21st-Century Skills Development through STEM and STEAM – Part 1: STEM and STEAM as Educational Approaches

Centered light bulb with a brain and a brilliant explosion of light with STEM/STEAM signs as math equations, chemical compounds and a space rocket

Seen as strategic for 21^st-century skills, STEM is an acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics, and is used for an educational framework in which these disciplines are taught in an integrated manner through multidisciplinary projects tailored to develop students’ competences [3-15]. The term STEM was coined in the early 1990s, but its origin traces back to the USA and former USSR Space Race between the 1950s and 1970s, during which the United States strove to stimulate scientific and technological growth, seen as essential for maintaining leadership [4,6,12,13]. These investments evolved into government plans, and in the early 2000s the term STEM became part of public policies in economics, society, and education. Other countries, such as China, Australia, United Kingdom, and Brazil followed the initiative and also integrated STEM into their educational programs [1, 12, 13].

The integrated disciplines in STEM education have the following definitions provided by the NAS (National Academy of Sciences):

• Science – It studies the natural world, including the laws and theories of nature associated with physics, chemistry, biology, and geology, as well as the handling or application of facts, principles, or concepts that underlie these disciplines. In turn, science is a body of knowledge accumulated over time through a process (scientific investigation) that generates new knowledge;

• Technology – It encompasses the entire system composed of people or organizations, the knowledge, processes, and devices involved in the creation and operation of technological devices, as well as the artifacts themselves. Throughout history, technology has been used to meet human desires and needs;

• Engineering – It is the body of knowledge that humans possess to design and build products in order to solve problems. Engineering applies scientific and mathematical concepts and is supported by technological tools;

• Mathematics – It studies patterns and relationships between quantities, numbers, and space. It differs from science in that science uses scientific evidence to support or reject hypotheses, whereas mathematics guarantees them through logical reasoning based on fundamental axioms. Some of the main branches of mathematics are: arithmetic, algebra, functions, geometry, statistics, and probability.

It is common that STEM projects are structured following engineering principles, such as Design Thinking, integrating the knowledge of other disciplines in the development of prototypes or processes. This is a consequence of engineering being positioned as a multidisciplinary field of knowledge, based on Science, Technology, and Mathematics, using their principles for the development of its own solutions [1,3,4,5,9,12].

To give a more humanized, inclusive, and creative character to STEM education, a new variation was developed by incorporating the Arts, resulting in the STEAM framework. This new approach seeks not only to develop technically and scientifically, but also to satisfy human needs, through a holistic lens [2,6,7,8,10,12]. It involves observing the context where the solution will be applied, its impact on that reality, teamwork, the resilience to deal with failures and to try new paths, the pursuit of creative solutions, and the autonomy to make decisions. With that, the introduction of Arts discipline strenghtens the development of 21^st-century skills through the integration of knowledge and increases motivation by relating learning with real-world problems. [2,7,10,11,12,14]

As an example of a STEM/STEAM project is the master’s thesis “Educação STEAM na promoção do Design Thinking e da Criatividade dos Alunos” [12]: an experimental study that analyses the development of creativity and soft skills through working on a project to solve a real-life problem, the creation of a CO₂ meter. All the prototypes were functional and it was observed that groups of students who dedicated more time to the project and completed more design thinking cycles showed better results. In general, the students presented greater knowledge of the concepts, more creativity and greater interest in learning.

Soft skills such as creativity, resilience, and teamwork are presented as key skills for the 21^st century. However, traditional educational curricula with isolated disciplines and unidirectional teaching have difficulty developing these skills in the students [3,7,9]. With STEM/STEAM, the integration of disciplines and the project orientation increases motivation and develops skills while students work together, preparing them for real-world demands.

Bibliography

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[02] Huser, Joyce et al (2020). STEAM and the Role of the Arts in STEM. New York: State Education Agency Directors of Arts Education.

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[09] Rahim, R. A., & Mahmud, S. N. D. (2025). Integrating the Engineering Design Process (EDP) in Stem Classroom: A Systematic Literature Review of Impacts and Challenges. International Journal of Academic Research in Progressive Education and Development, 14(3), 1661–1679. http://dx.doi.org/10.6007/IJARPED/v14-i3/26304

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[12] Pires, Pedro F E V. “Educação STEAM na promoção do Design Thinking e da Criatividade dos alunos”. Universidade de Lisboa. 2024.

[13] Vela, Charles V. “ORIGEN, CONCEPT AND PRACTICE OF STEM”. 2021. https://afilon.org/charles-vela-the-origin-of-stem/

[14] Weyer, Matt; Dell’Erba, Mary. “Research and Policy Implications of STEAM Education for Young Students” Education Comission of the States. 2022.

[15] Jung Han. “The Impact of Integrated STEM Instruction on Students’ Engineering Design Learning and 21st Century skills”. Purdue University. 2021.