STEM/STEAM: Science, Technology, Engineering, Math and the Arts

Here you'll find articles and resources for STEM+Arts education, also known as STEAM. Topics include science, technology, engineering, math and arts education and range from research reports to feature articles to profiles of makerspaces to news about new STEAM and STEAM initiatives in schools.


Get More Math logo and THE Journal logo with screenshot from Get More Math website on tips for spiral review and math retention

Rethinking How We Teach Math: Three Tips for Better Long-term Retention

Students need to learn not only math shortcuts, processes, and formulas — they also must learn the underlying concepts behind them. Students need a deeper conceptual understanding of math so they can transfer their knowledge to new contexts and are less prone to making mistakes. They also need more time for learning math in school and more focus on long-term retention.

screenshot from MathGPT website and THE Journal logo

Meet MathGPT: a Chatbot Tutor Built Specific to a Math Textbook

PhotoStudy, an on-demand 1:1 tutoring solution developed by Hung Tran in 2015, said it can now transform any math textbook by any publisher into a “MathGPT” chatbot that works similarly to the groundbreaking ChatGPT tool making headlines in recent weeks.

Young Scientist Challenge Program Applications Open

3M and Discovery Education have announced open applications for the annual 3M Young Scientist Challenge and a new Alumni Network and Alumni Grants Program.

Sample fraction math problem illustrating why math schema is more important than skills alone, and THEJournal.com logo

Schools Must Adopt the Science of Math

With so-called learning loss from the pandemic continuing to harm students, schools can't just return to normal methods of teaching math. Fortunately, researchers have a strong understanding of how people learn math, just as they did with the now widely accepted science of reading. However, that understanding is taking too long to filter into classroom instruction.

Study: Music Education Benefits Adolescents’ Wellbeing

A study published in January 2023 by the University of Southern California (USC) in the journal “Frontiers in Psychology” on the impact of music education showed that middle school students gained not only cognitive benefits, but a greater sense of wellbeing in the five key areas of Positive Youth Development (PYD). The study’s findings come at a time when California voters have recently approved Proposition 28, to increase funding for arts and music education in the state’s public schools.

College and Career Readiness Report Shows Distinct Gender Gap

College and career readiness company YouScience has released its “Post Graduation Readiness Report Part II,” which reveals that while 44% of female high school students showed aptitude for careers in architecture and engineering, they showed 0% interest in them when interest-based, instead of aptitude-based, tools were used to gauge student talents, abilities, and pathways.

Screenshot of Discovery Education Science Techbook Biology course homepage

South Carolina Adopts Experiential Digital Science Techbook for High School Biology

The Discovery Education Science Techbook’s high school biology course, designed to align with state standards, “offers a unique and engaging three-dimensional learning experience that aligns with S.C. College & Career-Ready Science Standards” through both print and digital editions, providing classroom flexibility for educators seeking to grow student engagement.

Registration Opens for the Third Year of the KidWind Simulation Challenge

The KidWind Project will partner with Flinn Scientific for the third year in a row to offer K–12 students a chance to compete in the 2023 Simulation Challenge. Contestants will use Flinn Scientific’s WhiteBox Learning STEM to virtually construct and test wind turbines and wind farms. Registration and the competition are open now through March 1, with challenge completion due April 1.

logo for 2023 outlook story for K-12 ed tech industry

Wishes and Worries for 2023: What Ed Tech Leaders Are Thinking About

During the final weeks of 2022, THE Journal asked scores of ed tech leaders about their wishes and worries for 2023. Cybersecurity and teacher resources were the most common topics addressed in the responses — many of which include specific ideas for new policies and practices for K–12 education in the United States.

THE Journal logo, podcast logo, title reads A High School Class on the History of Poison and Murder As a Mini-Case Study for Competency-Based Education

A High School Class on the History of Poison and Murder As a Mini-Case Study for Competency-Based Education

Todd Ryckman of Cypher Learning joins THEJournal.com editor Kristal Kuykendall for a discussion about the competency-based education movement, what it looks like in school districts that have been implementing CBE over the past five years, and how Cypher Learning’s NEO LMS empowers educators and students, regardless of whether their school uses the traditional or “modern” instructional model or more of a CBE approach.