Not Just for Decoration: How the Arts Complement Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Learning

The arts complement science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines by elevating them through the practice of science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM) education. Although several studies have incorporated the arts into STEM courses, they have frequently merely measured students' creative performances, used a constrained research design, and rarely examined teachers' perceptions. This study developed courses that incorporated various art strategies and STEM learning into a nonrandomized control group with a pretest-posttest design. It examined their impact on the multiple performances of 99 junior high school students and teachers' perceptions. The results showed that the experimental group that took courses with more art strategies created STEAM products with more creativity than their counterparts. All participants demonstrated higher learning motivation and STEAM efficacy after the course, although the group effect was limited. The teachers agreed that the art strategies boosted performance but also proposed challenges to adding the arts to STEM courses. The research and pedagogical implications of incorporating various art strategies into STEM learning are discussed.