What a Difference an “A” Makes: Moving from STEM to STEAM
Submitted by Steve on October 3, 2012
From Elizabeth Quaglieri for technology InTheArts:
It’s a hot-topic today, complete with nifty acronyms, but the great debate about the “Two Cultures” is hardly a new one. The movement to incorporate “Art” in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) program curriculum recalls the historic debate between the Sciences and the Arts (for more information on the debate, read C.P Snow’s short essay, “The Two Cultures”). The irony of their supposed polarity is the fact they are completely interrelated.
To say that the field of Engineering involves and is influenced by nothing more than “scientific” fundamentals is to say a peanut butter and jelly sandwich is made with nothing more than peanut butter. And we all know that is just plain silly, and only half the sandwich.