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All teachers now know what STEAM means. However, we still have question marks about how it can be applied in subjects other than science. I planned a STEAM workshop at my school where I talked on how we can apply STEAM to other subjects. That was an enriching experience.
On the 1st day of our 5-day workshop, I shared general information about STEAM. Teacher were encouraged by STEAM examples. I also mentioned Scientix and eTwinning projects to motivate them even more.
On the 2nd day, we implemented a learning scenario for the science lesson. The topic was the energy prices. We did a brainstorm together and then I asked them to design a house using web 2.0 tools in groups. Each group was asked to make a prototype of their house using easily accessible materials. The idea was to come up with solutions to consume less energy. In addition to this, teachers also had to show some creativity when designing their houses.
On the 3rd day, we implemented a learning scenario for the Turkish lesson. The topic was speech disorders. We discussed different kinds of speech disorders. In order to help people with such disorders, teachers designed a digital game using again web 2.0 tools.
On the 4th day, we implemented a learning scenario for the social studies course. The topic was tax system. Teachers designed a map of different tax types with the help of web 2.0 tools. Then, we discussed in what countries the tax system seem to be better organized. For his, we prepared presentations.
On the 5th day, we implemented a learning scenario for the English lesson. We used digital flash cards and watched a video about British traditional dishes. Finally, teachers were asked to prepare their own videos and share them with each other.
This workshop will serve as a great source of inspiration for all participants and I hope it will encourage them to implement more STEAM activities with their students.
Gönül Keskin is a secondary-school teacher based in Turkey. She considers that there should be more STEAM learning scenarios.
Tags: Education, experiment, learning scenarios, professional development, STEAM, STEM, teachers
