Pedagogical approaches that bring together science, technology, engineering, the arts, and mathematics in an integrated and inter-disciplinary fashion.
Published in Chapter:
Tools to Mediate Learning and Self-Assessment in a STEAM Unit of Work
Kate Thompson (Queensland University of Technology, Australia), Susan Narelle Chapman (Queensland University of Technology, Australia), and Harry Kanasa (Griffith University, Australia)
Copyright: © 2020
|Pages: 27
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-7998-2517-3.ch002
Abstract
In some high school learning environments, hundreds of students engage in collaborative, term-long, project-based learning STEM or STEAM units of work. In this chapter, the authors report on an ongoing design-based research project in which researchers and teachers collaborate to design, teach, and assess STEAM units of work. They draw on research on project-based learning and interdisciplinary collaboration to inform the analysis drawing on Jonassen's typology of problem solving. The purpose of this chapter is to present two tools that functioned as boundary objects mediating learning and self-assessment: (1) a ‘STEAM slider' used by students in groups to reach consensus on the use of the tools, knowledge, and processes employed in their project and (2) a criteria sheet developed to mediate students' and teachers' engagement in self- and teacher-assessment. The authors use these results to make recommendations for the next iteration of the project.