonbinary: Gender as a Spectrum
Sam Killerman, author of A Guide to Gender: The Social Justice Advocates’
Handbook (2017), explained that gender no longer was binary, but rather thought of as a
spectrum. This spectrum included males on one end and females at the other, which
allowed for individuals to self-identify as somewhere in between (Killerman, 2017).
From transgender students to boys that played football and liked theater or females that
associated with societal attributions of masculine identities, the spectrum of gendered
identity became one that educators, administrators, parents, and children needed to take
into account (Killerman, 2017; Venditto, 2018). Advocates of gender-fluid practices
encouraged teachers to share role models of professionals in non-stereotypical roles and
to use gender-neutral materials and language in the classroom (Killerman, 2017;
Venditto, 2018; Weist, 2014).
For instance, instead of using the pronoun he or she, use they. This was true even
when it refers to a singular person, because it allowed students to focus on the message of
the lesson being delivered versus the gender of the message. Developing gender-free
speech in the classroom and in curriculum materials allowed students the freedom to
express their gender identity in their own time. The unconscious gender bias in STEAM
played a role in the gender equity gap, but culture became increasingly diverse in terms of
51
gender, it became important to create a supportive learning environment that was
welcoming to all students, of all genders, and everything on the spectrum in between
(Bulls, 2018; Killerman, 2017; Venditto, 2018; Weist, 2014).
Summary
This literature review presented an investigation on policy and science, STEM,
and STEAM standards and policy that resulted in the development of STEAM programs
and curriculum in schools across the United States. Additionally, it detailed a historical
account of the development of STEM and the subsequent development of STEAM. This
review found studies that demonstrated a gender gap in science, technology, engineering,
art, and math education and the workforce. The engagement of females using STEAM
increases, which is why the researcher designed a STEAM online summer camp for this
study (Quigley et al., 2020).
Empowerment and feminist theories focused on teaching students to trust their
ideas and test them out while encouraging all learners to succeed. STEAM-based
curriculum engaged females in the fields of science, technology, engineering, art, and
math by presenting them with challenges to solve. This study used CBL as an
instructional instrument to increase engagement and participation in a STEAM program.
The general goal of this research project was to assess the CBL, gender-inclusive
STEAM curriculum impact on participation and engagement in STEAM education when
students are presented with the opportunity to share their ideas and iterations of solutions
(Byrk, 2014; Casteel, 2018; Courey, 2016; Snow, 2014; Weist, 2014; Yager, 2014).
Therefore, this study combined these interventions into a transdisciplinary STEAM
curriculum design aimed to increase young females’ engagement and achievement.
Many researchers have found that the gender gap in science, technology,
engineering, and math persists year after year and affects females starting in elementary
52
school and continuing through their education and into the workforce (Casteel, 2018;
Courey, 2016; Damour, 2019; Hand, 2017; Khazan, 2018; Noonan, 2017; Venditto, 2018;
Wiest, 2014; Wyss, Huelskamp, & Siebert, 2012). The aim of this study was to contribute
of the body of research in STEAM education by developing curriculum and instruction
that engaged female students to pursue science, technology, engineering, art, and math
education as a result of early interventions of a STEAM program integrated using a
transdisciplinary approach by an elementary science teacher turned action researcher.
This chapter demonstrates the effects of STEAM integration. The literature review
explored existing research surrounding STEAM education as it relates to engage students
in learning, science, technology, engineering, art, and math. Additionally, this research
detailed the historical importance of closing the gender gap in science, STEM, and
STEAM and what steps educators could take to advocate for equity and access using
gender-specific transdisciplinary STEAM curriculum design. Given these findings, the
goal of this study was to understand the impact of instructional design on females’
engagement and participation in STEAM.
CHAPTER 3
METHODOLOGY
Elementary programs in schools across the United States have started to
incorporate STEAM as a means to create further student engagement in this field
(DeJarnette, 2018; Perignat & Katz-Buonincontro, 2019; Quigley et al., 2020). This
action research study was designed to understand how the STEAM curriculum impacts
student engagement and participation. The research design included interventions using
transdisciplinary STEAM curricula, CBL, and gender-specific, cultural role models
designed to engage students by presenting them with problems to solve related to science,
53
technology, math, art, and engineering. All of the transdisciplinary CBL units were
aligned with the 5E instructional model (5Es), which stands for engage, explore, explain,
elaborate, & evaluate (Kahn, 2019). Additionally, participants in this study were
introduced to empowerment theory as curriculum as an intervention using cultural,
gender-specific role models in the STEAM workforce. In DEI work, empowerment
curriculum is implemented to explore privilege, oppression, and diversity (Lo, 2005).
STEAM curriculum was believed to foster creativity and hands-on learning in
students (Handelsman & Smith, 2016). The question remained to many teachers how.
This study aimed to combine interventions featuring transdisciplinary STEAM curricula,
gender-inclusive, cultural role models, the 5Es, and CBL. This study was constructed to
evaluate how the abovementioned interventions impact elementary-aged females’
participation and engagement in a STEAM program.
Problem of Practice
The PoP identified arose from the lack of research related to young females in
STEAM and the researcher’s personal experience as an elementary educator working
with young children for the past 14 years as a STEAM, science, Pre-K, and 4th grade
teacher. Oftentimes, many female students around third and fourth grade self-reported to
the researcher that they were unsuccessful in STEAM. Harding (2012) determined that
action research and feminist research often began with personal experience and then
moved to study other groups experiencing the same problem or issue.
The literature review in Chapter 2 demonstrated the systemic issue of women’s
oppression and marginalization in science, STEM, and STEAM education and the
workforce. When empowerment theory was integrated into STEAM curriculum, students
were presented with opportunities to fail, iterate, and try again. Researchers found that
providing opportunities for students to test and practice multiple ideas in a supportive
54
environment leads to succeed in the future—especially for females, when they were
presented with gender inequities and stereotype threats in school in the workforce, they
were more likely to overcome obstacles (Huhman, 2012; Parker, 2018; Quigley et al.,
2020).
According to Huhman (2012), the majority of females begin to lose interest in
science-related fields beginning in elementary school. Earlier research has shown that this
problem frequently emerged for females in third grade and then again in the eighth and
12th grade (Clewell & Ginorio, 2002). Additional researchers reported that females in
elementary school feel invisible by the time they enter fourth grade (Digiovanni & Liston,
2004). Further research concurs that the gender gap begins in elementary school and
continues into secondary and postsecondary education in STEAM-related subjects
(Anthony & Ogg, 2019). The data for the past 20 years continued to prove the consistent
gender inequity in STEAM subjects and the workforce.
The lack of participation and engagement of underrepresented groups of people,
specifically females and minorities, plays a major role in the decrease of females in
STEAM (Pollack & Zirkel, 2013). Researchers Funk and Parker (2018) explained the
problem began with access to quality science, math, technology, and engineering
educational programming. They found that many disenfranchised students have limited
access and, therefore, incrementally became less engaged in STEAM subjects during
their education. The research supported the necessity for this STEAM study and to
address the issue of participation and engagement in STEAM and the effects of the
proposed interventions.
Positive research about STEAM-related curriculum found that if young females
believed in their own ability to succeed, they were linked to higher achievement and
55
engagement (Beghetto & Baxter, 2012). A belief in oneself resulted in greater academic
achievement and engagement (Beghetto & Baxter, 2012). Empowerment theory as a
curriculum design in practice encouraged active learning among students and the
individual perspective that success was a result of effort and not luck (Turner & Maschi,
2015). The literature on empowerment theory applies to educators working to change a
culture. Cornbleth (2010) described this work as the hidden curriculum. This action
research study was designed by an educator working to change the culture, stereotype,
and mindset of young females and empower students to learn the value of their own
efforts.
Further studies found that female teachers produce higher academic performing
females in elementary school because of the verbal reassurance they offer to students and
this was especially true in STEAM subjects (Stearns et al., 2016). Young female students
proved to succeed and persist in learning difficult material with positive words of
encouragement from female teachers (Stearns et al., 2016). Elementary-age females
respond to words of encouragement from their teachers and adversely, without positivity,
many young females disengage in STEAM education (Weist, 2014). Feminist research in
practice focuses on the female perspective and their life experience (Harding, 2007). This
study sought to understand the experience of females in a STEAM program with a
researcher that reinforced trial-and-error combined with positive words of reinforcement.
Females disengage in STEAM education between the ages of 7 to 10 and,
oftentimes, researchers suggested engagement would increase if interventions were
implemented early, such as in an elementary school setting (Anthony & Ogg, 2019). The
participants in this study were limited to females only to target this age group and
determine the effectiveness of the program’s design. When elementary educators
designed interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary curriculum around integrated subjects in
56
STEAM, the results were enhanced student engagement and interest for all genders
(DeJarnette, 2018; Hunter-Doniger, 2018; Quigley et al., 2020).
One STEAM curriculum that teachers reported as successful was presenting
students with challenges to solve (DeJarnette, 2018). This teaching methodology is
known as CBL or PBL, which is one of the interventions developed for this study. In one
STEAM CBL study, students worked in small groups and used inexpensive materials and
everyday recyclables to design and test prototypes of their solutions (DeJarnette, 2018).
The STEAM CBL design found that students using found materials thrived in creativity,
curiosity, and exploration (DeJarnette, 2018). Additionally, students increased working
collaboratively to improve iterations of their designs (DeJarnette, 2018). The researcher
applied a STEAM CBL methodology and asked participants to gather everyday items
found around the house, which aided in the researcher’s ability to conduct this study
during a pandemic. The goal was to understand the impact of these interventions on
young females’ engagement and participation in STEAM.
Once the PoP was identified as a systemic issue that young females faced starting
in elementary school, the STEAM interventions were designed and implemented to foster
engagement and participation using a transdisciplinary curriculum. The researcher
identified instructional strategies, such as transdisciplinary instruction, CBL,
empowerment, and the 5Es, in hopes of engaging females in STEAM. The aim was to
develop interventions to address the problem of females losing interest in STEAM at a
very young age and internalizing implicit bias and stereotypes in society (Bryk, 2014;
Bulls, 2018).
57
Research Question
The literature and the research informed the action research study and the
following question was designed to understand:
1) What impact did an empowerment curriculum, utilizing transdisciplinary
curriculum, Challenge-Based Learning and cultural, gender-specific role
models have on elementary-aged females’ participation and engagement in
STEAM education?
Purpose of the Study
As demonstrated by the literature review, the PoP resulted in an overarching
theme in STEAM education and identifying ways to engage more females in this field.
The lack of research on STEAM curriculum, programs, and the impact on
elementaryaged females in informal settings necessitated this study (Grant & Patterson,
2016; Quigley et al., 2020). Researchers demonstrated that the age range from 7 to 10
years old was when the majority of young females stop participating in STEAM subject
classes; however, few studies have been published on the effectiveness of the specific
interventions outlined in this study (Anthony & Ogg, 2019). Grant and Patterson (2016)
researched STEAM programs and interventions and concluded that more research is
needed in this field. They urged others to contribute to this emerging field in education.
This action research study was designed to address gender inequity in STEAM
beginning in elementary education and understand the impact of transdisciplinary
curriculum, CBL, empowerment, and the 5Es as interventions to motivate young females
through a summer camp program. Concurrently, this study took place during a worldwide
pandemic, which resulted in the necessity of online learning as the medium for student
engagement. The researcher designed the study to take place online using the web
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application Zoom. The result was this action research study, which, specifically, was an
online STEAM summer camp program for elementary-aged females.
Research Design
Action research was selected as the method for research since it offers teachers an
opportunity to take on the role of a researcher in hopes of generating meaningful,
professional contributions to their field (Mertler, 2017). Herr and Anderson (2015) found
teachers conducting action research aim to solve problems within their own schools. The
literature review in Chapter 2 demonstrated the need to improve the outcome for young
females in elementary education, and resulted in this action research study for females
between the ages of 7 to 10. As a result, this study was designed to address the question:
how are the interventions designed impacting participation and engagement in STEAM
education?
This action research study was designed using a mixed-methods research design
and included parent observations, participant surveys, researcher reflections, and video
transcriptions. Silverman (2013) explained a mixed-methods methodology offers
researchers an overall picture to answer the research question guiding the study. The
benefits of using a mixed-methods approach offered a more complete understanding of a
research problem than either quantitative or qualitative data alone (Creswell & Creswell,
2018).
Throughout the 2-week long action research study, the researcher collected parent
observations, participant surveys, researcher reflections, and video transcriptions. The
research included both qualitative and quantitative data. Quantitative methods used to
analyze the data include numerical formulated graphs representing the amounts of
responses to linear and Likert-scale questions on parent observations and participant
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surveys. Qualitative analysis was applied to open response questions on parent
observations, participant surveys, researcher reflections, and videotape transcriptions
during the study.
The qualitative data were analyzed using Tetra Insights and NVivo Software to
identify patterns and themes that emerged. Initially, the researcher used Tetra Insights
software to watch the video recordings alongside the transcripts and self-code the data for
common themes. Next the researcher uploaded the qualitative data into NVivo Software
to run a word search query, so the software could identify the most commonly used
words. Lastly the researcher, applied codes from the Tetra Insights software into the
NVivo Software to identify the emerging themes.
The software programs helped to apply open coding qualitative methods to find
and highlight similar words, phrases, and sentences to develop emerging themes. Burnard
(1991) described open coding as a research strategy to read through data repeatedly and
group together common themes. The researcher took the themes from the qualitative data
and compared them to the quantitative results.
A mixed-methods research design uses both quantitative and qualitative data
together to provide a better understanding of the research problem (Creswell & Creswell,
2018). Results were analyzed and triangulated for comparative purposes (Efron & Ravid,
2013). The researcher applied a mixed-methodology to ground the study in data and
reported the findings of STEAM education and the impact on elementary-aged females.
This action research study used a mixed-methods approach to validate the findings in the
data.
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Interventions
The interventions designed for this study were implemented through a STEAM
program for females ages 7-10. The interventions used for this study were a
transdisciplinary STEAM curriculum, empowerment, CBL, and the 5Es (Drake, 2012;
Harrell & Harrell, 2010; Kahn, 2019; Turner & Maschi, 2015). Education policy makers,
NSF, and NEA postulated the best curriculum design for STEAM and whether it should
be implemented as transdisciplinary or interdisciplinary. Harrell and Harrell (2010)
documented findings from the NSF and NEA joint collaboration to explore STEAM
curriculum and program design. The committee described the emphasis on the process
rather than the project itself and found that both interdisciplinary (teaching more than one
discipline together) and transdisciplinary (components from multiple disciplines)
practices were used in the application of STEAM.
Grant and Patterson (2016) documented their work to create innovative STEAM
programming and found that integrating all 5 disciplines to be a “tall order” (p. 150).
They recommend that others starting STEAM programs collaborate with others in the
field, survey participants on their experience, and share findings with others to help
influence further research in this emerging educational field. The program in this DiP
focused on a transdisciplinary STEAM curriculum. The researcher brought in an expert in
the field who published a children’s book on STEAM, titled More than a Princess, and
works in the technology sector. She shared her experience as a mother, author, and
technology specialist, and encouraged the participants in the program to focus on multiple
strengths and talents in the STEAM field. The transdisciplinary curriculum focused on
teaching students about science, technology, engineering, art, and math.
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Components from these disciplines were used to write a transdisciplinary curriculum.
Appendix K features the standards from the STEAM fields used to engage students in
STEAM.
Empowerment theory was developed into an empowerment curriculum by
educating participants about female, cultural role models in the current STEAM
workforce. This strategy was used to reduce the stereotype threat of women in STEAM
(Lo, 2005; Parker, 2018). To empower young females in STEAM, the researcher aimed to
educate students about women in the workforce that already succeeded and shared their
stories of how they got to where they are today. The program featured 22 role models and
12 were Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPoC). Nine of the role models were
children in STEAM. The women and girls presented were mathematicians, artists,
graphic designers, marketing and media content creators, makers, engineers (chemical,
electrical, and aerospace), computer coders, scientists (in a lab, in the field, two
ichthyologists), inventors, entrepreneurs (CEOs, COOs, founders of companies
supporting women), astronauts, social justice advocates, explorers (of jungles, the deep
ocean, outer space, cyberspace, mixed media art), computer coders, and network
scientists. Similar to Long and Davis (2017) who implemented a STEAM program to
increase engagement, literacy across the disciplines, and apply a holistic approach in
education, this program used a transdisciplinary approach to educate students about
females in STEAM and the multitude of possibilities for future careers through
interdisciplinary applications. Many of the role models featured demonstrated how as a
STEAM professional they used their passions in one field and applied their knowledge to
another.
During this action research study, the role models that were introduced to the
participants in the program were predominately female (22) and additionally, many of
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them BIPoC (12). The role models were an intervention designed to feature a
genderinclusive, cultural STEAM curriculum and represent the voices so often left out of
the textbooks—women. Every lesson included a read aloud that the researcher read to the
participants daily. Additionally, the researcher recorded the read alouds and uploaded
them to YouTube for students to access repeatedly. Role models were also featured
through a woman in the STEAM workforce video where each role model spoke about
their experience, education, and current job. This strategy aimed to teach female
participants about female role models, their experience in the field, and their educational
path towards becoming a STEAM professional. Concomitantly, participants learned the
interdisciplinary nature of STEAM professionals and digital literacy skills to safely
navigate YouTube.
The application of a transdisciplinary CBL curriculum fostered student creativity,
the ability to fail forward and collaborate with classmates to problem solve (Johnson et
al., 2009; Quigley et al., 2020). Oftentimes, experiments are conducted in hopes of
finding answers to a problem, which is also referred to as inquiry-based learning. The
program featured role models in science labs, makerspaces, office buildings, design
studios, and of course, due to the pandemic, their own home. The role models
demonstrated how many times they did not find answers to their questions or problems on
the first try. They took time, failure, iterations of ideas, collaboration, confirmation from
others (peer review), and many more steps.
The experiments in the study were based on CBL to offer students the opportunity
to work towards solving a STEAM-based challenge, apply the skills, and mindsets
demonstrated by the role models in the curriculum (Drake, 2012). Each lesson included a
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challenge phrased in the form of a question. In order to find the answer, participants had
to first find the supplies from around their house by going on a scavenger hunt.
DeJarnette (2018) found that students were more creative when using found materials and
recyclables. Next, participants conducted multiple iterations of their solutions in a
synchronous environment alongside a group of peers.
The 5Es instructional model stands for engage, explore, explain, elaborate, &
evaluate and consists of a five-step process based in many science curricula (Kahn,
2019). The 5Es model provided the structure for the transdisciplinary CBL component of
the program. As students engaged, explored, explained, evaluated, and went back to
elaborate on their designs, a peer-to-peer learning environment was encouraged from the
researcher. Rather than providing answers to participants, she encouraged the others in
the group to offer suggestions for improvement. Harrell and Harrell (2010) described this
practice in STEAM as group problem solving through communication and was based on
networking technologies. Cooperative learning, communication, and group problem
solving was demonstrated by students volunteering to help one another through Zoom as
they explained tips for success. Empowerment theory offers students opportunities to
collaborate and create a shared knowledge (Digiovanni & Liston, 2005).
Clapp (2017) coined the phrase participatory creativity. When applied in an
educational setting, participatory creativity results in collaborative efforts by a group of
learners, so each student sees that there is a role for everyone to play in the creative
classroom, and that creativity can look like them too (p. 85). The STEAM curriculum in
this program was designed to encourage all students to participate, share their voices, and
solve problems collectively and creatively—even with the limitation of distance learning.
The interventions featured an introduction to women in STEAM and BIPoC role
models. This ensured that every student in the study saw a role model that looked like
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them. This was by design. The researcher gathered information from parents about race
and gender prior to the study to include role models representative of the participants in
the study. As empowerment theory developed into curriculum, students learned the about
challenges and obstacles females in STEAM faced. The role models featured taught
participants the importance of trusting their voice and using it as a tool in their
educational toolkit. Empowerment theory as curriculum encouraged students to develop
an awareness of what they can do instead of focusing on what they cannot do (Digiovanni
& Liston, 2005).
The program lasted for 2-weeks for a total of 16 hours. It included 10 lessons on
STEAM. Eight of the lessons were synchronous and 2 were offered to the parents and
participants to complete asynchronous. The curriculum design aimed to teach participants
about females and BIPoC STEAM, using transdisciplinary curriculum, CBL, the 5Es, and
empowerment. The researcher introduced the interventions on the first day of the program
and each consecutive day. Additionally, the participants also learned digital literacy skills.
For example, participants were taught how to use the Seesaw application, YouTube, and
Google forms to complete the surveys and contribute to the understanding of the impact
of the transdisciplinary STEAM curriculum designed for this program.
Participants completed the surveys to explain their understanding, beliefs, and
perceptions about women in STEAM and learning about STEAM as experienced through
the transdisciplinary curriculum in the program.
Intervention summary:
1) Transdisciplinary curriculum - grounds the curriculum in real-life
contexts, PBL, and engages students to ask questions and conduct research
(Beane, 1993, 1997; Drake, 2012).
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2) Challenge-based learning - presenting students with a STEAM-based
challenge where they conduct an experiment to problem solve and
discover answers (Drake, 2012).
3) Empowerment theory as empowerment curriculum featuring women and
BIPoC role models in STEM (Lo, 2005; Parker, 2018).
4) The 5Es instructional model: engage, explore, explain, elaborate, &
evaluate (Kahn, 2019).
The goal of this action research study’s interventions were to understand the
impact of a transdisciplinary curriculum using CBL, empowerment, and the 5Es on young
females ages 7 to 10 explore STEAM concepts in an informal educational setting. The
researcher sought to understand how the designed interventions above impacted
engagement and participation of elementary-aged females in STEAM.
Research Context and Setting of Study
The participating students came from elementary schools all over the southern
United States. Students logged into Zoom to join class, which allowed the researcher to
teach students from a wider geographic range of states. Originally, this program was
designed to be implemented in the researcher’s school. All of the participants in the
program attend elementary school in-person throughout the year, but with the outbreak of
COVID-19, educational settings converted to digital learning formats. Thus, creating a
pivot for the researcher from localized study in one school to a study that reached
children in more states. Students were rising second to fifth graders enrolled in public,
private, and charter elementary schools. In order to protect the identity of the students,
pseudonyms are used throughout the study. For example, students are referred to as
Participant A or Participant B.
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When the researcher collected initial data to determine participant eligibility,
parents were asked to help create a place for their daughter to work inside the house.
Parents and students were sent on a “scavenger hunt” around the house for materials and
asked to purchase any missing items (total under $25 with most items already existing in
the average household). Sample scavenger hunt items included containers with or without
lids, plastic cups, toilet paper tubes, and tin cans. Examples of items families purchased
were vinegar, baking soda, and aluminum foil. The STEAM program was provided free
to students and their families.
Participants
This action research study focused on females in elementary school, specifically
ages 7 to 10 years old. The program served 15 students and the sample size for the
program was 10 students. This sample of 10 was selected based on attendance and
completion of surveys. The students in this STEAM program were in Grades 3 to 5. Four
students were Black, three students were classified as two or more races, one was White,
one was Asian American, and one student was Latina. Figure 3.1 summarizes the
demographics of the participants.
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Figure 3.1. Race & Ethnicity of Participants.
When determining which students to sample, the researcher reviewed parent
observations and participant surveys (see Appendices A – F). The researcher identified
which 10 students were able to attend camp consistently and consented to participate in
data collection. Approximately, 10 to 15 students attended the program each day.
However, for the purposes of the study, 10 were identified to as data points, and this
sample is displayed in Table 3.1.
Table 3.1 Demographic Characteristics and Identification of Participants Interviewed
Participant Gender Age Race Interviewed Location
Student A F 8 years old White, Latino Initial & Follow-up TX
Student B F 10 years old White Initial & Follow-up GA
Student C F 8 years old White, Latino Initial & Follow-up TX
Student D F 10 years old Black Initial & Follow-up FL
Student E F 10 years old Latino Initial & Follow-up GA
Student F F 8 years old White, Latino Initial & Follow-up TX
Student G F 8 years old Asian Initial & Follow-up GA
Participant Gender Age Race Interviewed Location
Student H F 9 years old Black Initial & Follow-up GA
Student I F 9 years old Black Initial & Follow-up SC
Student J F 7 years old Black Initial & Follow-up SC
Ethical Considerations
The procedure for the study began with permission from the dissertation chair, the
USC School of Education and the IRB (Creswell & Creswell, 2018). Once all the
approval was given, outreach to determine participants and eligibility began. Any names
of participants, including students, parents, and teachers, in this study, have been changed
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to protect their anonymity. The sensitivity of participants (children) and respect their
stories, experiences, and sharing of these with the researcher (Creswell & Creswell,
2018). Sensitivity was paid to cultural differences in gender norms and expectations
(Creswell & Creswell, 2018). These safety precautions were built into the study to
confirm and protect the identity of research participants.
Role of the Researcher
The role of the researcher was from a feminist action research approach, which
Herr and Anderson (2015) supported for feminists and critical theorists. Both have
critiqued the social engineering tendencies of turning action research into a codified and
packaged professional and organizational development strategy (p. 33). A feminist action
research approach was designed to explore dominant structures that exist in society,
which perpetuate male-dominated STEAM workforce and educational settings.
Feminist action researchers seek to apply a methodology to better understand
patriarchy and dominant constraints within the field. Leckenby and Hesse-Biber (2007)
explained that researchers using a feminist lens produce research that may provide space
for social change (p. 250). The role of the researcher working from a feminist action
research lens aimed to first understand dominant paradigms and the effects on young
elementary-aged females. Additionally, the researcher aimed to create modifications to
traditional science curriculum by implementing and collecting data on the impact of
transdisciplinary STEAM curriculum designed with CBL, empowerment theory, and the
5Es specifically for young females. Turner and Maschi (2015) posited that feminist
researchers look at societal gender in relation to status, power, and development.
Research Methods and Data Collection Instruments This STEAM
program in this action research study used a transdisciplinary curriculum, CBL, the
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5Es, and empowerment through the introduction of cultural, gender-specific role
models. The 5Es stand for engage, explore, explain, elaborate, and evaluate (Bybee,
2015; Kahn, 2019; NGSS, 2014). The 5Es instructional model encourages students to
use inquiry-based learning instead of traditional science step-bystep instruction, which
aligns with the CBL curriculum developed for this STEAM program (Kahn, 2019).
The researcher used various instruments to gather both qualitative and quantitative
data for a mixed-methods study. The specific instruments used for data collection were:
(a) parent observations, (b) participant surveys, and (b) researcher reflections and video
transcriptions (see Figure 3.2). The results of the responses and data are analyzed and
explained in Chapter 4.
Figure 3.2. Illustration depicting the triangulation of data.
The parent observations and participant surveys were Google forms surveys
distributed via email and/or in class for participants and parents. The questions were
formatted as multiple-choice, Likert-scale, and open response. The data collection
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instruments were purposefully designed with a variety of questions, “For the reluctant,
shy, or less verbal respondent, they offer an easy way out,” and to gather both quantitative
and qualitative data (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016, p. 122). Researchers recommended when
working with young students, such as the elementary-aged females in this study, to keep
the questions in short-and-easy-to-answer formats (Efron & Ravid, 2013; Merriam &
Tisdell, 2016). Parent observations and participant surveys provided the researcher with a
large number of responses in a short amount of time.
Quantitative Data
The parent observations and participant surveys provided numerical data that
informed growth patterns witnessed by parents and students and the overall impact of the
STEAM interventions on females ages 7 to 10. The parent observations were used to
gather data on the experience their daughters were having in camp and reflections on a
change in their behavior at home (see Appendix C, D, & E). The participant surveys were
used to gather data for the study to understand basic understanding, perceptions, and
participation in STEAM (see Appendix A & B). The researcher analyzed participant data
for overall opinions, perceptions, and feedback about their experience.
To gather quantitative data, statements were provided to allow participants and
parents to complete the statement. For the participant and parent surveys, identifying
statements were used to collect data specific to participation, engagement, and impact of
the program. Table 3.2 features the following key statements for participants and Table
3.3 includes key statements on the parent observations.
Table 3.2 Key Quantitative Statements on Participant Survey
Measure Statement
Participation & Engagement I share things I learn about Science & STEAM with my
family.
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Participation & Engagement I convince my parents to let me do science and STEAM
experiments at home (either with them, friends, siblings,
other family members, or alone).
Impact I feel confident about my abilities to tackle STEAM
Challenges & Experiments.
Impact
I think of myself as STEAM-minded, meaning someone
who is curious, asks questions, takes educated risks, and
likes to experiment and try different solutions to
problems.
Table 3.3 Key Quantitative Statements on Parent Observations
Measure Statement
Participation & Engagement My daughter talks more about STEAM now than before
camp.
Impact
The educational programming made a big impact on my
daughter.
The parent observation forms were completed three times throughout the duration
of the program. The researcher gathered forms from the parents on the first day, midway
through the program, and on the concluding day of the program.
Qualitative Data
Qualitative data was gathered from open-ended questions on the participant and
parent surveys, researcher reflections, and transcriptions of the videos. The researcher’s
reflections were gathered daily as a means to keep track of data and understand how to
improve delivery, understanding, and any potential improvements in instruction and
learning (see Appendix H). The open-ended survey responses, researcher’s reflections,
video transcriptions were uploaded and analyzed into Tetra Insights and NVivo Software
(see Appendix J).
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Initially, the researcher worked with Tetra Insights Software to code the data using
the playback feature to watch videotapes of lessons alongside transcriptions repeatedly
and color code similar word groupings. Next, the researcher loaded the transcripts into
NVivo software, which allowed the researcher to run a word frequency query that
autogenerated a list of the most frequently used words from the parent observations,
participant surveys, researcher reflections, and the video transcriptions. The researcher
classified words, sentences, and phrases into similar groupings based on word frequencies
to develop emerging themes.
The researcher applied open coding to define the emerging themes and patterns
between the different sources. Burnard (1991) explained that open coding is when a
researcher reads through their material repeatedly and groups together common themes.
Finally, the qualitative data were compared to the quantitative data and triangulated to
further understand parent, participant, and researcher perceptions and experiences from
this action research STEAM study. The use of multiple data collection methods provided
data to triangulate, which increases the accuracy of the findings (Efron & Ravid, 2013).
For the open-ended questions on the participant and parent surveys, statements
were provided to allow students and parents to complete. The identifying statements were
used along with the key quantitative statements outlined above in Table 3.4 (participants)
and Table 3.5 (parents). In addition to the identifiers on each survey, the following key
qualitative statements were included:
Table 3.4 Key Qualitative Statements on Participant Surveys
Measure Statement
Impact I want my teacher to know…
Impact The #1 reason I like camp is…
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Impact
This camp has changed my opinion about…
Table 3.5 Key Qualitative Statements on Parent Observations
Measure Statement
Impact Other kids could benefit from this program because…
Impact This program has taught my child…
Impact I wanted to tell Diana…
Research Procedure
The following steps by Efron and Ravid (2013) were used to develop this action
research study:
•Step 1: Identify the problem. The problem was identified as a systemic issue
starting in elementary-aged females.
•Step 2: Gather background information. Researchers have found in elementary
school females articulate that boys were better in STEAM- related subjects,
and as a direct result, young females increasingly participate less and less as
they progress through school, such as PK-university educational settings
(Bryk, 2014; Bulls, 2018; Tomlinson, 2018; Venditto, 2018; Wiest, 2014).
•Step 3: Design the study. This is an action research study aimed to address the
impact of a STEAM curriculum on participation and engagement.
•Step 4: Collect data. Both qualitative and quantitative data were collected to
create a clearer understanding of the impact of the interventions.
•Step 5: Analyze and interpret data. Data was triangulated between parent
observations, participant surveys, and researcher reflections.
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•Step 6: Implement and share the findings. Findings were shared with the USC
Graduate School of Education (p. 8).
This action research study occurred sequentially with first, a parent application
and consent for their daughter to participate in this action research study. Participants
were identified and selected to join based on their age (7 to 10), gender (female), access
to technology (i.e., internet and Zoom), and the ability to attend. Upon the start of the
2week action research study, parents completed an initial observation form, and
participants filled out a survey. These two instruments provided data about parent and
participant opinions, mindsets, and participation in science and STEAM.
The timeline for the action research project was as follows:
•Prior to the start of the study – Identified 15 females ages 7 to 10 years old
with parent support, collaboration, and consent. Interested parents submit
applications (see Appendix C).
•Day 1 – Parents completed the first observation (see Appendix D).
Participants completed an initial survey (see Appendix A). Researcher
recorded reflections and video transcriptions (see Appendix H & I).
•Day 2 – Researcher recorded reflections and video transcriptions (see
Appendix H & I).
•Day 3 – Researcher recorded reflections and video transcriptions (see
Appendix H & I).
•Day 4 – Parents completed second observation (see Appendix E). Researcher
recorded reflections and video transcriptions (see Appendix H & I).
•Day 5 – Researcher recorded reflections and video transcriptions (see
Appendix H & I).
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•Day 6 – Researcher recorded reflections and video transcriptions (see
Appendix H & I).
•Day 7 – Researcher recorded reflections and video transcriptions (see
Appendix H & I).
•Day 8 – Parents completed third observation (see Appendix F). Researcher’s
recorded reflections and video transcriptions (see Appendix H & I).
•Upon completion of the study – the researcher compared surveys for
quantitative data, and used Tetra Insights and NVivo Insights software to
analyze qualitative data.
•Approximately 1 month later – Participants completed follow-up surveys (see
Appendix B).
Data Analysis
This action research study used a mixed-methods methodology, where the
researcher collected qualitative and quantitative data including parent observations,
participant surveys, and researcher reflections. Efron and Ravid (2013) posited that action
research studies involve gathering data before and after the intervention was introduced.
The quantitative data gathered from parent observations and participant surveys were
analyzed to determine the likelihood that the sample population was representative of a
larger population of females in the same age range (Mertler, 2017). Numerical data were
included to help the researcher maintain objectivity (Efron & Ravid, 2013).
The quantitative and qualitative data from parent observations and participant
surveys included Likert-type scales to capture numerical data on participation and
perceptions on STEAM and science education. The Likert scale follows a 5-point scale:
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(5) Strongly Agree, (4) Agree, (3) Neutral, (2) Disagree, (1) Strongly Disagree. The
researcher organized and analyzed the data from the surveys with Google forms, Tetra
Insights, and NVivo Software.
The qualitative data were collected from open response questions on parent
observations and participant surveys. Additionally, the researcher reflections and
videotape transcriptions also contributed to the qualitative data. Tetra Insights and NVivo
Software was used to code the qualitative data for emerging themes using a method called
open coding, which allowed the researcher to identify similar words, phrases, and
sentences to develop patterns (Burnard, 1991). The researcher organized the qualitative
data and compared it to the quantitative data to understand the impact of the program
from the perspective of the parents, participants, and the researcher.
Triangulation was applied to qualitative and quantitative data sources.
Triangulation was a method that allowed for responses to be compared side-by-side
(Efron & Ravid, 2013). The goal was to analyze the data to determine the impact of the
STEAM program interventions on the females in this action research study.
Summary
This chapter reviewed the research design, methodology, procedures, and data
analysis measures applied in this study. The study occurred over the course of 2 weeks
using the web application Zoom (16 hours = 16-week semester). The action research
study was designed to understand the impact of a STEAM program and interventions on
elementary-aged females. The researcher applied a mixed-methods methodology to
illustrate the effects of these specific interventions: a transdisciplinary STEAM
curriculum, empowerment, CBL, and the 5Es. The goal was to understand the
interventions and their effectiveness on student engagement and participation in STEAM.
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The researcher used a mixed-methods methodology research design to analyze
quantitative data first and then evaluated qualitative data to compare the two subsets of
data. Parents completed three observations throughout the study, and participants
completed four surveys. Additionally, the researcher recorded reflections and uploaded
video transcriptions into Tetra Insights and NVivo software. The researcher used open
coding to define similar patterns and develop emerging themes among the sets of data.
Specifically, the researcher focused on data that described participant engagement,
thoughts, and perceptions about STEAM and science. During the 2-week study,
participants experienced interventions designed using transdisciplinary curriculum, CBL,
empowerment, and the 5Es. The findings from the data analysis will be discussed in
Chapter 4.
CHAPTER 4
PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS OF DATA
The following chapter is a presentation of the study’s findings and an analysis of
the data in this action research study. The goal was to understand how the interventions
developed impacted young females studying STEAM. This study was designed to address
the loss of participation and engagement of young females experience in elementary
education. This chapter presents an analysis of the effectiveness of a STEAM program on
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engagement and participation in these subjects. The researcher applied a mixed-
methodology methods approach to analyze data from parents, participants, the researcher,
and video transcriptions during the program.
Problem of Practice
In this action research study, students ages 7 to 10 participated in a program to
engage in STEAM education. Participants learned about gender-specific role models in
STEAM, their struggles, success, mindsets, and skillsets used to achieve their goals and
then solved challenge-based questions working synchronously with peers from across the
southern United States to practice dispositions exhibited by the role models. Researchers
found that the average female begins losing interest in STEAM subjects around 7 to 10
years old (Courey, 2016; Huhman, 2012). This chapter addresses the impact of a
transdisciplinary STEAM curriculum to learn which interventions empower young
females to participate and engage in the sciences, technology, engineering, art, and
mathematics
Research Question
The action research study aimed to understand how a curriculum designed around
STEAM would impact young females ages 7 to 10. Specifically, the research sought to
understand:
1) What impact did an empowerment curriculum, utilizing transdisciplinary
curriculum, challenge-based learning and cultural, gender-specific role models
have on elementary-aged females’ participation and engagement in STEAM
education?
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Significance of the Study
This action research study was significant for a few different reasons. Firstly, an
empowerment curriculum is a framework that teachers could use to structure the STEAM
curriculum to engage learners in the classroom, which originates from DEI curricula (Lo,
2005). Secondly, this study took place specifically for females ages 7 to 10, which is
when females begin to drop out of STEAM-based subjects in school. The information in
this chapter addresses the use of these interventions. The findings are not limited to this
age group or to females alone, but rather sought to address the inequities in STEM subject
education through the implementation of STEAM programs. The researcher found that by
adding the arts into STEM, and, therefore, teaching STEAM to elementaryaged females’
participation and engagement of the subjects in STEAM increased.
Students Zoomed in from Texas, Georgia, South Carolina, and Florida. The
participants attend charter, private, and public elementary schools. Regardless of
geographic location and/or educational background, parents encouraged their daughters to
participate in STEAM education through this program and others. Parents explained that
they desired to expose their daughter to STEAM to help motivate their child to enjoy
science, technology, engineering, art, and math.
Data Collection Methods
This mixed-methods action research study used parent observations, participant
surveys, researcher reflections, and video transcriptions of the program. The combination
of these different instruments allowed the researcher to triangulate the data and identify
emerging themes.
Initial Data
To understand where each participant was starting in terms of their participation
and engagement in science, STEM, and STEAM preliminary surveys were completed by
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participants at the beginning of the program (see Appendix A). Additionally, parents
completed an observation on their daughters about the impact on the first day (see
Appendix D). Lastly, the researcher wrote reflections and video recorded each day to
gather data on the effectiveness of the interventions and participant reactions (see
Appendix H & I).
The parent observations and participant surveys contained statements using a
Likert-scale from Strongly Disagree (1) to Strongly Agree (5) and True and False
statements. These instruments formed the quantitative data. Other questions and
statements posed to participants were in an open-response format to contribute to the
qualitative data, which was in addition to the researcher’s reflections and video
recordings.
During the Study
Data collected midway was in the form of parents’ observations (see Appendix E).
Throughout the study, researcher reflections were written daily, and transcriptions of the
recordings were uploaded into NVivo software (see Appendix H & I).
Concluding the Study
Upon completion of the program, parents completed their final observation form
(see Appendix F). Researcher reflections and videos were completed (see Appendix H &
I). The researcher took the following weeks to analyze the data using Google forms, Tetra
Insights, and NVivo software. The outcomes were coded and compared to one another to
identify emerging themes. Approximately 1 month after the completion of the STEAM
program, participants completed a follow-up survey (see Appendix B).
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General Findings and Data Analysis
The program occurred in the form of 8 online synchronous lessons for 2 hours per
day, totaling 16 hours of STEAM classes for females ages 7 to 10 years old. The
researcher provided 2 additional asynchronous lessons for parents and participants. This
synchronous component of the program is the equivalent to a 16-week study during the
school year. Traditionally, students attend a STEAM class for 45 minutes per week.
However, the closing of schools presented the researcher with the opportunity to provide
STEAM education as a 2-week program online. The entire study was conducted using the
web application Zoom.
The researcher used Google forms to gather quantitative and qualitative data from
participants and parents. Researcher reflections and transcriptions of videos contributed
to the qualitative data. Below the researcher presents first the quantitative data, which is
presented as percentages and organized into tables. The researcher compares and analyzes
the quantitative data in sets by reviewing participant results and directly following with
the parent observations.
Secondly, the qualitative data is presented in themes with the inclusion of the
perspectives of the participants, parents, and the researcher. To understand the
perspectives of all three groups, the data were uploaded into Tetra Insights and NVivo
software and coded for emerging themes. The researcher used open coding qualitative
methodology to identify what patterns in words, phrases, and sentences emerged from the
participants, parents, and the researcher herself. The researcher read the data again and
again to self-code the data, and used computer software to organize large volumes of text
into common themes and patterns (Burnard, 1991). The program allowed the researcher
to compare the commonalities between the different data sources. This
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mixedmethodology approach used quantitative and qualitative data to understand the
outcome of the applied interventions (Creswell & Creswell, 2018).
Lastly, the qualitative data were reviewed to understand the impact of the
interventions applied. The interventions used transdisciplinary curriculum to teach
participants about STEAM through cultural, gender-specific role models, and then
presented students with a challenge in the form of a question. The CBL design led
students through the 5Es instructional framework as students worked to engage, explore,
explain, elaborate, and evaluate (Kahn, 2019). The young girls to persisted alongside one
another in a synchronous environment and began to act as a group. They developed
shared goals with peers and self-efficacy through group success. Turner and Maschi
(2015) reported increased retention in STEAM education when students feel empowered
to solve challenges.
As the program educated participants about women in STEAM, they explored
new roles as scientists, engineers, artists, architects, inventors, social justice advocates,
and graphic designers as they worked to collectively problem solve the daily challenge.
Empowerment theory builds connections among the oppressed and marginalized to come
together to reclaim power and equity (Turner & Maschi, 2015). The data presented below
began with participants followed by parents and concluded with emerging themes from
participants, parents, and the researcher.
Participant Surveys
The data below is presented in percentages of students that answered on the initial
survey, which is represented below as “initial.” Consequently, the follow-up survey
results are reported as “follow-up.” Participants completed a survey recording their initial
reactions to the program and completed a follow-up survey after the program. The
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surveys gathered quantitative data to understand the direct impact of the program on
participants’ participation and engagement with STEAM. Results are first shown by
measures of participation and engagement and followed by measures of impact.
Measures of participation and engagement. The first statement presented in
Figure 4.1 asked participants to share if they talked about things they learn in science and
STEAM with their family as a measure of engagement and participation. Initial reactions
included 20% of participants “Strongly Agree” that they shared with their families. After
the program ended, 80% of participants “Strongly Agree” that they shared what they were
learning in science and STEAM with their families. Researchers explained how a
learning outcome of engaging STEAM-based lessons results in students spending time
developing their ideas and investigating answers (Milto, Portsmore, Watkins,
McCormick, & Hynes, 2020). When participants share what they learn with parents and
engage in conversations around STEAM concepts outside of class, it creates authentic,
real-world connections to scientific phenomena and values students’ individual ideas
(Milto et al., 2020).
Figure 4.2 demonstrates the results when participants were asked to reflect on a
statement about the amount of time students spend on science and STEAM experiments
outside of class was included as a measure to understand participant application of
concepts learned in class. Perkins (2014) argued that lifeworthy learning includes
understanding as applying. The data above showed that the amount of time students spent
on science and STEAM outside of program hours increased. Initially, 30% of participants
strongly agreed that they conducted experiments at home; however, by the end of the
program, 100% of participants strongly agreed that they convinced their parents to let
them conduct science and STEAM experiments at home. The interventions provided
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students with the skillset to ask questions, create their own challenges, and conduct
investigations and experiments in their very own home.
When participants were presented with a learning opportunity in the form of a
challenge, they learned a set of skills to work independently, and they increased the
amount of time spent engaging and participating in STEAM. Kahn (2019) explained the
importance of including modeling skills for students so they understand how to logically
approach and solve challenges.
Figure 4.1. I share things I learn about Science & STEAM with my family.
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Figure 4.2. I convince my parents to let me do science and STEAM experiments at
home (either with them, friends, siblings, other family members, or alone).
Measures of impact. Figures 4.3 to 4.5 demonstrate the results of the impact of
the program on females ages 7 to 10. The first statement addressed participants’ feeling of
confidence about their ability to tackle STEAM challenges and experiments in the
program. Originally, only 20% of participants Strongly Agree that they were confident
about their abilities to tackle STEAM challenges and experiments. After completing the
program, 70% of students marked “Strongly Agree” in terms of feeling confident in their
abilities to solve STEAM challenges and experiments. This is a 50% increase in students’
confidence and abilities to problem-solve (see Figure 4.3). Research from Espy (2016)
concurred that effective role models and teachers inspire students to believe in
themselves, and results in an increased student confidence and ability to problem solve.
The second statement addressed participants’ ability to see themselves as a
STEAM-minded individual. Initially, only 10% of participants thought of themselves as
STEAM-minded, and upon conclusion of the program, 100% of participants considered
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themselves STEAM-minded (see Figure 4.4). Heinecke (2018) posited that STEAM does
not require you to be an expert. The definition of a STEAM-minded individual
encourages curiosity, experimenting, and trying out different solutions. The intervention
of presenting students with a transdisciplinary STEAM curriculum introducing them to
role models and CBL that encouraged students to think of all the possibilities and to test
them all out. This encouraged a multitude of answers, group problem solving, and
engaged more students in STEAM (DeJarnette, 2018; Harrell & Harrell, 2010).
Finally, the increase of students that thought about pursuing a job in a
STEAMrelated field increased. Initially, 50% of participants reported Neutral when
prompted with the statement, “When I grow up, I want to work in a STEAM-related
field.” After completion of the program, 50% of participants Strongly Agreed and Agreed
that they wanted to go into the STEAM workforce (see Figure 4.5). Espy (2016) and
Catterall (2017) emphasized the importance of using role-models to teach young females
about STEAM to increase their engagement and participation in the field.
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Figure 4.3. I feel confident about my abilities to tackle STEAM Challenges &
Experiments.
Figure 4.4. I think of myself as STEAM-minded, meaning someone who
is curious, asks questions, takes educated risks, and likes to experiment
and try different solutions to problems.
Figure 4.5. When I grow up, I want to work in a STEAM-related field.
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Parents’ Observations
Parents recorded observations three times throughout the program. Observations
occurred on day one, midway through the program, and upon completion of the program.
This information informed the researcher on the impact of the STEAM program from the
perspective of the parents. The results of the quantitative findings are first shown by
measures of participation and engagement and followed by measures of impact.
Measures of participation and engagement. The results show that 90% of
parents responded true when prompted by my daughter talks more about STEAM now
than before camp (see Figure 4.6). Parent C was the only one to reply no, but her child
attends a STEAM program during the school year at a charter school. The conversations
around STEAM between parents and their children occurred as a direct result of
participation in this program. Catterall (2017) found that encouraging children to have
discussions sharing STEAM concepts prepares leads to further innovation and better
prepares them for the future. Heinecke (2018) explained that STEAM education
encourages enthusiasm and possibility. The data in this study demonstrated an increase in
student engagement and participation in STEAM through conversations with family
members.
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Figure 4.6. My daughter talks more about STEAM now than before camp.
Measure of impact. Figure 4.7 displays that 100% of parents would recommend
this program to other families. The results demonstrate the overall satisfaction of parents
and participants. Depicted in Figure 4.8, when asked if this program made a big impact
on their daughter, 90% of parents responded Strongly Agree. Parent C was the only
Neutral response and is the parent of a child enrolled in a STEAM charter school
program. Espy (2016) explained that women in succeed when they surround themselves
with peers that have similar interests. The parent data supported that the interventions
increased females’ passion for STEAM as a result of this program.
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Figure 4.7. I would recommend this camp to other families.
Figure 4.8. The educational programming made a big impact on my daughter.
Emerging Themes
The qualitative data were analyzed using Tetra Insights and NVivo software to
identify patterns in the parent observations, participant surveys, researcher reflections,
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and video transcripts. The researcher open coded the qualitative data using word
frequency query to identify emerging themes from the different data sources (Burnard,
1991). Terms added to the coding schema include impact, engagement, participation, role
model, girl, and female. Tetra Insights software had a feature where the researcher could
watch the videos alongside the transcripts to color code words that appeared over and
over again. NVivo Software featured a word frequency query and auto-generated the
words most frequently used between the different sets of data. The software made it
possible for the researcher to code large amounts of data and compare the impact of the
interventions between the parents, participants, and the researcher.
The word frequency query in NVivo Software for the parents revealed the top five
words used were science, girls, fun, program, and STEAM. Participants word frequency
query resulted in science, camp, love, STEAM, and experiments. The researcher’s
reflections and the video transcriptions resulted in kids, learning, work, differently, and
2020. The software allowed the researcher to highlight the commonalities between the
data.
Both the parents and the participants mentioned science and STEAM. The parents
and the participants also demonstrated that the program was fun and how they loved
learning. The researcher’s reflections captured the limitations of the study and the pivot to
an informal instructional setting as a result of the pandemic. The researcher took the
codes from the three groups and added in additional coding to answer the research
coding. The words used in the search were impact, engagement, participation, role model,
girl, female, science, girls, fun, program, STEAM, camp, love, experiments, kids,
learning, work, differently, and 2020. These themes were highlighted to allow the reader
to identify the patterns in the text and to develop the emerging themes.
Theme 1: Increased Engagement, Participation, and Understanding of Science and
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STEAM
This was a program designed to engage females in STEAM through
transdisciplinary, CBL, empowering students using female role models. The qualitative
data described a STEAM program that taught students scientific concepts,
problemsolving skills, and yielded confident, curious learners.
The quantitative data from participants shown in Figure 4.2 demonstrated how
students increased their amount of time spent practicing STEAM skills independently.
Participant G explained the top reason she liked camp was because “I learned a lot of
different experiments.” An outcome of the camp was that participants learned how to set
up, conduct, and clean up experiments in their own. DeJarnette (2018) found that
educating students in STEAM using design challenges led to an increase in student
engagement and motivation.
The researcher’s reflections on the first day included the comment that kids are
really good at adapting to the new learning environment. In the following lesson, the
researcher commented that the participants started to think independently about materials
they can use to design their own inventions. The program was designed to empower
participants to solve challenges, conduct experiments, and design inventions
selfsufficiently. Part of this design was out of necessity. Many parents were also working
from home and children attended this remote program from their bedrooms, the kitchen,
or the basement. This theme of independent exploration carried over into their playtime,
so solving STEAM challenges and conducting experiments became part of play. Parent I
said, “This program is extremely fun for kids while they learn, so it’s super engaging.”
The quantitative data in Figure 4.8 demonstrated that 90% of parents reported this
program made an impact on their daughter. Themes that emerged in the data were that the
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program provided fun, meaningful experiences with connections to role models in
STEAM fields. Parent E shared, “It brings science to life through fun experiments and
makes connections to female scientists.” The researcher’s interventions included
introducing participants to cultural, gender-specific role models. Example of professions
in the STEAM field included engineers, scientists, astronauts, inventors, architects,
businesswomen, mathematicians, artists, makers, computer coders, and social justice
advocates. Participant B said the top reason she liked the program was because of
learning about the role models.
Participants gained an understanding of how possible career paths widened to
include the STEAM fields. The quantitative data in Figure 4.5 asked the students to rate
on a Likert-scale their response to the statement, “When I grow up, I want to work in a
STEAM-related field.” Initially, 50% of participants reported Neutral. However, when the
program ended, 50% of participants Strongly Agreed and Agreed that they wanted to go
into the STEAM-related field. Throughout the program participants solved STEAMbased
challenges where they role-played additional identities such as scientist, inventor,
architect, mathematician, artist, and engineer.
On the final observation of the program, parents reported what STEAM
professionals their daughters talked about at home. Figure 4.9 displays the data from the
parents’ perspective. The top two professions mentioned in discussions between parents
and participants were scientists and inventors. The third most mentioned occupations
were engineer and artist.
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Figure 4.9. My child talks about the following (check all that apply).
Participants expressed a clearer understanding of STEAM, and relation to jobs in
the STEAM workforce. When students were exposed to cultural, gender-specific role
models in the STEAM field, they were more inclined to test drive, play, or become a
STEAM professional. The participants increased their understanding of what types of
jobs exist in STEAM based on those displayed in Figure 4.9.
An increased understanding of science and STEAM in the real-world led to
further engagement and participation. When asked how this camp has changed their
opinion, Participant B said, “being something STEAM when I grow up.” In response to
the prompt, “the #1 reason I like camp,” Participant J said, “I like camp because it is
filled with new things that I will learn.” Students shared their engagement in STEAM
resulted in wanting to continue to pursue in the present and the future.
The RISD also implemented a STEAM program for low-to-no cost to “justify
creativity” to provide students with a breadth of opportunities in education and resulted in
better preparing students for an “increasingly complex world” (Allina, 2018, pp. 77-78).
Similarly, this STEAM program better prepared students to understand the integrated
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nature of subjects from varying role models’ perspective through a sampling of
educational activities designed to empower students to design their own challenges, ask
questions, problem-solve, and ideate.
Theme 2: Importance of a Female Perspective
The data from the participants demonstrated that this generation of young females
believes that females can do anything boys can do. Figure 4.10 displays the participant’s
reaction to the statement, “Boys are better than girls at (check all that apply).” The
possible answers included science, technology, engineering, art, math, or none of the
above.
Figure 4.10. Boys are better than girls at…
100% of participants replied none of the above. The findings were unanimous on
the initial and follow-up survey. At one point, Participant A wrote the instructor a note in
the chat, “You know girls can do anything that boys can do.” Parent A shared that the
impact of the program on her daughter was an understanding that, “STEAM is fun...not
just a school thing...and not just for boys (who might be more dominating in the
classroom environment).” From the beginning of the study, the participants and parents
explained how they all believed in the equality of females and males to succeed in
STEAM.
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During the study, the participants were asked to draw a scientist; 100% of the
females in this study drew female scientists. All of them drew pictures of themselves
dressed up as a scientist, except for one student who drew the researcher. The researcher
also asked the participants to draw inventors, engineers, explorers, astronauts, and artists.
Every drawing was female. One of the astronauts had a ponytail coming out of her
helmet. The data demonstrates that this group of elementary-aged girls believes that the
future is female and that the future of STEAM professionals includes females. From the
beginning of the study and carrying on after the program, the participants believed that
girls and boys were equal. This data further suggested that there was no negative gender
effect from the start of the study.
Instead, the female role models were used to impact participants understanding of
STEAM and what real-world application of jobs in this field looked like. The most
commonly used phrase from participants to describe the female role models in STEAM
was that they seemed energetic and fun. The researcher’s reflections purposefully shared
female role models that worked for National Aeronautics and Space Administration
(NASA) and the European Space Agency (ESA) after students requested to learn about
women in space. The researcher shared a quote from Christina Koch, “Focus on what you
do have instead of focusing on what you don’t.” Participant C recognized the application
of using what you do have and referenced a role model featured in the curriculum.
Participant C shared, “It rocked when one of the role models used tweezers from her
purse to solve a computer bug problem. She had a tool that none of the men had and used
it.”
The intervention of using cultural, gender-specific role models led to the
development of parents and participants seeing the female gender as an attribute and a
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quality that made them special. Participants shared how female role models followed
their passions—even when other people judged them for it. Participant F explained, “In
order to succeed, women in STEAM were role models that wanted to make a positive
change in the lives of others.” In the follow-up survey, Participant H shared, “You
inspired me to follow my heart after learning about role models who followed their
passions in STEAM to make a difference in the lives of others.”
Parents reported that the STEAM program resulted in a marked growth in their
daughter’s confidence. FLDOE (2009) emphasized that STEAM instruction includes
hands-on learning and that a balanced curriculum includes active learning to better
prepare students for with skills for the 21st century. Additionally, Beilock (2019) found
that when girls were introduced to females in the field, they become more engaged and
interested. The findings in this study support STEAM policy that includes hands-on
learning to engage students. The findings also reinforce findings from researchers like
Beilock (2019), Catterall (2017), and Espy (2016) about the importance of
genderspecific, cultural role models in STEAM and the positive impact on children. This
study takes it one step further to support the outcome also increases a female’s confidence
in their own abilities to do science, technology, engineering, art, and math.
Theme 3: Science and STEAM are Fun
Parents and participants used the words fun and love as one of their most
frequently used words to describe this program. Both participants, parents, and the
researcher all commented about the role fun played as part of the learning process about
STEAM. In the follow-up surveys, when prompted with “I want my teacher to know,”
Participant D shared, “I love this camp, the camp in general is so fun and I love the
experiments.” Participant A said, “This camp was really nice and it teaches me new
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things. And it’s fun.” The theme of fun emerged and left a lasting impression on the
participants.
Similarly, the parents made the same comments about the impact of the program
and the researcher on the participants. Parent I said, “You made STEAM fun for my
daughter and this intensive, all-girls format was exactly what she needed.” Parent H said,
“The combination of science, STEAM, and investigations was a format that engaged the
participants and created an environment that was fun.”
The researcher’s reflections and video transcripts include a quote from the
researcher where she said, “I hope you continue to be curious and remember that is our
theme as we play the game. Let’s be curious and have fun.” Kahn (2019) shared that the
5Es include engage, explore, explain, elaborate, and evaluate. The STEAM program
presented participants with challenges to complete synchronously with a group of their
peers and worked through the process of being curious, making mistakes, trying again,
and, most of all, having fun. Participant D shared that the #1 reason she liked camp was,
“To have fun with my friends.”
The researcher’s instructions during the program directed participants to enjoy
themselves while in the process of problem-solving and the students did just that. The
parents and the participants’ qualitative data shared that this message was received and
performed. Fun generated as a theme within this STEAM program.
Theme 4: Increased Participants’ Confidence and Curiosity
Participants applied the 5Es through the exploration of STEAM concepts by
conducting experiments. In each lesson, the researcher presented participants with a
STEAM-based challenge phrased in the form of a question. The students attempted to
solve the challenge by conducting experiments in their own homes while Zooming
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together synchronously with a group of their peers and the researcher. The curriculum
encouraged low stakes trial-and-error, participant design, and reiterating their ideas until
they were successful.
Figure 4.11 is an example of one transdisciplinary CBL STEAM lesson designed
for this DiP. There were 10 total lessons created for this program. The lesson plan
displayed in Figure 4.11 represents the connection between STEAM and CBL and how
the researcher wrote planned, applied, and assessed the curriculum and student work.
STEAM CBL LESSON PLAN DESIGN
Standards-Based – What standards are used to this lesson?
NGSS (Science)
2-PS1-1. Plan and conduct an investigation to describe and classify different kinds of
materials by their observable properties.
2-PS1-2. Analyze data obtained from testing different materials to determine which
materials have the properties that are best suited for an intended purpose.
2-5-PS1-3. Make observations to construct an evidence-based account of how an object
made of a small set of pieces can be disassembled and made into a new object.
ISTE (Technology)
Knowledge Constructor 3a-3d. Students critically curate a variety of resources using
digital tools to construct knowledge, produce creative artifacts and make meaningful
learning experiences for themselves and others.
Creative Communicator 6a-6d. Students communicate clearly and express themselves
creatively for a variety of purposes using the platforms, tools, styles, formats and digital
media appropriate to their goals.
Global Collaborator 7a-7d. Students use digital tools to broaden their perspectives and
enrich their learning by collaborating with others and working effectively in teams
locally and globally.
NGSS (Engineering)
3-5-ETS1-2. Generate and compare multiple possible solutions to a problem based on
how well each is likely to meet the criteria and constraints of the problem.
3-5-ETS1-3. Plan and carry out fair tests in which variables are controlled and failure
points are considered to identify aspects of a model or prototype that can be improved.
NCCAS (Art)
VA:Cr1.1.5&6aCombine concepts collaboratively to generate innovative ideas for
creating art.
VA:Cr2.2.K-5a When making works of art, utilize and care for materials, tools, and
equipment in a manner that prevents danger to oneself and others.
VA:Cr2.3.2a Repurpose objects to make something new.
VA:Cr3.1.2a Discuss and reflect with peers about choices made in creating artwork.
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CCMS (Math)
K-4.MD.A.1 Describe measurable attributes of objects,
4.MD.A.1 Know relative sizes of measurement units within one system of units K-
3.MD.A.2 Directly compare two objects with a measurable attribute in common, to see
which object has “more of”/”less of” the attribute, and describe the difference.
CCELA (Literacy)
RI.2.3 Describe the connection between a series of historical events, scientific ideas or
concepts, or steps in technical procedures in a text.
SL.K.3 Ask and answer questions in order to seek help, get information, or clarify
something that is not understood.
SL.K.5 Add drawings or other visual displays to descriptions as desired to provide
additional detail.
SL.4.5 Add audio recordings and visual displays to presentations when appropriate to
enhance the development of main ideas or themes. *optional asynchronous activity in
Seesaw
Reverse Engineer the Lesson using CBL
Challenge Question: What do you want the students to find out? How?
Who? Why?
What happens when you stick a dried out marker in water? What do you create? How
does the level of water effect your outcome?
Supplies Needed
water/water bottle, clear cup, measuring cup/ruler, markers that can be ruined
(preference for dried out markers to include sustainable practices), paper, paint brushes
Learning Goal
Student(s) will be able to...
Make predictions, share hypothesis, make, share, and communicate observations,
measure the amount of liquid used, recording findings, compare with peers, discover
that students recycled an old marker by turning it into paint, use the paint to produce a
picture, perform the problem-solving activity
Possible problems or challenges that may arise… Possible solutions…
Some students will want darker paint Use less water, try fresh marker
Some students will more than one color Put more markers in diff. H2O
Vocabulary
Cohesion – the scientific process used to explain why the water changes color.
Cohesion – sticking together, apply this principle to us and the peers in the group EX:
We are a cohesive group that sticks together and helps one another out when we get
stuck.
Teacher Reminders
Leave enough time to do the painting. Ask students to work on paintings while listening
to the role model in the lesson to save enough time for the game and today’s message
journal activity. Remind students to share their work on Seesaw application. If you run
out of time for students to share paintings with one another, share their Seesaw pictures
with classmates the following day.
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*Criteria – demonstrate an understanding of what is happening inside the cup, how to
measure, what works best, have fun
*Constraints – real-world applications, such as, supplies, technology, ability to problem-
solve
Assessment Tools/Student Work Samples
SHARE
OUT
DEM
O
GLOW/GROW PORTFOLIO
RUBRIC PRESENTATION
*highlighted text represents assessment tools used in this
lesson
JOURNAL
Figure 4.11. Sample STEAM CBL Lesson.
The impact of the curriculum design presented itself from their comments in the
video transcriptions as they worked to solve the challenge. Student M talked about the
importance of asking lots of question and brainstorming with others. Student H explained
that one role model taught her how not to be intimidated by a problem and that she broke
down problems into pieces. When faced with a CBL question and given the tools to find
the answers, participants worked, ideated, and collaborated with one another to
brainstorm and test out multiple solutions.
The researcher’s reflections and video transcripts revealed that when Student I
struggled to successfully solve a challenge, she said outwardly to the entire group, “I
cannot get this to work.” The researcher resisted from sharing an idea, Participant G
jumped in and offered a suggestion with the phrase, “Try this.” The transcripts were filled
with supportive language where the students’ shared solutions and ideas with one another
as a way to be kind and helpful. The outcome was a group of females working
collaboratively to help one another find success.
The curriculum empowered the females to use their voice as a tool to collaborate.
The web application Zoom offered learners a variety of ways to express themselves.
Some students typed comments into the chat to share ideas with other participants, while
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other students raised a physical hand and waited to be called on to share their thoughts.
When the internet was choppy, students wrote down ideas on paper and held up the paper
to the screen. Together the participants discovered a variety of ways to express
themselves, but one thing was certain, they made sure their voice was heard.
The researcher’s reflections included comments, “They all shared. Everyone tried
out ideas and gave it their best.” When prompted with, “This program has taught my
child,” Parent B replied, “Confidence, being creative, thinking about STEAM concepts,
reasoning skills.” Fink (2015) found that “Students who believe their abilities can grow
with practice are much more likely to persist than those who believe they possess the
limited ability.” The data in this study support this growth mindset by actively teaching
students that openly asking for help, persist, try again, and work through iterations of
their designs becomes part of the routine in a STEAM class. Therefore, all the
participants began to see themselves as someone who was capable of success.
Research Question Analysis
The data from parent observations and participant surveys were combined with
researcher reflections and transcriptions. The data were coded and analyzed to determine
emerging themes. Specifically, the mixed-methods design was used to understand the
impact of the STEAM program’s interventions: a transdisciplinary approach, CBL,
empowerment curriculum, and the 5Es.
The researcher asked the following question to guide the action research study: 1)
What impact did an empowerment curriculum, utilizing transdisciplinary
curriculum, Challenge-Based Learning and cultural, gender-specific role
models have on elementary-aged females’ participation and engagement in
STEAM education?
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The impact of teaching elementary-aged students about STEAM resulted in an
increased understanding of real-world application of role models in this field, qualities
and mindsets of those who succeed, and the important trait of persisting even after failing.
The participants practiced being STEAM-minded, curious individuals by conducting
experiments to solve challenges. They worked synchronously with a group of their peers
during program hours and data gathered demonstrated that they worked asynchronously
solving their own STEAM challenges on their own. All of the parents and participants
reported an increase in the time spent practicing STEAM skills, mindsets, and challenges
outside of program hours. The CBL intervention prompted participants to practice
strategies to problem-solve through asking questions, problem solving, and group
collaboration.
Several participants discovered that STEAM role models failed, persisted, and
created multiple iterations of their ideas. Student A observed that role models often failed
a couple of times, and that they tested many ideas. During the experiment time in the
program, the researcher reflections revealed that participants would get stuck while trying
to solve the challenge. This was intentional by the researcher. The instructional design
used empowerment through educating participants about traits of role models, and then
presenting them with CBL & the 5Es opportunities to develop participants’ ability to
persevere. Along the way, participants began to group work and they encouraged one
another to test out other ideas so they could all achieve success.
Frequently, when a participant was stuck, peers offered advice to one another with
strategies on how to improve, and the researcher modeled instructions for students as
well. Participants increasingly shared what worked and also began to cheer on failure and
iterations of ideas as part of the learning process in STEAM. Researcher reflections cited
how participants contributed instructions, questions, ideas, and advice to other
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participants on how to achieve success at solving STEAM-based challenges. Parent A
shared, “This program has taught my child confidence and persistence.”
Many students felt empowered by the all-female setting, which included a female
researcher. Participants listed the researcher as a role model for women in STEAM. In
addition to gender-specific role models (22), participants were also introduced to
culturally diverse females in the STEAM fields (12). Role models included children in
STEAM (9) and references to their own childhood (7). The wide range of role models
enhanced the participants’ understanding of what a STEAM professional looks like and
their understanding of who has the ability to succeed in science, technology, engineering,
art, and math.
Another gain the families reported was a positive impact on their daughter’s
ability to try out being a maker, inventor, scientist, mathematician, engineer, and more.
Specifically, Parent H commented, “The main impact of camp on her daughter was taking
on the identity of a scientist.” Parent C shared, “Learning about positive role models who
are all interested in STEAM made a big impact on her daughter.” Parent F explained how,
“This program increased her [daughter’s] desire to be a risk taker.” Participants increased
their willingness to fail, ask for help from peers, iterate, and persist using different
strategies to problem-solve. Comments from Participant J suggested that,
“In order to overcome obstacles, many times, the role models demonstrated bravery.”
The participants observed how the role models frequently experienced failure and
produced many ideas when attempting to solve a problem. STEAM role models
demonstrated the necessity to test out different iterations of their ideas and modeled
persistence when faced with failure. Student L shared how, “One STEAM role model had
people make fun of her and her ideas.” Participant E wondered, “Why people didn’t
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believe in her ideas?” Regardless of why others did not believe in the STEAM role
model, Participant J observed that, “She wasn’t scared to state her opinions and test out
ideas.”
An underlying theme that emerged was a determination and a growth mindset by
the female role models in STEAM. The researcher taught participants the importance of
not giving up and that iterating many times before succeeding is part of STEAM. Student
B explained, “I saw that the role model never gave up and then this participant went on to
emulate this behavior in the experiment that day.” The researcher’s reflections included
that, “Students learned to take risks, try again, and fail forward.”
Parent J shared, “The experiments are fun, the discussion is engaging and
meaningful. Our girls need to see and discuss women in less traditional roles.” Parents
reported that this program made a big impact on their daughter. The qualitative and
quantitative data demonstrated an increase in participant’s confidence and abilities in
STEAM. Parent C said, “She feels empowered and so encouraged by your classes.”
The interventions encouraged the process of tinkering and designing answers to
the STEAM-based challenges, which is part of MCL. When this hands-on approach is
paired with CBL and the 5Es in a transdisciplinary curriculum, the outcome was female
empowerment. At the end of the STEAM program, the researcher specifically prompted
students with, “This camp has changed my opinion about…” Participant I shared, “I
learned I can do anything as long as I put my mind to it.” Student H wrote, “How girls
can do anything.” The data in this study confirm the findings of other researchers who
describe similar outcomes. Specifically, when STEAM, MCL, and CBL were combined,
the outcome was authentic learning experiences for participants who felt confident in
their own abilities to tackle challenges in school and the real-world (Allina, 2018;
DeJarnette, 2018; Farland-Smith & Thomas, 2017).
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Online Learning for Elementary-Aged Students
While not the intended focus of this action research study, the entire study was
conducted using Zoom, taught 100% online, and all interactions were included in distance
education. Data in this study offers information about the efficacy of learning online for
elementary-aged students. In 1987, Keller, an educational curriculum designer, wrote,
“How many times have you heard a teacher or designer say, I know my subject, but I’m
not really an entertainer?” (p. 2). Online education and distance learning transitioned
many parents and educators into subject matter experts and entertainers that worked
together to bring education into each child’s home.
The role model read alouds and videos of experts in the field were presented by
the instructor in a catchy way using YouTube to create pre-recorded videos. The medium
of using YouTube to teach gained and sustained student interest and engagement. Reneau
(2020) reported in a study that during quarantine many people, parents, and children,
were feeling the increased desire to go into shutdown mode. The STEAM program gave
students the opportunity to engage with their peers and learn about STEAM subjects in a
synchronous setting. If participants wanted to work more on activities in the program, the
researcher provided asynchronous activities in the Seesaw application and students also
had access to the researcher’s YouTube channel to watch role model read alouds and
speeches from experts again and again.
This action research study pivoted from a 16-hour, in-person classroom study (1
hour/week for 16 weeks) to a 16-hour summer camp STEAM program. The option to
move to an online format for class instead of an in-person classroom experience was
made out of necessity due to the pandemic. This action research study was presented to
parents and participants as Inventor’s Camp – STEAM Themed (see Appendix H).
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One effect of converting to an online program versus an in-person program was a
wider range of participants’ geographic location. Students were located in Texas, Florida,
Georgia, and South Carolina. Additionally, the researcher was able to use digital tools to
gather data, such as, video recordings of sessions and Google Forms. Furthermore, the
digital instruction allowed the researcher to incorporate digital instruction tools such as
YouTube, Seesaw, and Zoom. An online program made the STEAM program possible
and received IRB approval during a pandemic.
As a result, this study’s findings inform parents, educators, and administrators
about possible digital tools and transdisciplinary STEAM curriculum designed to engage
elementary-aged girls. The study demonstrated the possibility to bring STEAM into each
child’s household through interactive, teacher-facilitated synchronous instruction. Parents
and participants shared their motivation to participate in STEAM education. The online
medium for instruction fostered students to build connections to a group of peers around
the topic of STEAM and provided a safe environment to practice newly learned skills and
mindsets.
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion
The demographics of the camp were females from racially diverse backgrounds
between the ages of 7 to 10. The participants attended private, public, and charter school
programs across the southern United States. The participants demographics range across
diverse populations, background in educational settings, and access to STEAM
programming. All of the parents commented that they enrolled their daughter in this
program, because they wanted their child to have exposure to the emerging educational
field of STEAM.
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To encourage the participants to feel represented in STEAM, the researcher
matched the role models from the workforce and the protagonists in the read-alouds to the
racial backgrounds of the students. The role models were Black, LatinX, Asian,
Biracial, and White, just like the girls in the program. The female role models
demonstrated how they overcame obstacles and what actions they took when faced with
adversity. The researcher purposefully featured role models that demonstrated STEAM
mindsets and skills. Additionally, the STEAM curriculum was aligned with the NGSS,
International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) Standards, Engineering Design
Standards (NGSS), National Core Art Standards (NCCAS), Common Core Math
Standards (CCMS), and Common Core ELA/Literacy Standards (CCELA, see Appendix
K for a complete list of standards).
100% of the read-alouds selected for inclusion in the STEAM program were
authored by female authors and featured female main characters. Researchers state the
historical importance of closing the gender gap in STEAM education by exposure to
cultural, gender-specific role models in the fields of science, technology, engineering, art,
and math (Catterall, 2017; Espy, 2016; Gilbert, 2015; Mace, 2018). The curriculum
predominately featured women’s role models to depict a wider range of understanding
and depth for what a scientist, programmer, engineer, artist, and mathematician look like.
Additionally, this action research study expanded from to include role models, such as,
astronauts, pilots, computer coders, chemists, graphic designers, authors, and
businesswomen. The STEAM program taught participants the importance of
empowerment and how to actively engage in breaking down barriers of stereotype threat
based on gender and race.
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The opportunity gap for women still lags far behind men in STEAM education
and the workforce (Anthony & Ogg, 2019; Bulls, 2018; Cimpian, 2018). This action
research study demonstrated the benefits of early interventions to educate elementary
females about cultural, gender-specific role models in STEAM. Muhammad (2019),
author of Cultivating Genius: An Equity Framework for Culturally and Historically
Responsive Literacy, recently said in a webinar on abolitionist teaching and the future of
our schools, “The pandemic taught us the power of our teachers. We need to teach kids
how to navigate racism, actively speak up, and teach more than just skills.” The
empowerment curriculum designed for this study offered students a chance to connect to
cultural, gender-specific females in STEAM and shared the struggles these women faced
to become who they are today.
Summary
This chapter explored the findings of the research question: What impact did an
empowerment curriculum, using transdisciplinary CBL curriculum, and cultural,
genderspecific role models have on elementary-aged females’ participation and
engagement in STEAM education? It sought to answer how the interventions designed,
would impact females in STEAM. The study had a mixed-methods methodology design,
and the researcher collected data through parent observations, participant surveys,
researcher reflections, and video transcriptions of each lesson. The researcher analyzed
the data using comparative analysis to identify emerging themes in the data from the
different sources.
The results from the findings suggest that the students’ participation in the
STEAM program led to an increase in their self-confidence, participation, and
engagement in STEAM. Additionally, the researcher’s reflection emphasized the ability
of the students to collaborate with one another by sharing ideas, asking for help, and
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learning the power of their voice as a tool in their educational toolkit. Additional findings,
conclusions, and recommendations for further research are detailed in Chapter 5.
CHAPTER 5
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SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Despite recent efforts to increase the number of females in STEAM, gender
inequities in education and the workforce persist (Beghetto & Baxter, 2012; Carmichael,
2017; Clewell & Ginorio, 2002). The PoP developed out of the lack of data on the
effectiveness of STEAM curriculum and the effectiveness of interventions on the
engagement of young female students in elementary school. The PoP that emerged out of
systemic issue where young girls begin to lose interest in academics beginning in
elementary school, therefore, a STEAM program was developed for this action research
study to encourage females to participate in these fields (AAUW, 2017; Long & Davis,
2017).
This study examined the impact of a STEAM program on young females’
engagement and participation in STEAM education. STEAM over STEM was selected
because the arts in STEAM adds another lens to learning and engages a wider variety of
students, specifically, females and students of color (Jamalian, 2018; Quigley et al.,
2020). Additionally, STEAM curriculum teaches problem-solving skills, encourages
collaborative learning, and facilitates deeper understanding of concepts with connections
to the real world (Ignotofsky, 2016; Kirschner, 2020; Quinton, 2014). This action research
study was designed to introduce STEAM to young females through an interactive
program.
The goal was to understand if their outlook on STEAM education changed as a
result of interventions designed to challenge and engage females in these subjects.
Researchers found that the first noticeable gender-based differences in STEAM subjects
begin to appear in elementary school (Beede et al., 2011; Cifaldi, 2018; Ignotofsky,
2016). Increasingly, more females lose interest in STEAM subjects as they advance
through the educational school system (Anthony & Ogg, 2019; Cifaldi, 2018; Clewell &
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Ginorio, 2002). This action research study was designed to address ways to engage young
elementary-aged females to participate in STEAM.
The targeted interventions included transdisciplinary STEAM curriculum using
cultural, gender-specific role models, CBL, and the 5Es. To define cultural,
genderspecific role models and what is intended by this statement in this study, the
researcher matched the cultural identity of the participants and made sure that every
female in the program was exposed to a role model that looked like them and came from
a similar cultural background. This practice was developed from empowerment theory
and turned into curricula where students read books, watched videos, met and interviewed
a role model in the STEAM workforce (Lo, 2005; Quigley et al. 2020). Throughout the
program, participants shared their reactions to learning about these women in STEAM.
Stories about the role models included the educational path they took to get to where they
are today. Other information about the role models included what they were like as a kid
and the skills and mindsets they recommended to be successful in STEAM.
The literature review in this study explored the existing research surrounding
STEAM curriculum, legislation, research, education standards, and existing stereotypes
in this field. From 1992 to 2020, researchers have reported that textbooks mainly portray
White males as the role model for success (AAUW, 1992, 2017; Clewell & Ginorio,
2002; Kirschner, 2020). The practice of teaching about males over females continues
(AAUW, 1992, 2017; Kirschner, 2020). Female students, and the students of color,
internalize the portrayal of successful White male role models to mean that people like
them do not study into STEAM (Beilock, 2019; Fink, 2015). The stereotype threat of this
is that people who are female or a minority do not grow up to work in STEAM fields
(Cimpian, 2018).
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Cimpian (2018) argued that as soon as girls enter school, they are underestimated.
As young as 6 years old, females began to vocalize that boys are better in science and
math (Venditto, 2018). The research has demonstrated repeatedly how starting at an early
age, young children of both sexes internalize STEAM stereotypes (Tomlinson, 2018). In
recent years, researchers have encouraged educators and parents to introduce children to
STEAM education at an early age and an introduction to role models to build excitement
about science, technology, engineering, art, and math (Anthony & Ogg, 2019; Grant &
Patterson, 2016; Tomlinson, 2018). These actions create a foundation for developing an
interest, the skills, and a mindset necessary to succeed in the STEAM workforce (Allina,
2018; Beilock, 2019; Fink, 2015; Harrell & Harrell, 2010).
This action research study aimed to address the PoP and understand ways to
engage young females in STEAM education. The interventions were designed to
empower young females to believe in themselves as able to learn the skills and mindsets
necessary to succeed in the STEAM and educate them about women who have achieved
in this field.
Research Question
This study aimed to understand how a STEAM program grounded in
empowerment theory would impact young females’ interest in these subjects.
Specifically, the researcher sought to understand:
1) What impact did an empowerment curriculum, utilizing transdisciplinary
curriculum, Challenge-Based Learning and cultural, gender-specific role
models have on elementary-aged females’ participation and engagement in
STEAM education?
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Purpose of the Study
The purpose of this study was to provide a STEAM program for females ages 7 to
10 to engage in activities to learn about these subjects. The STEAM program was offered
as a summer camp titled Inventor’s Camp - STEAM Themed. It took place for 2 hours a
day for 8 days total over the course of 2 weeks. This program was equivalent to a 16week
program designed to be implemented in a STEAM class for students in grades 3 to 5. At
the time the researcher applied for IRB approval, only online studies were being
approved. This led the researcher to pivot and implement the STEAM program as an
online summer camp that was equivalent to one semester of educational programming
(totaling 16 hours of educational time).
The transdisciplinary STEAM curriculum used empowerment, CBL, and the 5Es
as the main components for instructional design. Subsets of other theories applied include
MCL and PBL. Empowerment and feminist theory were applied to increase females’
awareness of their own ability to learn by introducing them to successful female role
models in STEAM that demonstrated active struggle and shared experiences from when
they were a child. The framework of the instructional design encouraged participants to
actively engage in their own learning.
Results Related to Existing Literature
The research demonstrated young females initially participate less and less in
STEAM subjects in elementary school, nevertheless, this study demonstrated the impact
early interventions on the females in this program as a successful example (Anthony &
Ogg, 2019; Davis, 2017). While much of the academic research mainly focused on STEM
interventions on women at the college, high school, and middle school level, this study
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sought to inform STEAM educators focused on elementary-aged learners in an informal
educational setting.
STEAM programs, such as the one in this action research study, play a key
component in gender equity in elementary education. This study found that exposure to
gender-specific, cultural role models for students in the program, resulted in a confidence
boost. Yet, at a very young age, females’ participation decreases in STEAM education
beginning in elementary school due to gendered stereotyping experiences (Berwick,
2019). Existing literature reported that women who pursue careers in STEAM continue to
remain a minority in the workforce (Beede et al., 2011, 2017; BLS, 2019; Funk & Parker,
2018; Ignotofsky, 2016).
This study presented findings to support the effectiveness of a STEAM program
for young females and the direct impact on their engagement and participation. This
participants in this study shared that when early interventions were introduced to
elementary-aged females, their ability to understand, participate, and engage in the
STEAM field increased. The students learned the importance of their own efforts,
collaboration, practicing failure, and sharing ideas with classmates. The empowerment
curriculum developed for this program taught learners the tools and mindsets needed to
become successful in STEAM. Examples of those tools include, a growth mindset, a
STEAM-mindset, the power of their own voice, and the importance of collaboration.
Change-Based Learning and a Growth Mindset
The literature stated that when educators integrated STEAM into curricula, the
outcome was enhanced student engagement and interest (DeJarnette, 2018;
HunterDoniger, 2018; Long & Davis, 2017). Consequently, standards in education, such
as the NGSS Lead States (2013, 2017), ISTE (2020), NCCAS (2014), CCMS (2020)
were updated to encourage educators to design engaging curriculum that fostered
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creativity, hands-on learning, and opportunities for transdisciplinary learning for
elementary-aged students (Cunningham & Berger, 2014; Drake, 2012). This study
demonstrated the impact of using standards-based instructional frameworks, such as the
5Es and CBL, within a transdisciplinary STEAM curriculum. The outcome for the
participants in this study was increased engagement and participation for elementary-aged
females. Furthermore, the curriculum in this study also increased participants’
understanding of the STEAM workforce and what women in this field look like.
The students demonstrated eagerness and enjoyment from transdisciplinary CBL,
hands-on learning opportunities. The data in Chapter 4 also demonstrated how majority
of participants commented on their enjoyment from CBL structured learning, a
synchronous, supportive environment with a group of their peers, and learning about
female role models. CBL was as a framework for STEAM hands-on opportunities to
increase student engagement by providing multiple right answers. Researchers in support
of CBL explained that students’ engagement increases because of their curiosity to solve
the challenge (Bender, 2017; Casteel, 2018; Drake, 2012).
The curriculum methodology of teaching students by asking a guiding question in
the form of a challenge (CBL) leads to individualized processing, understanding and
memory of science, technology, engineering, art, and math educational standards and
skills (Ertmer & Newby, 2013; Harasim, 2012; Tebes, 2018). The data in this study
demonstrated what researchers in other studies have found: when STEAM curriculum
includes transdisciplinary approach combined with CBL students collaborated on
iterations of their ideas, it increased student engagement and participation in STEAM
(Bulls, 2018; Bryk, 2014; Casteel, 2018; Courey, 2016; Snow, 2014; Weist, 2014). This
action research study supports these findings: engaged, hands-on learning—even
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remotely—proved to be an effective approach to participation and engagement of
elementary-aged females in STEAM.
Additional findings exhibited in the data included students reporting increased
positive attitudes and practice using growth mindset when applied to STEAM subjects.
Existing research demonstrated the importance of peer-to-peer collaboration and CBL
strategies in educational settings for purposes of furthering a transdisciplinary approach
in education, specifically, the need for educators to present students with real-world
challenges to solve in the form of experiments so students are presented with the
opportunity to practice problem solving, iterating, and applying critical thinking skills
(Drake, 2012; Dweck, 2010; Johnson et al., 2009; Tebes, 2018; Weist, 2014).
Researchers stated that when students learn that with hard work and dedication
they are capable of learning anything, this practice is commonly referred to as a growth
mindset (Buoncristiani & Buoncristiani, 2012). The curriculum in this study provided
participants with the opportunity to take educated risks and fail often before attaining
success. This transdisciplinary curriculum design used CBL, the 5Es, and role models to
educate students about the importance of developing a growth mindset and
STEAMminded way of thinking. The data in this study demonstrated that
transdisciplinary CBL, and role models incorporated into a curriculum taught participants
perseverance, which is needed in the STEAM field where failure occurs (Buoncristiani &
Buoncristiani, 2012; Quinton, 2014).
The STEAM program offered participants challenges to solve and modeled how
to use a growth mindset with peers in a supportive environment. The effectiveness of
transdisciplinary curriculum, CBL, and role models in a curriculum designed for this
STEAM program resulted in increased student participation, collaboration, and practice
of a growth mindset.
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Major Points of the Study
As a result of the STEAM program, participants experienced a growth in
selfconfidence and further understanding of STEAM subjects. Participants learned to use
their voice as a tool to collaborate, ask for help, and advocate against the unfair treatment
of females. Finally, participants identified STEAM mindsets and skillsets necessary to
achieve in this field.
While the stereotype threat that boys are better than girls in STEAM subjects still
endures in schools and society today, participants in this program disagreed (AAUW,
1992, 2017; Bender, 2017; Berwick, 2019; Bulls, 2018; Kirschner, 2020; Quinton, 2014;
Venditto, 2018). The data in Chapter 4 illustrated in Figure 4.10 revealed that the females
in this program believed girls and boys are equal in the STEAM field. As illustrated by
the data, 100% of participants collectively believed in gender equity and achievement in
the STEAM.
Other findings demonstrated by the data in Chapter 4, Figure 4.5 concluded that
participants’ perspective of who works in the STEAM field widened as they gained a
real-world understanding through purposeful education about women in the workforce.
Their overall understanding about STEAM and inventors widened because of the direct
teaching about cultural, gender-specific role models featured in the program. The
STEAM empowerment curriculum was designed to share examples with participants
about successful women in STEAM and offered students an idea of what it was like to
work in the field and the importance of developing skills and mindsets necessary to
succeed.
As a result of STEAM interventions in this study, students practiced sharing
success, failure, and iterations of ideas with one another, which supported learning
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together, practicing growth mindsets, and the importance of testing multiple solutions.
The research gathered in this study demonstrated that when participants were given the
opportunity to practice STEAM-minded skills, the amount of time spent engaged in this
area increased. The exposure to the STEAM program taught participants the skillset and
mindset needed to participate in these subjects. When solving STEAM challenges,
participants practiced failing numerous times before succeeding.
In conclusion, the study drew awareness to the females’ ability to succeed in
STEAM through practice, failure, collaboration, and learning about women in STEAM.
Elementary-aged females in this study believed that girls can do anything boys can do.
The STEAM Program designed for this action research study taught the participants the
skills and mindsets necessary to achieve success in STEAM education and the workforce.
Action Plan for Implementation
If we wish to advance our evolutionary journey as a species, a shift from feeling
sorry for the disadvantaged to fearing STEAM without females is essential (Dangelmaier
& Hermann, 2017). The action plan is described in two parts. First, the necessary steps to
implement a program like the one described in this study are listed in detail for others
wishing to establish STEAM programs in their elementary schools to engage females and
BIPoC students. Secondly, the researcher describes the action plan for herself as a result
of the findings from the data in this study.
The goals for implementing a STEAM program in an elementary school:
1) Early intervention – start the program at the earliest level of learners,
prekindergarten or kindergarten (elementary-aged students).
2) Write STEAM curriculum that includes a transdisciplinary approach, CBL and
the 5Es framework. Align curriculum with national standards (see
Appendix K).
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3) Empowerment curriculum – Find books, videos, speakers that feature
genderspecific, cultural role models. Encourage students to develop their
voice, identity, and mindsets as tools in the STEAM toolkit.
In order to accomplish these suggestions, many schools are recommended to
convert from the traditional siloed science education methods to an interdisciplinary
STEAM-based approach. The outcome of taking these action steps generates STEAM
programs where students collaborate and problem-solve real issues in science,
technology, engineering, art, and math (Harrell & Harrell, 2010; Tanner, 1991, 2017).
This STEAM action plan calls for educators to design curriculum that fosters
students’ agency. In education, agency is when students develop a sense of independence
in their own learning, the ability to problem solve, and a mindset to practice taking
educated risks (Clapp et al., 2017). DeJarnette (2018) found that STEAM programs
fostered student agency among elementary-aged learners, which was exhibited by the
participants and the data in this study. Through transdisciplinary CBL, and empowerment
curriculum, participants practiced active problem solving and struggle.
Another key component of this action plan is to ensure STEAM educators design
curricula that are representative of all the students in their classrooms. The existing
literature states that showing students examples of role models in the field also influences
a child’s likelihood to study that topic (Beilock, 2019). The action plan asks educators to
teach students about role models in STEAM that are representative of their entire student
population. An outcome from the study demonstrated that the participants wanted to
participate in the STEAM workforce when they grow up (see Figure 4.5).
The action plan specific to this researcher is that she started STEAM Kids, LLC.
This business is dedicated to bringing the curriculum designed for this program to
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elementary-aged students around the United States. She is currently working on her first
book titled, The STEAM Girls Guide 2 Awesome! that includes a workbook for students to
complete. The workbook includes interactive, hands-on CBL experiments with QR code
video links to tutorials and instructions for parents and students. Additional information
in the book focuses on women in STEAM and sharing gender-specific experiences of role
models in the field. Lastly, the book includes five games developed to practice STEAM-
minded thinking and encourage kids to develop a STEAM mindset.
In Spring 2021, the researcher plans to host her first cohort of females in an
enrichment mentoring program where each participant receives a copy of The STEAM
Girls Guide 2 Awesome! along with mentorship from Scientist Diana (the researcher’s
teacher name), and meets with a group of peers to share and discuss STEAM. The
researcher hopes to develop the mentoring program into a cyclical format where students
eventually become mentors for younger students.
Additionally, the researcher is a practicing science and STEAM educator at the
Paideia School in Atlanta, GA where she designed, developed, and implemented the
elementary STEAM program. The curriculum in this program is taught to students in
grades K-6 once a week as 45-minute class periods.
Moreover, the researcher also consults for companies that are interested in
developing STEAM materials. She purchased a license for software that allows her to
offer her materials to larger STEAM box companies. They hire her on as a consultant to
produce PDFs or high-resolution PNGs of STEAM activities to teach elementary students
about STEAM. See Appendix J for an example.
Lastly, the researcher started a YouTube channel dedicated to conducting
STEAM-based challenges with kids, reading books, and sharing stories about cultural,
gender-specific role models in science, technology, engineering, art, and math.
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Recommendations for Practice & Policy
Researchers across the board published findings about the importance of early
intervention to engage and motivate students to participate in STEAM subjects (Holdren,
2013; Jamalian, 2018; Tanenbaum et al., 2016; Venditto, 2018). The CoSTEM and the
National Science and Technology Council (2013) found that early exposure to a STEAM
education established a foundation for learning and helps to close the gender gap. This
action research study supports these findings. Females that attended this program between
the ages of 7 to 10 developed growth mindsets and STEAM skills. One further reason to
support STEAM education versus traditional siloed elementary education is that it creates
critical thinkers, innovators, and workers needed for the survival of the U.S. economy
(Allina, 2018; Beede et al., 2017; Oberoi, 2016).
The recommendations are for states, schools, and their districts to adopt policy
that promotes STEAM education. Most states and schools are focusing in STEM. The
U.S. government also places an emphasis on STEM, which provided funding for STEAM
programming in PK-20 schools (Allina, 2018). The STEAM educational practices in this
study were designed to bring females and students of color’s voices to the table. The
researcher in this study is an educator first. From an educator’s lens, the goal is to teach
all the students in the room. In order to foster a society of STEAM students that are all
encouraged to participate and learn, the emphasis should be on transdisciplinary STEAM
education.
Secondly, recommendations for practice stress the importance of early
intervention. When STEAM programs start in elementary school, or younger, student
engagement increases and fosters student creativity. Again, the recommendations are to
start early to develop STEAM skills and mindsets that build a foundation for females and
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students of color to succeed in STEAM. As students advance through school, and the
curriculum in STEAM subjects becomes increasingly difficult. Researchers in this field
argue that students stay engaged when explicitly taught STEAM skills in their formative
years (Cunningham & Berger, 2014; Tanenbaum et al., 2016; Venditto, 2018).
Another recommendation is to re-write traditional elementary siloed curricula.
The existing research stated in this study recommends that STEAM instructors provide
students with transdisciplinary CBL, empowerment instruction that offers praise based on
effort, and share role models from different backgrounds to engage a wider variety of
students (Casteel, 2018; Courey, 2016; Drake, 2012; Jamalian, 2018; Weist, 2014). The
step-by-step, siloed approach to education needs to be rewritten to include access and
entry points for all the children in the classroom to succeed.
Traditional elementary education praises students based on the correct yes-or-no
answers and the ability to follow step-by-step instructions (Barack, 2018; Weist, 2014).
These traditional practices in elementary education disengage many females and students
of color from the fields of science, technology, engineering, art, and math (Catterall,
2017; Johnson et al., 2009; Noonan, 2017). The recommendation is for elementary
educators in this field to focus on praising students based on effort. This is a pedagogical
technique recommended to develop a student’s growth mindset.
This practice is recommended so that students develop a growth mindset
understand that with hard work and dedication, they are capable of learning anything
(Buoncristiani & Buoncristiani, 2012; Dweck, 2010; Jamalian, 2018). Education practice
recommendations include teaching students about a growth mindset to encourage children
to practice being educated risk takers, failing forward, building grit, and becoming
determined to accomplish goals. Growth mindset practiced in STEAM allows students to
practice skills needed in the real world.
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In conclusion, based on the outcomes of this study, recommendations are made to
update traditional siloed elementary educational programming into transdisciplinary
STEAM-based integrated approach. Specifically, the recommendation includes STEAM
curricula designed to incorporate CBL and cultural, gender-specific role models. This
study demonstrates how these practices combined with a STEAM curriculum improve
student engagement and achievement.
The recommendations for schools, administrators, educators, and parents include
taking action and advocating for:
1) Early intervention – Elementary-aged Students or younger.
2) Updating traditional elementary programs with transdisciplinary STEAM
curriculum that includes CBL, the 5Es, and role models.
3) Include an empowerment curriculum that focuses on gender-specific, cultural
role models, and development of student voice and a growth mindset.
Recommendations for Future Research
This study demonstrated that the future is female for the participants in this study.
Female participants saw themselves as equal to the boys and capable of doing the same
work. The researcher used the draw a scientist experiment and the results found that
100% of participants drew female scientists. This pattern also occurred when participants
drew artists, inventors, and mathematicians. The researcher recommends future, more
rigorous research in this area and asks researchers to repeat this study with their own
students.
The practice of asking kids to draw what a scientist looks like is a study that has
been conducted by many scientists, teachers, and researchers beginning in the 1960s
(Berwick, 2019; Casteel, 2018). This is a simple activity where the
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teacher/researcher/parent/babysitter asks the participants to draw a scientist. Students
share what they drew after having time to work independently on drawings. Older
students may have time to add written descriptions to their pictures. Since this is a
STEAM study, the researcher extended this activity to include draw an inventor, engineer,
mathematician, author, explorer, artist, and more. When leading this activity,
recommendations are made for facilitators to discuss similarities and differences in the
drawings and breakdown the barriers by naming what the students see.
Another recommendation for future research is to conduct a study specifically
designed around the efficacy of online education. This study pivoted to include an online
component as a result of a pandemic; however, the study was initially designed for an
inperson, classroom setting. To validate results of effective online teaching practices, a
specific study is recommended for the purposes of online education. The goal of this
research study was to understand the impact of a STEAM program on young females’
engagement and participation. The online component allowed the study to take place.
Repetition and specific focus on online learning are recommended for researchers
wishing to understanding the impact of online learning on elementary-aged students.
The final recommendation is to repeat the study for boys of color. This program
focused on females. Future researchers wishing to apply these results to both genders and
the spectrum of gender are recommended to repeat the study for elementary-aged boys
with cultural-specific role models to see if the outcome of results are the same.
Resources for Educators
Additional resources for educators, administrators, and parents in STEAM
education:
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•The STEAM Journal: Integrated Perspectives is a research journal that offers up-
to-date research in the STEAM field from practitioners and researchers.
This journal is produced on behalf of Claremont Colleges & Consortium.
•Agency by Design is a research branch based in Harvard’s Graduate School of
Education that studies and produces engaging MCL, CBL, and Thinking
Routines. They offer free downloadable handouts and instructions for
educators across the globe. Information available includes lesson plans, tools
for teachers, and thinking routines are available for free through their research
center.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the literature demonstrated that the first noticeable gender
differences in STEAM subjects appear in elementary school and that progressively more
females lose interest as they advance through school and into the workforce (Anthony &
Ogg, 2019; BLS, 2019; Cifaldi, 2018; Clewell & Ginorio, 2002). This study found that
early intervention makes a difference. When elementary-aged females were exposed to an
empowerment curriculum, focused on cultural, gender-specific role models and CBL,
they improved their mindset, engagement, and participation in STEAM.
In 2020, the females in this study demonstrated that 100% of them believed that
girls can do anything boys can do. The practice of teaching predominately about White
males is a practice that continues to dominant in educational settings across the nation
(AAUW, 1992, 2017). Young female students internalize these stereotypes and implicit
bias within society as increasingly exposed to the same message over and over again. The
literature continues to find that when the majority of role models pictured are White men,
females increasingly believe that women’s lives count less than male’s (AAUW, 1992,
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2017).
The current female workforce in STEAM paved the way for the upcoming
generation. This females in this study did not believe the stereotypes. This study
demonstrated the impact of a transdisciplinary STEAM empowerment curriculum. When
young females are taught about women in STEAM who look like them, their desire to
pursue STEAM education and the possibility of a STEAM job in the future increased. In
other words, this study demonstrated that interventions introduced at an early age
increased participants likelihood of pursing work in the STEAM field when they grow up.
While the research reports that the current number of females in STEAM
education and the workforce is on the decline, this study demonstrates that the
participants in the program were willing to pursue futures in STEAM. The solution to
increased engagement and participation is early intervention of STEAM education
combined with an empowerment framework. The research demonstrated the impact of an
introductory STEAM programs on young females in an informal setting. The curriculum
designed for this action research study taught the female participants that because they
were female, they had an advantage in STEAM. Empowerment curriculum taught the
participants to embrace who they are and to cherish all the parts of their identity,
including their culture and their gender.
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