This study is to develop and implement safety-focused STEAM classes for teaching ‘volcanic and earthquake' unit of the curriculum science. The STEAM program includes fourth graders’ hands-on activities to make their earthquake warning system using...
This study is to develop and implement safety-focused STEAM classes for teaching ‘volcanic and earthquake' unit of the curriculum science. The STEAM program includes fourth graders’ hands-on activities to make their earthquake warning system using Arduino vibration sensor.
The STEAM program was developed based on the STEAM education criteria consisting of situation presentation, creative design, and emotional experience so that the earthquake-related education can be learned in a convergent manner. The program was applied to 28 students in the fourth grade as an experimental group of elementary school in J city, Jeju province. A program of the same theme developed mainly from textbooks was applied to 28 students in the fourth grade of a comparison group. For the purpose of finding the effects of the intervention, pre and post-tests were performed for academic achievement, creative problem-solving ability, science process skills, and STEAM attitude. As a result of the application of the program, the experimental group showed significant improvement in creative problem-solving ability and academic achievement compared to the comparison group, and the class satisfaction with the STEAM program was also high. However, there was no significant difference in science process skills and STEAM attitude. Therefore, in the process of developing STEAM program, it is necessary to systematize and provide steps to integrate various subjects so that academic areas between subjects can be effectively fused. Furthermore, it is required of overcome the ambiguity of STEAM education and to secure realistic and clear guidelines so that it can be used to reconstruct STEAM classes. However, it should be recognized that various educational techniques and variables can affect students' learning.